Religious meaning making and attachment in a disaster context: A longitudinal qualitative study of flood survivors

Davis, Edward B.; Kimball, Cynthia N.; Aten, Jamie D.; Andrews, Benjamin; Tongeren, Daryl R. Van; Hook, Joshua N.; Davis, Don E.; Granqvist, Pehr; Park, Crystal L.

doi:10.1080/17439760.2018.1519592

Cited by 42 publications

(52 citation statements)

References 33 publications

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“…Though our cross-sectional design cannot shed light on causality, our previous work has shown that difficulties with religious coping precede emotional concerns, and not the other way around (Pirutinsky et al 2011 ). Taken in aggregate, these findings highlight that certain facets of religion can have a key impact on adjustment, especially in times of crisis, as previous research has suggested (e.g., Aten et al 2019 ; Davis et al 2019a , b ).…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 77%

COVID-19, Mental Health, and Religious Coping Among American Orthodox Jews

2020

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The COVID-19 pandemic presents potential mental health challenges, and the American Orthodox Jewish population has been particularly affected by the virus. The current study assessed the impact of the pandemic and explored the relationships between exposure, religiosity, and distress in a sample of n = 419 American Orthodox Jews. Results indicated high levels of exposure, concern, and compliance with medical guidelines; however stress was generally low and we found evidence for positive impact. Direct exposure correlated with higher religiosity. Positive religious coping, intrinsic religiosity and trust in God strongly correlated with less stress and more positive impact, while negative religious coping and mistrust in God correlated with the inverse. While the study is limited by its design, findings highlight that for some, faith may promote resilience especially during crisis.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 77%

COVID-19, Mental Health, and Religious Coping Among American Orthodox Jews

2020

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“…Replicating Study 1 results, it again was rare for survivors to exhibit reliable growth (increase) in their general religiousness/spirituality and its subfacets (ranging from 0.44% [intrinsic religious motivation] to 11.40% [soul‐building theodicy]). It appears genuine R/S growth following a disaster is rare, despite survivors' common perception to the contrary (Aten et al, 2019; Davis, Kimball, Aten, Andrews, et al, 2019). This possibility is consistent with growing prospective evidence adversity does not tend to lead to R/S PTG (Mangelsdorf et al, 2019; Perera & Frazier, 2013).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Following a disaster, survivors often draw on their religion/spirituality to help them cope and make meaning (Aten et al, 2019; Park, 2016). Survivors also often report experiencing religious/spiritual (R/S) growth (Davis, Kimball, Aten, Andrews, et al, 2019; Smith, Pargament, Brant, & Oliver, 2000). Although R/S growth is one of the core domains of posttraumatic growth (PTG; Tedeschi & Calhoun, 1996), only a few empirical studies have focused on R/S growth following disasters (Aten et al, 2019).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…There has been extensive empirical research on perceived PTG following disasters, but very little has focused on the R/S domain of PTG following disasters. Extant longitudinal evidence suggests some key contributors to perceived R/S PTG following disasters are (a) positive religious coping, (b) benevolent theodicies (i.e., “beliefs about suffering that attempt to reconcile the manifestation of suffering in the world with a monotheistic view of an essentially benevolent deity,” Wilt, Exline, Lindberg, Park, & Pargament, 2017, p. 137), and (c) religious dispositions (Davis, Kimball, Aten, Andrews, et al, 2019). These findings are consistent with meta‐analytic evidence suggesting three of the strongest correlates of overall perceived PTG following trauma are positive religious coping, positive reappraisal coping, and general religiousness/spirituality (Prati & Pietrantoni, 2009).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…First, to date only one study of perceived versus actual PTG has focused on the PTG domain of religion/spirituality (Perera & Frazier, 2013), but that study only examined a small undergraduate sample ( N = 122). We will focus on the R/S domain because it is a core dimension of personality (Piedmont, 1999; Saraglou, 2002), and R/S growth is a common type of perceived PTG people report following disasters (Davis, Kimball, Aten, Andrews, et al, 2019; Park, 2016). Second, most extant research on R/S PTG (e.g., Boals et al, 2019; Perera & Frazier, 2013) has assessed R/S using either a measure of religious commitment or the R/S items from the PTGI/PTGI‐SF or C‐PTGI/C‐PTGI‐SF.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Perceived and actual posttraumatic growth in religiousness and spirituality following disasters

Davis

Tongeren

McElroy‐Heltzel

et al. 2019

Journal of Personality

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ObjectiveReligious/spiritual (R/S) growth is a core domain of posttraumatic growth (PTG). However, research on R/S growth following disasters has over‐relied on retrospective self‐reports of growth. We therefore examined longitudinal change in religiousness/spirituality following two disasters.MethodReligious survivors of Hurricanes Harvey (Study 1) and Irma (Study 2) completed measures of perceived R/S PTG, general religiousness/spirituality (“current standing”‐R/S PTG), and subfacets of religiousness/spirituality (spiritual fortitude, religious motivations, and benevolent theodicies). In Study 1, 451 participants responded at 1‐month and 2‐month postdisaster. In Study 2, participants responded within 5‐days predisaster and at 1‐month (N = 1,144) and 6‐months postdisaster (N = 684).ResultsIn both studies, perceived R/S PTG was weakly related to longitudinal increases in general religiousness/spirituality and in most of its subfacets, but reliable growth in any R/S outcome was rare. Additionally, Study 2 revealed evidence that actual change in psychological well‐being is associated with actual (but not perceived) R/S PTG, but disaster survivors tend to exhibit declines in their religiousness/spirituality, spiritual fortitude, and religious motivations.ConclusionsResults suggest disaster survivors are only modestly accurate in perceiving how much positive R/S change they experience following a disaster. We discuss implications for clinical practice, scientific research, and empirical and conceptual work on PTG more broadly.

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Understanding religious attachment among christians seeking spiritually integrated psychotherapies: A mixed methods study

et al. 2021

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Objective: This mixed methods study aimed to understand ways of viewing and experiencing religious attachment among Christians in spiritually integrated psychotherapies. Method: In total, 190 Christian-affiliated clients completed narrative responses about religious and parental attachment along with validated measures of spiritual and psychological functioning toward the start of treatment. Results: An inductive content analysis revealed ten ways in which clients were viewing and experiencing God. Although painful themes were expressed, clients more frequently discussed comforting themes related to religious attachment. Additional analyses demonstrated convergence with parental attachment and quantitative measures of spirituality and mental health. Conclusion: Religious attachment appears to primarily provide a sense of strength and comfort for Christians seeking care. Findings also indicate clients view and experience God in similar ways as their parents or caregivers. As such, assessing and affirming clients' faith may facilitate positive changes in how they view and experience themselves and others in treatment.

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Religious meaning making and attachment in a disaster context: A longitudinal qualitative study of flood survivors

Cited by 42 publications

References 33 publications

COVID-19, Mental Health, and Religious Coping Among American Orthodox Jews

COVID-19, Mental Health, and Religious Coping Among American Orthodox Jews

Perceived and actual posttraumatic growth in religiousness and spirituality following disasters

Understanding religious attachment among christians seeking spiritually integrated psychotherapies: A mixed methods study

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