Posttraumatic growth in aphasia (Harmon et al., 2025)
Purpose: The aim of this study was to explore posttraumatic growth (PTG) in people with aphasia.
Method: As part of a larger multisite study, 23 people with aphasia (12 females, 11 males) each completed a 60-min semistructured interview during which they expanded on previously given questionnaire responses and then answered five additional open-ended questions about communication in their daily life. Interviews were transcribed orthographically, coded using reflexive codebook analysis, and synthesized into themes and categories by team members that included a person with aphasia.
Results: Reflexive codebook analysis revealed two themes. The first theme, “Moving Toward Growth” described the process of PTG, which included categories of “Grappling With New Reality,” “Acceptance,” “Goals and Effort,” and “Improvement.” The second theme identified “Perceived Areas of Growth,” which included categories of “Perception of Self,” “Relatedness,” and “General Philosophy of Life.”
Conclusions: Findings suggest that people with aphasia experience PTG across all three primary domains: (a) changed perception of self, (b) changed relationship with others, and (c) changed general philosophy of life and that the challenging circumstances associated with aphasia were integral to the development of PTG. Findings also highlight that PTG does not necessarily develop in a linear trajectory for people with aphasia and that processes such as acceptance, exerting effort, striving for continued improvement, and slowing down may contribute to the overall development of PTG in this population. Overall, the construct of PTG is relevant to people with aphasia, and the process by which PTG is developed in people with aphasia involves similar components to what has been described in other populations.
Supplemental Material S1. Semi-structured interview guide.
Supplemental Material S2. PTG final codebook.
Harmon, T. G., Williams, C., Brancamp, T., Hambridge, T., Wallace, S. E., Evans, W., Biel, M., Cavanaugh, R., & Caputo, M. (2025). "I’m never gonna go back so I’ve gotta do it forward": Exploring posttraumatic growth in aphasia. American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology, 34(2), 766–781. https://doi.org/10.1044/2024_AJSLP-24-00351
