Editorial: Religious/spiritual coping and adversity

Published online: 24 May 2022

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The experience of severe trauma shatters everyday assumptions about the world and calls for the provision of meaning. Religious and spiritual (R/S) frameworks may facilitate such meaning-making (Park & Ai, 2006), reinterpretation of negative events through a sacred lens and provide resources for coping in the wake of adversity. Initially, religious/spiritual coping was divided into two categories: positive entailing support and meaning from God and negative reflecting questioning, doubt and conflict. The former was generally associated with enhanced mental health indices, while the latter may be detrimental to mental health and may result in diminishing faith (Pargament, 1997). However, in recent years, researchers have used the term “religious/spiritual struggles” in place of negative religious/spiritual coping to make it clearer that the latter form of coping does not necessarily have negative implications (see Pargament & Exline, 2022 for review).

How are R/S feelings involved in responding to trauma? Many or all readers will be familiar with Allport's (1950) classic study of World War II combat veterans, and few would argue with his suggestions that some survivors suffered a loss of faith, while others reported the development of a more mature faith. The papers in this Special Issue of Mental Health, Religion & Culture focus on religious/coping in the context of adverse, major life stressors, and the effects of religious/spiritual coping on measures of well-being and distress, including PTSD.

PTSD (Post-traumatic stress disorder) has only relatively recently been identified as a result of trauma. The condition was formally recognised by the American Psychiatric Association (APA) in 1980 when PTSD was added to the anxiety disorders in the APA’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual, DSM-III (American Psychiatric Association, 1980). Prior to this, a wide range of synonyms was used to identify the effects of trauma: shock, combat fatigue, complete exhaustion, shattered, traumatised. An online thesaurus offers 18 synonyms for PTSD, post-traumatic stress disorder . PTSD is notoriously persistent and disabling, is now recognised as a significant causal factor in suicide and substance abuse, and probably other disorders. It is usually characterised by intrusive thoughts and often sleep disturbance, and mood and behaviour disturbance.

Religious devotees and professionals have struggled to identify and employ various religious/spiritual (R/S) coping strategies to deal with trauma (Pargament, 1997). Some of these feature in the articles in this special issue, as do some R/S outcomes. There are 12 articles which we organise roughly into three groups (with some overlaps): 1. R/S coping methods, 2. The effects of R/S coping on non- R/S factors, and 3. The effects of coping on R/S outcomes.

1. Religious / Spiritual coping methods

Four articles focus on positive R/S coping methods, particularly coping beliefs (Brown & Collicutt, 2022; Collicutt, 2022; Devassia & Gubi, 2022; McMartin & Hall, 2022). McMartin and Hall (2022) suggest that functional rather than causal views of suffering may strengthen (or be felt to strengthen) religious meaning-making. That is, thinking about what could be the result of all this may be more helpful than thinking about what made this happen – a contribution to the no-blame culture! McMartin and Hall (2022) identify and discuss eight Christian functional views of suffering. Devassia and Gubi (2022) offer a comparison of confession and counselling based on some expert professional testimony - from individuals who are qualified both as Roman Catholic priests and as counsellors. This article offers a careful expert discussion for those who might be wondering about the similarities and differences – do confession and counselling both help? How? In another approach, Brown and Collicutt (2022) look at one facet of a very popular R/S coping strategy, the use of R/S texts. Psalms 90, 91 and 92 are examined as a community’s attempt to cope with the aftermath of a society-wide trauma, such as national exile. The influence of such trauma on the composition of these Psalms is examined. The Psalms are studied in the framework of coping theory (Brown & Collicutt, 2022), and their application in contemporary community traumata is considered. Finally, in this section, Collicutt (2022) offers an examination of the visionary mystical quest of the Victorian polymath John Ruskin, arguing that his visions and artistic work show a continuity “if not a causal role” with the psychiatric symptoms he displayed as his mental health deteriorated. Whether a causal factor or simply an accompaniment to his mental illness or not, Ruskin’s work is still preserved in leading galleries such as the UK National and Tate galleries, and his artistic and other work is widely esteemed. This first group of articles offers an expanded and nuanced view of aspects of positive R/S coping. These articles provide a glimpse of the complexities of religious coping, some of the range of methods, and their possible effects.

2. The effects of Religious / Spiritual coping on non- Religious / Spiritual factors

The second group of papers comprises studies focussing on the effects of RS coping on non-RS factors, particularly measures of wellbeing and distress (Cowden et al., 2022; Jung et al., 2022; Kiyimba & Anderson, 2022; Krause & Rainville, 2022; Richardson et al., 2022). Cowden et al. (2022) looked at the role of positive religious coping in modifying the effects of resource loss during the Covid pandemic. Many individuals suffered resource losses during the covid pandemic – loss of family contact is a common and often tragic example. The outcome measured was suffering. At higher levels of positive religious coping, there were stronger associations between physical, interpersonal and psychological resource loss and suffering than at lower levels of religious coping. This effect was not apparent for economic resource loss. Jung et al. (2022) examined PTG (post-traumatic growth) and depression following interpersonal transgressions. Improvements in PTG were higher among those with lower levels of positive religious coping. No effects were reported for depression. Krause and Rainville (2022) provide an examination of an important set of coping beliefs in moderating the relationship between combat trauma and alcohol consumption. Alchol consumption following combat trauma is reduced by G-d-mediated control beliefs: beliefs that people can work together with G-d to deal with problems and develop plans to deal with them Richardson et al. (2022) studied women in the US military on active duty. They report an important finding which supports often-made religious claims: those who endorsed higher levels of spirituality reported lower levels of post-traumatic stress symptoms in the aftermath of high traumatic stress. Finally, Kiyimba and Anderson (2022) refreshes us with a paper from non-Western society: she describes Maori healing practices in dealing with the effects of trauma. In their account, these practices are far more holistic than in Western medicine and incorporate spiritual practices and beliefs. This second group of papers take us through a further range of coping practices, focussing on those shown to improve wellbeing following trauma, positive religious coping beliefs, sacred texts and non-Western spiritual rituals and beliefs.

3. The effects of coping on Religious / Spiritual outcomes

The final group of papers focuses on the effects of coping on RS outcomes, notably faith and spiritual growth (Dein, 2022; Loewenthal, 2022; Wilt & Exline, 2022). Wilt and Exline (2022) examined gratitude to G-d (GTG) in the context of negative events. They also compared their findings for negative events with those for positive life events. In the context of a negative event, pleasant feelings and the tendency to draw close to God when stressed predicted higher GTG, which in turn predicted higher perceived closeness to G-d (PCTG). The results were largely similar to the positive events. Loewenthal (2002) carried out trauma therapy on adult clients who had suffered a traumatic experience and reported PTSD symptoms, using Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing - EMDR (Shapiro, 2018). Those clients who had a religious background reported that prior to therapy, they had difficulty in summoning their religious faith (in coping). Their faith/trust in G-d had been restored following therapy. Those without any religious upbringing did not experience any restoration of faith. Loewenthal (2022) raises the question of whether this experienced restoration of faith is an aspect of PTG (post-traumatic growth) or a separate phenomenon. Dein (2022) looked at the role of theodicy in helping to protect or maintain the religious faith of individuals who had undergone very severe trauma in response to the unanswerable question: How could an omnipotent and just G-d allow this to happen? Four types of theodicy were identified from the narratives of concentration camp survivors, and their impact on faith maintenance was considered. This third group of papers provides a focus on two specific issues, both under-researched, and both important for wellbeing following trauma: overall theodicy, and gratitude to G-d – the latter might be seen as an important component of many theodicies.

The papers in this Special Issue of Mental Health, Religion & Culture offer important glimpses of the often-crucial roles played by R/S factors in traumatisation. These factors are often overlooked and may be regarded as ineffective and irrelevant, but may be essential for many individuals dealing with this dangerous, often lethal condition. However, more careful attention needs to be given. Finally, we are grateful to the authors, research participants and reviewers for their enthusiasm for the theme and work contained within this Special Issue.

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