Skip to main content
Key Specialties
Cardiology Diabetology Endocrinology Gastroenterology Geriatrics and Gerontology Gynecology and Obstetrics Hematology Infectious Disease Internal Medicine Nephrology Neurology Oncology Pediatrics Respiratory Medicine Rheumatology Surgery
Congress Coverage
2024 ACC Congress 2023 ESMO Congress 2023 EASD Congress 2023 ERS Congress 2023 ESC Congress 2023 EHA Congress 2023 ASCO Annual Meeting
Clinical Collections
Advances in Alzheimer’s

At a glance: The ONWARDS insulin icodec trials

A round-up of the ONWARDS phase 3 clinical trials evaluating the novel weekly insulin icodec in people with diabetes.
ADVANCED SEARCH
Log in
Top
Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology
Published in: Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology 10/2011

Open Access 01-10-2011 | Original Paper

Changes in religious beliefs and the relation of religiosity to posttraumatic stress and life satisfaction after a natural disaster

Authors: Ajmal Hussain, Lars Weisaeth, Trond Heir

Published in: Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology | Issue 10/2011

Login to get access

Abstract

Objective

To study changes in religious beliefs and predictors of such changes in a community sample exposed to a natural disaster, and to investigate whether religiosity was linked to post-disaster mental distress or life satisfaction.

Methods

An adult population of 1,180 Norwegian tourists who experienced the 2004 tsunami was surveyed by a postal questionnaire 2 years after the disaster. Data included religiosity, disaster exposure, general psychopathology, posttraumatic stress and life satisfaction.

Results

Among the respondents, 8% reported strengthening and 5% reported weakening of their religious beliefs. Strengthening was associated with pre-tsunami mental health problems (OR: 1.82, 95% CI: 1.12–2.95) and posttraumatic stress (OR: 1.62, 95% CI: 1.22–2.16). Weakening was associated with younger age (OR: 0.98, 95% CI: 0.96–1.00) and posttraumatic stress (OR: 1.72, 95% CI: 1.23–2.41). Two years after the tsunami, 11% of the sample considered themselves to be positively religious. There were no significant differences in posttraumatic stress, general psychopathology or life satisfaction between religious and non-religious groups.

Conclusions

Religion did not play an important role in the lives of Norwegian tsunami survivors in general. Respondents who had the greatest disaster exposure were more likely to report changes in religious beliefs in both directions. Religious beliefs did not prevent post-disaster long-term mental distress, and religiosity was not related to higher levels of life satisfaction.
Literature
1.
Ai AL, Park CL (2005) Possibilities of the positive following violence and trauma: informing the coming decade of research. J Interpers Violence 20:242–250PubMedCrossRef
2.
Baetz M, Griffin R, Bowen R, Koenig HG, Marcoux E (2004) The association between spiritual and religious involvement and depressive symptoms in a Canadian population. J Nerv Ment Dis 192:818–822PubMedCrossRef
3.
Blazer DG (2007) Section introduction: spirituality, depression and suicide. South Med J 100:733–734PubMedCrossRef
4.
Brugha TS, Cragg D (1990) The list of threatening experiences: the reliability and validity of a brief life events questionnaire. Acta Psychiatr Scand 82:77–81PubMedCrossRef
5.
Calhoun LG, Tedeschi RG (2006) The handbook of posttraumatic growth: research and practice. Lawrence Erlbaum, Mahwah
6.
Cantril H (1965) The pattern of human concerns. Rutgers University Press, New Brunswick
7.
Carmil D, Breznitz S (1991) Personal trauma and world view: are extremely stressful experiences related to political attitudes, religious beliefs, and future orientation? J Trauma Stress 4:393–405CrossRef
8.
Chen YY, Koenig HG (2006) Traumatic stress and religion: is there a relationship? A review of empirical findings. J Relig Health 45:371–381CrossRef
9.
Danbolt LJ, Stifoss-Hanssen H (2007) [Memorial services after major accidents] [Article in Norwegian, English abstract]. Tidsskr Nor Laegeforen 127:157–160PubMed
10.
Davidson JR, Connor KM, Lee LC (2005) Beliefs in karma and reincarnation among survivors of violent trauma: a community survey. Soc Psychiatr Epidemiol 40:120–125CrossRef
11.
Drescher KD, Foy DW (1995) Spirituality and trauma treatment: suggestions for including spirituality as a coping resource. NCP Clin Q 5:4–5
12.
Edlund MJ, Harris KM, Koenig HG, Han X, Sullivan G, Mattox R, Tang L (2009) Religiosity and decreased risk of substance use disorders: is the effect mediated by social support or mental health status? Soc Psychiat Epidemiol (Published online ahead of print Aug 28, 2009)
13.
Falsetti SA, Resick PA, Davis JL (2003) Changes in religious beliefs following trauma. J Trauma Stress 16:391–398PubMedCrossRef
14.
Fontana A, Rosenheck R (2004) Trauma, change in strength of religious faith, and mental health service use among veterans treated for PTSD. J Nerv Ment Dis 192:579–584PubMedCrossRef
15.
16.
Gartner J, Larson DB, Allen GD (1991) Religious commitment and mental health: a review of the empirical literature. J Psychol Theol 19:6–25
17.
Goldberg DP, Hillier VF (1979) A scaled version of the General Health Questionnaire. Psychol Med 9:139–145PubMedCrossRef
18.
Hackney CH, Sanders GS (2003) Religiosity and mental health: a meta-analysis of recent studies. J Sci Stud Relig 42:43–55CrossRef
19.
20.
Harrison MO, Koenig HG, Hays JC, Eme-Akwari AG, Pargament KI (2001) The epidemiology of religious coping: a review of recent literature. Int Rev Psychiatry 13:86–93CrossRef
21.
Heir T, Piatigorsky A, Weisaeth L (2009) Longitudinal changes in recalled perceived life threat after a natural disaster. Br J Psychiatry 194:510–514PubMedCrossRef
22.
Heir T, Sandvik L, Weisaeth L (2009) Hallmarks of posttraumatic stress: symptom z scores in a tsunami-affected tourist population. Psychopathology 42:157–164PubMedCrossRef
23.
Heir T, Weisaeth L (2008) Acute disaster exposure and mental health complaints of Norwegian tsunami survivors six months post disaster. Psychiatry 71:266–276PubMed
24.
Hill PC, Pargament KI (2003) Advances in the conceptualization and measurement of religion and spirituality: implications for physical and mental health research. Am Psychol 58:64–74PubMedCrossRef
25.
Hussain A, Weisaeth L, Heir T (2009) Nonresponse to a population-based postdisaster postal questionnaire study. J Trauma Stress 22:324–328PubMedCrossRef
26.
Idler EL, Musick M, Ellison CG, George LK, Ory M, Pargament KI, Powell LH, Underwood L, Williams D (2001) Measuring multiple dimensions of religion and spirituality for health research: conceptual background and findings from the 1998 general social survey. GSS topical report no. 33, July 2001
27.
Koenig HG, Larson DB (2001) Religion and mental health: evidence for an association. Int Rev Psychiatry 13:67–78CrossRef
28.
Linley PA, Joseph S (2004) Positive change following trauma and adversity: a review. J Trauma Stress 17:11–21PubMedCrossRef
29.
Matthews DA, McCullough ME, Larson DB, Koenig HG, Swyers JP, Milano MG (1998) Religious commitment and health status: a review of the research and implications for family medicine. Arch Fam Med 7:118–124PubMedCrossRef
30.
Niaz U (2006) Role of faith and resilience in recovery from psychotrauma. Pak J Med Sci 22:204–207
31.
Overcash WS, Calhoun LG, Cann A, Tedeschi RG (1996) Coping with crises: an examination of the impact of traumatic events on religious beliefs. J Genet Psychol 157:455–464PubMedCrossRef
32.
Pargament KI (1997) The psychology of religion and coping: theory, research, practice. Guilford Press, New York
33.
Pargament KI, Ensing KF, Olsen H, Reilly B, van Haitsma K, Warren R (1990) God help me: (I): Religious coping efforts as predictors of the outcomes to significant negative life events. Am J Commun Psychol 18:798–824CrossRef
34.
Park CL (2005) Religion as a meaning-making framework in coping with life stress. J Soc Issues 61:707–729CrossRef
35.
Schuster MA, Stein BD, Jaycox L, Collins RL, Marshall GN, Elliott MN, Zhou AJ, Kanouse DE, Morrison JL, Berry SH (2001) A national survey of stress reactions after the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. N Engl J Med 345:1507–1512PubMedCrossRef
36.
Schwartzberg SS, Janoff-Bulman R (1991) Grief and the search for meaning: exploring the assumptive worlds of bereaved college students. J Soc Clin Psychol 10:270–288CrossRef
37.
Shaw A, Joseph S, Linley PA (2005) Religion, spirituality, and posttraumatic growth: a systematic review. Ment Health Relig Cult 8:1–11CrossRef
38.
Torbjørnsen T, Stifoss-Hanssen H, Abrahamsen AF, Hannisdal E (2000) Cancer and religiosity—a follow up of patients with Hodgkin’s disease [Article in Norwegian, English abstract]. Tidsskr Nor Laegeforen 120:346–348PubMed
39.
Weiss DS (2004) The impact of event scale–revised. In: Wilson JP, Keane TM (eds) Assessing psychological trauma and PTSD, 2nd edn. Guilford, New York
40.
Wilson JP, Moran TA (1998) Psychological trauma: posttraumatic stress disorder and spirituality. J Psychol Theol 26:168–178
41.
Zuckerman DM, Kasl SV, Ostfeld AM (1984) Psychosocial predictors of mortality among the elderly poor: the role of religion, well-being, and social contacts. Am J Epidemiol 119:410–423PubMed
Metadata
Title
Changes in religious beliefs and the relation of religiosity to posttraumatic stress and life satisfaction after a natural disaster
Authors
Ajmal Hussain
Lars Weisaeth
Trond Heir
Publication date
01-10-2011
Publisher
Springer-Verlag
Published in
Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology / Issue 10/2011
Print ISSN: 0933-7954
Electronic ISSN: 1433-9285
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/s00127-010-0270-7

Other articles of this Issue 10/2011

Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology 10/2011 Go to the issue

Original Paper

Attempted suicide in mental disorders in young adulthood

Original Paper

Chronic somatic complaints in adolescents: prevalence, predictive validity of the parent reports, and associations with social class, health status, and psychosocial distress

Original Paper

Structural models of the comorbidity of internalizing disorders and substance use disorders in a longitudinal birth cohort

Original Paper

What makes community psychiatric nurses label non-psychotic chronic patients as ‘difficult’: patient, professional, treatment and social variables

Original Paper

Anxiety, mood, and substance use disorders in United States African-American public housing residents

Original Paper

Perceived need for mental health care and barriers to care in the Netherlands and Australia