Spiritual Maturity and Social Support in a National Study of a Male Religious Order

This national study analyzed the relationship of spiritual maturity and valued relationships with social support and life satisfaction using a random sample of male religious from one Roman Catholic order (N = 251). Four measures were used: (a) NEO-Five Factor Inventory (NEO-FFI; Costa & McCrae, 1992), (b) Spiritual Maturity Index (SMI; Ellison, 1983), (c) Social Support Appraisals Scale (SS-A; Vaux, et al., 1986), and (d) Satisfaction With Life Scale (SWLS; Diener, Emmons, Larsen, & Griffin, 1985). Hierarchical regression results showed that Spiritual Maturity was a significant predictor of Perceived Social Support (F (1, 237) = 20.662, p ≤ .001) and Life Satisfaction (F(1, 237) = 13.205, p ≤ .001). The study also showed that valued relationships inside (versus outside) the order predicted Life Satisfaction (F(1, 236) = 4.722, p ≤ .05). These findings demonstrate the importance of spiritual development and peer relationships as a way of enhancing vocational stability and satisfaction in male religious.     

Seeing the silver lining: potential benefits of trauma exposure in college students

In the current study we compare college students exposed to a potentially traumatic event (PTE) meeting self-report criteria for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), PTE-exposed students not meeting criteria for PTSD, and non-exposed students on measures of perceived social support, self-esteem, and optimism (i.e., personal resources) and report use of specific coping strategies. Results indicate that the PTE-exposed/probable PTSD group reported fewer personal resources, greater use of avoidance-focused coping, and less use of approach-focused coping than the other two groups. The PTE-exposed/no PTSD group reported greater perceived social support and less use of avoidance-focused coping than the non-exposed group. We discuss the findings' implications for the prevention and treatment of trauma-related psychopathology.