Perceived and actual posttraumatic growth in religiousness and spirituality following disasters

Abstract

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.

Psychological and spiritual outcomes during the COVID-19 pandemic: A prospective longitudinal study of adults with chronic disease.

“…In this stratified sample of U.S. adults with chronic diseases (selected to parallel the national, chronically ill population in gender, race/ethnicity, region, and religious affiliation but which was older in age and higher in socioeconomic status), there was little evidence of meaningful change in psychological or spiritual outcomes during the first 3 months of the pandemic. Results align with prior prospective longitudinal studies of natural disasters (Davis et al, 2021) and the COVID-19 pandemic (Luchetti et al, 2020;Velden et al, 2020;Wang et al, 2020), which have found relatively stable trajectories of psychological and spiritual outcomes following disasters.…”

Psychological Impact of COVID-19 Epidemic on Adolescents: A Large Sample Study in China

“…This was consistent with a recent study that revealed a higher level of warmth in parenting to be a possible mechanism facilitating PTG in the child's response to traumatic events ( 25 ). Furthermore, according to the PTG theoretical model ( 6 ), a “good peer relationship” was proposed for trauma intervention. Peer support providing a new cognitive schema or a new perspective on trauma may be conducive to reducing feelings of isolation ( 28 ).…”

“…The post-traumatic Growth Inventory (PTGI) was used to measure the positive changes of the participants during the COVID-19 epidemic, which was developed by Tedeschi and Calhoun ( 6 ). The scale included 21 items rated on a six-point scale ranging from 0 (no change) to 5 (very great degree of change).…”

“…Although the sudden outbreak of COVID-19 resulted in negative consequences, positive changes were also observed in adolescents as an adaptive response to this global crisis. As proposed by Tedeschi and Calhoun (1995), posttraumatic growth (PTG) occurs after a potentially traumatic event, leading to enhanced personal strength, openness to new possibilities, deeper relationships with others, greater appreciation of life, and spiritual development (6). During the pandemic, adolescents quickly adapted to the online learning style, improved their selfsufficiency skills, and were more appreciative of their health, family, friends, and life.…”

Toward a More Credible Understanding of Post‐Traumatic Growth

“…What is the value of beliefs about growth following adversity? Davis et al (in press) examined this question with a focus on the perspective of spiritual growth in the wake of two natural disasters. The authors found that participants were typically not accurate in their perceptions of change when compared to their actual assessed change (corroborating past work by Blackie et al, 2017; Frazier et al, 2009; Owenz & Fowers, 2019).…”