Restavek is a form of modern-day slavery that is estimated to affect 300,000 (i.e., approximately 1 in 10) children in Haiti. It typically involves a child from a poor rural family being sent to work as an indentured domestic servant for an affluent urban family. Restavek children experience a high rate of trauma, as well as other mental health concerns. The present study explored the effectiveness of a culturally adapted form of Spiritually Oriented Trauma-Focused Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (SO-TF-CBT), a treatment model for assessing and treating religious and spiritual issues within the standard TF-CBT protocol (an evidence-based treatment for childhood trauma). This study involved 20 control participants and 38 treatment participants assigned to a 12-session protocol. Results indicated that participants who received the treatment, relative to those who did not, reported lower PTSD symptoms and spiritual struggles (relative to control participants), with medium-to-large effect sizes. Implications of these findings for future research and clinical work with restavek children are discussed.

Most research in the field of psychology and religion/spirituality (R/S) has used quantitative methods. In this paper, we call for increased qualitative and mixed-methods research to advance scientific knowledge of relational spirituality-that is, the ways people view and relate to the sacred. Specifically, we explore and illustrate how qualitative methods (e.g., narrative research, grounded theory, phenomenology, ethnography, case studies) allow for in-depth, multilevel analysis of relational spirituality, as well as how mixed methods (i.e., methodologies that involve collecting, analyzing, and integrating both qualitative and quantitative data) allow for even more complete, robust, and nuanced understandings of relational spirituality. Lastly, we make recommendations about future qualitative and mixed-methods research on relational spirituality, concluding with suggestions for advancing two growing areas of relational spirituality research-the empirical study of God representations and of spiritually oriented interventions.

According to Ronan and Johnston (2005) the number of people who will experience a disaster will double by 2050 from one billion people to two billion people. Since 1985 there has been an almost 400% increase in global natural disasters (Center for Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters, 2007). Researchers managing the global terrorism database report a similar increase in terrorist events over the last decade, with almost 5,000 events annually. Some of the worst disasters, such as Hurricane Katrina, Haiti Earthquake, Japan Tsunami, and Philippines Typhoon occurred in the past decade alone. Disasters are becoming more complex, with primary disasters (e.g., earthquake) often triggering secondary disasters (e.g., nuclear meltdown). Research shows that disasters often leave a significant psychological and spiritual “footprint” on affected communities. Thus, the purpose of this article is to introduce readers to empirical research on the psychology of religion/spirituality and disasters as well as to introduce a framework for spiritually oriented disaster psychology.

Religious and spiritual beliefs serve a number of functions, including promoting mental health in the wake of negative life events. We explore the "meaning as a buffer" hypothesis, which posits that (spiritual) meaning will shield individuals from the negative psychological consequences associated with adversity. Building on Park's (2010) meaning making model, we investigated whether spiritual meaning can buffer the effect of disaster-related resource loss on posttraumatic stress. Survivors of Hurricane Katrina (N ϭ 485) completed measures of resource loss, spiritual meaning and peace, and posttraumatic stress 3-4 months after the disaster. Survivors who reported experiencing higher spiritual meaning following the disaster reported significantly less severe posttraumatic stress in response to resource loss, relative to survivors who reported lower spiritual meaning and peace. Put differently, spiritual meaning and peace buffered the deleterious effect of disaster-related resource loss on mental health symptoms.

Hospital safety culture is an integral part of providing high quality care for patients, as well as promoting a safe and healthy environment for healthcare workers. In this article, we explore the extent to which cultural humility, which involves openness to cultural diverse individuals and groups, is related to hospital safety culture. A sample of 2011 hospital employees from four hospitals completed measures of organizational cultural humility and hospital safety culture. Higher perceptions of organizational cultural humility were associated with higher levels of general perceptions of hospital safety, as well as more positive ratings on non-punitive response to error (i.e., mistakes of staff are not held against them), handoffs and transitions, and organizational learning. The cultural humility of one's organization may be an important factor to help improve hospital safety culture. We conclude by discussing potential directions for future research.