When Growth Takes Time: Differentiated Trajectories of Posttraumatic Growth After Pandemic Bereavement

The COVID-19 pandemic has transformed the grieving experience for some people, yet little is known about how posttraumatic growth (PTG) unfolds in such contexts of disrupted mourning and prolonged crisis. This longitudinal study explored PTG trajectories among 271 adults bereaved in Québec over a two-year period. Three distinct patterns were identified: immediate growth, delayed growth and no growth. Confrontation coping and spirituality emerged as key facilitators of PTG, particularly for immediate growth, while male gender, somatic distress, and lower religiosity predicted delayed growth. Surprisingly, neither time since loss nor the ability to accompany the deceased were associated with PTG, challenging assumptions about the protective effects of ritual continuity. These findings emphasize the temporal variability and complexity of growth processes following pandemic bereavement, underscoring the need for interventions that address both distress reduction and the nurturing of existential resources. This study advances a more differentiated, temporally sensitive understanding of PTG trajectories in the aftermath of collective trauma.