ABSTRACT
Sex and gender have been repeatedly demonstrated to play a role in posttraumatic responses both in epidemiology and in underlying psychological and biological mechanisms. Thus, gender, as a psychosocial construct, and sex, as a biological variable, as well as the interactions between the two, lend to the biopsychosocial nature of the response to trauma. While most research on the matter has focused on the adverse consequences of trauma, this chapter aims to expand this view to include posttraumatic growth. Existing data on sex and gender-related heterogeneity in posttraumatic growth are evaluated through this lens, remaining questions are delineated, and possible future directions for research and intervention are discussed.
