Religion and cognitive processing of trauma among newly returned US Iraq and Afghanistan veterans |
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| Authors: | Ross Lisman Joseph M. Currier J. Irene Harris |
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| Affiliation: | 1. Department of Clinical Psychology, Fuller Theological Seminary, Pasadena, CA, USA;2. Psychology Department, University of South Alabama, Mobile, AL, USA;3. Minneapolis Veterans Administration Healthcare System, Minneapolis, MN, USA;4. Department of Psychiatry, University of Minnesota Medical School, Minneapolis, MN, USA |
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| Abstract: | Religion can provide a powerful meaning-making framework that promotes adaptive processing of potentially traumatic events. However, spiritual strain or distress might be associated with maladaptive perceptions of the meaning of possible traumas. These theoretical propositions have yet to be tested in the empirical literature (to our knowledge). This study examined associations between adaptive and maladaptive religious factors – labelled “seeking religious support” and “spiritual distress” and cognitive processing of trauma in a sample of 90 Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans recently returned from deployments. Results indicated that seeking religious support was positively, and spiritual distress was negatively, associated with adaptive processing but neither were linked with maladaptive meanings of trauma in the presence of known covariates (posttraumatic stress, depression, combat exposure, and social support). These findings demonstrate that religious/spiritual beliefs and behaviours may affect how trauma is adaptively processed in the months following war-zone deployments. |
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| Keywords: | Cognitive processing trauma religion spirituality veteran |
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