The role of religiousness and spirituality in the prediction of positive and negative outcomes of traumatic war experiences

Fadilpašić, Senadin. (2016). The role of religiousness and spirituality in the prediction of positive and negative outcomes of traumatic war experiences. PhD Thesis. Filozofski fakultet u Zagrebu, Department of Psychology.
(Poslijediplomski doktorski studij psihologije) [mentor Knezović, Zvonimir].

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Abstract

War which happened in Bosnia and Herzegovina, during period of 1992-1995, implied severe traumatic expericences which were, by its' nature, harmfull for one's physical, social and psychological wellbeing. A large body of literature has been accumulated on how individual features and efforts to manage distressing problems shape psychological outcomes of stress. Research has shown, that both negative and positive long-term outcomes of traumatic events such as Posttraumatic stress disorder or posttraumatic growth are influenced by individual attributes, such as personal beliefs (religousness, spirituality), situational factors such as social support and postwar stresfull events as well as different coping strategies. That religiousness, spiritual experiences as well as religious coping are associated with both mental and physical health is firmly established within the scientific literature, particularly in the context of adversity. In general, the effects tend to be positive, including lower levels of PTSD and depressive symptoms, as well as increased well being, satisfaction with life and posttraumatic growth. Some previous research in this area acknowledge the contextual and dynamic view of the constructs of stress and coping, as postulated by Wilson's person–environment stress theory. This theory views personal and environmental features and processes of coping as important mediators of relationship between traumatic experience itself and various long-term outcomes. Research related to the processes and outcomes of coping with stress yet indicated mainly positive but sometimes also negative role of religiosity and spirituality in coping with stress. The aim of the research is to test the role of religion and spirituality in prediction of positive and negative long-term outcomes of trauma, regarding Wilson’s theory which is comprehensive enough in explanation of the complex dynamics of traumatic stress. The contribution of religiosity and spirituality, in the positive and negative outcomes occurring after a traumatic experience, were examined, in order to distinguish whether some people would be more or less resistant to the process of dealing with the trauma. Another aim of this research was to test models of complex relations between religiosity, spirituality and both positive (PTSD) and negative (posttraumatic growth) long-term outcomes of war traumatic experiences. The study included 359 residents of Sarajevo Canton who had survived traumatic experiences during the war. Snowball sampling method was utilised. Participants responded to questionnaires aimed to assess traumatic experiences, personal and environmental characteristics, coping strategies as well as positive and negative outcomes of traumatic experiences. Two hierarchical multiple regression analysis were employed in order to identify significant predictors of PTSD and posttraumatic growth. Also, path analysis were utilised to test the models of relations between religiosity, spirituality, religious coping, classical coping strategies and two long-term outcomes of war trauma. First regresion analysis revealed that characteristics of traumatic experience such as higher perceived stresfulness of traumatic events, exposure to post-war stressors, extrinsic religiousness, problem and emotion focused coping were significant predictors of PTSD. Role of spiritual experiences as well as religious coping were not significant in prediction of PTSD. Second regresion analysis revealed that characteristics of traumatic experience such as higher perceived stresfulness of traumatic events, religiousness, spiritual experiences, positive religious coping, problem focused and emotion focused coping were significant predictors of posttraumatic growth. In this research, four models of relations between religiousness, spirituality and long-term outcomes of traumatic experiences were tested. Two models tested direct effects of religiousness and spirituality upon long-term outcomes, while other two models tested mediating effects of religious and classical coping strategies. All models were directly comparable and tested against each other as two models of mediating effects of coping strategies were nested into two wider models indicating potential mediation of coping strategies as well as direct effects of religiousness and spirituality on positive and negative outcomes of war traumatic experiences. Results indicate that mediating models of both religiousness and spirituality with classical and religious coping strategies had shown significantly weaker fit to the empirical data then models of direct effects, even though both types of models had shown very good fit to the empirical data. In general, results show that both types of models were usefull in explanation of relationship between religiousness, spirituality and both negative and positive long-term outcomes of war trauma. Furthermore, path analysis confirmed significant mediating effect of both religious and classical coping strategies. Results of this research may be helpfull in creating psychological interventions with survivors of war trauma, because taking religiousness and spirituality into account might enable more holistic approach in treating posttraumatic adjustment among war survivors. Accordingly, psychological interventions which provide survivors of war trauma with spiritual and religious themes might help them strenghten psychological resillience which should enable destabilized individuals to become more functional and well adjusted during transitional processes in post-war communities.

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