Posttraumatic stress symptoms and posttraumatic growth in Chilean children and adolescents during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Introduction: the COVID-19 pandemic significantly altered the lifestyles of children and adolescents, with school closures and social isolation affecting their mental health. Objetive: this study aims to evaluate a predictive model incorporating sociodemographic (age and sex), pandemic-related (infection or death of close ones), and psychological variables (rumination, coping strategies) to predict PTSS and PTG in Chilean youth during the pandemic. Method: the study included 1,466 children and adolescents from Chile, with 48,6 % girls and 51,4 % boys, aged 10 to 17 years. Bivariate relationships and hierarchical linear regression models were evaluated. Results: productive and unproductive coping strategies, intrusive and deliberate rumination, gender, age, and pandemic-related variables, such as the death of a loved one, predicted PTSS and PTG. Conclusions: these findings enhance understanding of factors related to PTG and improve the ability to predict PTSS and PTG in children and adolescents after stressful events. They also inform potential strategies for interventions to mitigate the effects of adverse events on mental health.