The present study seeks to investigate the relationship between chronic or life-threatening illness, of the individual or their relatives, and the development of post-traumatic and complex post-traumatic stress symptoms, post-traumatic growth and the development of depression symptoms. For this purpose, a comparison was made between two categories of individuals, those who had in one way or another a chronic illness in their family and those who did not. The categories above, were compared in terms of levels of post-traumatic stress, complex post-traumatic stress and depression, and also in terms of post-traumatic growth. These comparisons Were made in the general population but also separately in men and women, to study the gender relationship. In addition, comparisons were also made in population samples that differed in levels of parental emotional abuse in childhood to explore the role of emotional abuse. The findings of the study revealed that people suffering from a chronic or life-threatening illness, themselves or a relative, generally had higher levels of symptoms of both post-traumatic and complex post-traumatic stress and depression. Furthermore, according to the findings of the present study, a child's chronic or life-threatening illness was associated with higher levels of mothers' posttraumatic growth but not fathers'. Finally, the findings identified evidence for the role of parental emotional abuse in childhood in the development of these expressions of psychopathology.