Associations of childhood trauma experiences with religious and spiritual struggles

Janů, Anna; Maliňáková, Klára; Kosarkova, Alice; Tavel, Peter

doi:10.1177/1359105320950793

Cited by 8 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 94 publications

(91 reference statements)

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“…Emerging adulthood, for example, is a period when struggles are especially commonplace (Krause et al, 2017). Trauma and major life events, such as combat exposure (Park et al, 2017), child abuse (Janu ˚ et al, 2022), and the accumulation of life stressors (Pomerleau et al, 2020), have also been linked to higher levels of spiritual struggle. People are especially vulnerable to struggle when they experience events that threaten, damage, or violate their most sacred values, as in the case of clergy sexual abuse (Rossetti, 1995).…”

Section: Roots Of Spiritual Strugglesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Shaken to the core: Understanding and addressing spiritual struggles in psychotherapy.

Pargäment¹,

Exline²

2023

Handbook of Spiritually Integrated Psychotherapies.

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M r. W, a 55-year-old married father with a history of major depressive and alcohol use disorders, was seen in a medical hospital following a selfinflicted gunshot wound (Kao et al., 2019). 1 Plagued with guilt over his drinking and extramarital affairs, the patient had found himself dwelling on the question of whether God could forgive him for his sins. In an effort to find the answer, he decided to "gamble with God" by playing Russian roulette with a gun loaded with one live bullet and five blanks. He reasoned that if God loved him, he would be spared. Mr. W pulled the trigger and was hit with the live bullet. He survived, although he required several weeks of hospitalization for severe facial injuries. How should Mr. W be approached in psychotherapy?As many of the chapters in this handbook have shown, spirituality can be a resource in treatment for people who are experiencing psychological problems. However, spirituality also has the potential to create or exacerbate mental health concerns, as we see in the story of Mr. W. Spirituality can be a source of problems that range from avoidance and denial to prejudice and aggression, to rigidity and extremism. There is, in short, a darker, seamy side to spiritual and religious life (see Pruyser, 1977). A growing body of research 1The name of Mr. W was altered to protect his confidentiality. Case descriptions in this chapter that come from Pargament and Exline (2022) are composites assembled from different clinical cases seen by the authors.Our thanks to the John Templeton Foundation for their support of our research on spiritual struggles (JTF No. 36094 and No. 55916).

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Section: Roots Of Spiritual Strugglesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Shaken to the core: Understanding and addressing spiritual struggles in psychotherapy.

Pargäment¹,

Exline²

2023

Handbook of Spiritually Integrated Psychotherapies.

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“…Spiritual struggles are in general an important and diverse field of research, as there are associations between childhood trauma and spiritual struggles in adulthood, Czech participants particularly face demonic struggles (Janů et al, 2020), while alcohol problems were somewhat associated with all types of spiritual struggles, too (Stauner et al, 2019). However, "only moral struggle predicted alcohol problems moderately and independently of religiousness, distress, gender, and non/ white ethnicity," as stated by Stauner et al, 2019. Moral injuries were in fact relevant triggers of these general spiritual struggles (Currier et al, 2019), which are associated with suicidal behaviors, too (Currier et al, 2018).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Perceptions of Spiritual Dryness in Iran During the COVID-19 Pandemic

et al. 2021

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This study addresses perceptions of spiritual dryness (a specific form of spiritual struggle) during the COVID-19 pandemic among Iranian Muslims (n = 362), and how these perceptions can be predicted. Spiritual dryness was perceived often to regularly by 27% and occasionally by 35%. Regression models revealed that the best predictors of spiritual dryness (SDS-7) were usage of mood-enhancing medications, loneliness/social isolation and praying as positive predictors, and being restricted in daily life concerns as negative predictor. The pandemic challenges mental stability of people worldwide and may also challenge trust in God. Reliable and humble support of people experiencing these phases is required.

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“…To assess the mechanisms of well-being production requires observing change within people who differ in theoretically relevant ways and assessing how their lives turn out (Garssen and Visser, 2016). However, previous investigations of spirituality and well-being, including high-quality reviews and meta-analyses, have nearly exclusively relied on cross-sectional samples (Ano and Vasconcelles, 2005; Hackney and Sanders, 2003; Jan et al, 2020; Sawatzky et al, 2005; Smith et al, 2003; Visser et al, 2010; Yonker et al, 2012), and have sampled from small sub-populations such as older adults (Lawler-Row and Elliott, 2009), urban African American women (Holt et al, 2003), rural Kenyan men (Goodman et al, 2020), and Ghanaian parents of children with special needs (Dey et al, 2019). Such limitations have been evident over 20 years (see, e.g.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

National longitudinal evidence for growth in subjective well-being from spiritual beliefs

et al. 2021

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Previous research finds an association between spirituality and subjective well-being. However, the widespread use of poorly defined concepts of spirituality, tautological spirituality scales, and heavy reliance on cross-sectional samples cast doubts on prior findings. Here, we leverage ten waves of panel data from a nationally diverse longitudinal study to systematically test whether having spiritual beliefs leads to growth in personal well-being and life satisfaction ( N = 3257, New Zealand, 2010–2020). Contrary to previous research, we find that belief in a spirit or life force predicts lower personal well-being and life satisfaction. However, in support of previous speculation, belief (relative to disbelief) in a spirit or life force predicts increasing personal well-being and life satisfaction over time. These findings are robust even while accounting for known demographic influences; they even hold among those who believe in a God but disbelieve in a spirit or life force. The recent growth in spiritual beliefs and decline in traditional religion across many industrial societies motivates further causal investigations of the mechanisms by which spiritual beliefs lead to growth in subjective well-being.

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Associations of childhood trauma experiences with religious and spiritual struggles

Cited by 8 publications

References 94 publications

Shaken to the core: Understanding and addressing spiritual struggles in psychotherapy.

Shaken to the core: Understanding and addressing spiritual struggles in psychotherapy.

Perceptions of Spiritual Dryness in Iran During the COVID-19 Pandemic

National longitudinal evidence for growth in subjective well-being from spiritual beliefs

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