Associations between spirituality and mental health in women exposed to adversity.

Abstract

Urban women of color are at risk of experiencing intimate partner violence (IPV) and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). Both IPV and HIV are individually associated with negative psychological outcomes and spirituality has sometimes been linked to positive outcomes in the context of these adversities. Guided by syndemic theory, 155 women who were exposed to recent IPV and/or were living with HIV were interviewed for the present study. Women were recruited from community organizations in the United States Midsouth, serving survivors of IPV or individuals living with HIV. Hierarchical multiple regression with interaction terms was used to examine associations between demographics, HIV status, IPV severity, spirituality, and mental health symptomology (an average score of depressive, anxiety, and posttraumatic stress symptoms). The moderating effect of spirituality on the association between adversity (i.e., HIV and IPV) and mental health symptomology was also examined. Results revealed that women who were both living with HIV and experiencing severe IPV had greater mental health symptomology. Findings also revealed that spirituality moderated the HIV interaction, such that among women living with HIV high spirituality was associated with greater mental health symptomology. However, among women not living with HIV, higher spirituality was associated with lower mental health symptomology. Results of an IPV by spirituality and three-way interaction were not significant. Findings contribute to the literature by highlighting how spirituality is differentially associated with mental health among women exposed to adversity, suggesting the need for future research on how components of spirituality may relate to mental health.

Dispositional optimism, stress, post-traumatic stress disorder and post-traumatic growth in Greek general population facing the COVID-19 crisis

“…Indeed, when individuals experience helplessness during adverse life events, they will be oriented towards ways to better cope with. Spirituality has been largely examined, in particularly among women who have experienced domestic violence and they exhibit high levels of spirituality that buffer stress symptoms ( Kaufman, Thurston, Howell, & Crossnine, 2019 ).…”

Postnatal depression and its social-cultural influences among adolescent mothers: A cross sectional study

“…Therefore, prayer, or being engaged in a religious ritual, is used to cope with stressors. Prayer may also be used to seek God's intervention to change their partners' behaviors if they suffer abuse from partners or significant others [71,72]. Therefore, working with faith-based organizations and religious leaders in the community to create and evaluate mental illness prevention programs is essential.…”

Coping and Protective Factors of Mental Health: An Examination of African American and US Caribbean Black Women Exposed to IPV from a Nationally Representative Sample

“…Although there has been very limited examination of spirituality, religiosity, and resilience as coping and protective mechanisms of mental health among victims of abuse, in a sample of low-income African American women it was found that symptoms of depression and anxiety were mediated by spiritual well-being [ 49 ]. Kaufman and colleagues [ 50 ] found that women who experience IPV had a lower level of mental health symptoms when high spirituality was present. Likewise, resilience was found to partially mediate the relationship between perceived stress and severe depression among Black women who were exposed to sexual violence.…”