Objectives: We examined whether current level of personal growth and changes in personal growth predicted treatment response among participants in a partial hospital setting.
Method: Patients (N = 269; aged 18-70 years, M = 33.6; 52.4% female) completed measures of personal growth initiative (PGI), valuing personal growth (VPG), and psychological functioning measures at treatment admission and discharge from a partial hospital.
Results: PGI and VPG were negatively associated with depression and positively associated with psychological well-being. Baseline PGI and VPG did not predict changes in psychological functioning at discharge. PGI and VPG significantly increased following treatment, and increases were associated with decreases in depression and increases in well-being over and above previously established predictors.
Conclusions: Valuing personal growth for intrinsic reasons and active engagement in the personal growth process may be important characteristics to cultivate in psychotherapy as they are malleable and negatively related to depression.
Keywords: depression; personal growth; personal growth initiative; treatment outcome; values.
© 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.