Author ORCID Identifier:

https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3538-342X

Date of Graduation

7-2026

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy in Psychology (PhD)

Degree Level

Graduate

Department

Psychological Science

Advisor/Mentor

Veilleux, Jennifer

Committee Member

Makhanova, Anastasia

Second Committee Member

Fugitt, Jessica

Third Committee Member

Judah, Matt

Keywords

trauma, psychopathology, psychological resiliency, Contextual Model of Values-Based Responding to Traumatic Experiences

Abstract

People commonly experience a traumatic event during their lives, and many effectively cope with the experience, demonstrating psychological resiliency. However, this is not always the case; others may develop psychopathology in the wake of a traumatic event, such as posttraumatic stress disorder. Why might some people experience clinically significant difficulty following a traumatic event while others do not? The current study examined this question by considering the role of values—cognitive representations of motivations that guide action—and testing predictions generated from the Contextual Model of Values-Based Responding to Traumatic Experiences (Clift & Veilleux, unpublished manuscript). It was predicted that greater growth value importance would be associated with greater resilience and lower trauma symptom severity; that these effects would be stronger for growth value prioritization than self-protective value prioritization; and that relationships between personal value importance, posttraumatic resilience, and trauma symptom severity would be moderated by the level of congruence between an individual’s values and the values of their self-identified primary cultural group. Participants (N = 498) screened for an endorsement of at least one potentially traumatic event completed self-report measures assessing values, resilience factors, and cultural identity. While results provided little support for these predictions, the current study highlights the clinical relevance of understanding which values clients view as important and whether those values are fulfilled, while also providing initial groundwork upon which future studies may be constructed.

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