Top

Published in:

01-09-2011 | Original Paper

The Role of Religious Orientations in Youth’s Posttraumatic Symptoms After Exposure to Terror

Authors: Avital Laufer, Zahava Solomon

Published in: Journal of Religion and Health | Issue 3/2011

Abstract

This study examined the effect of religiosity on youth’s posttraumatic symptoms resulting from exposure to terror. Participants consisted of 1,973 Israeli high school students. Objective and subjective exposure (fear) to terror were positively associated with posttraumatic symptoms. Intrinsic religiosity was negatively associated with posttraumatic symptoms and found to decrease the effects of objective exposure. Personal extrinsic orientation and social extrinsic orientation were positively associated with posttraumatic symptoms, having no mediating effect. Theoretical implications regarding religiosity as a coping mechanism in light of exposure to terror are discussed.

Allport, G. W. (1963). Behavioral science, religion and mental health. Journal of Religion and Health, 2, 187–197.CrossRef

Allport, G. W., & Ross, M. J. (1967). Personal religious orientation and prejudice. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 5, 432–443.PubMedCrossRef

Benson, P. L., Donahue, M. J., & Erickson, J. A. (1989). Adolescence and religion: A review of the literature from 1970 to 1986. Research in the Social Scientific Study of Religion, 1, 153–181.

Bergin, A. E. (1983). Religiosity and mental health: A critical reevaluation and meta-analysis. Professional psychology, research and practice, 14, 170–184.CrossRef

Bonnano, G. A., & Jost, H. T. (2006). Conservation shift among high-exposure survivors of the September 11th terrorist attacks. Basic Applied Social Psychology, 28, 311–323.CrossRef

Bridge, L. J., & Moore, K. A. (2002). Religious involvement and children’s well being: What research tells us (and what it doesn’t). Child trends research brief. Washington DC: Child Trends.

Bryd, K. R., Hageman, A., & Isle, D. B. (2007). Intrinsic motivation and subjective well being: The unique contribution of intrinsic religious motivation. International Journal for the Psychology of Religion, 17, 141–156.CrossRef

Dezutter, J., Soenens, B., & Hutsebaut, D. (2006). Religiosity and mental health: A further exploration of the relative importance of religious behaviors vx. Religious attitudes. Personality and Individual Differences, 40, 807–818.CrossRef

Durakovic-Belko, E., Kulenovic, & Dapic, R. (2003). Determinants of posttraumatic adjustment in adolescents from Sarajevo who experienced war. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 59, 27–40.PubMedCrossRef

Ellison, C. G., Boardman, J. D., Williams, D. R., & Jackson, J. S. (2001). Religious involvement, stress, and mental health: Findings from the 1995 Detroit area study. Social Forces, 80, 215–249.CrossRef

Fisher, P., Greitemeyer, T., Kastenmuller, A., Jonas, E., & Frey, D. (2006). Coping with terrorism: The impact of increased salience of terrorism on mood and self-efficacy of intrinsically religious and nonreligious people. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 32, 365–377.CrossRef

Frederick, C., & Pynoos, R. S. (1988). Child post-traumatic stress reaction index. Los Angeles: University of California, Los Angeles Neuropsychiatric Institute and Hospital.

Gold, P. B., Engdahl, B. E., Eberly, R. E., Blake, R. J., Page, W. F., & Frueh, B. C. (2000). Trauma exposure, resilience, social support, and PTSD construct validity among former prisoners of war. Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology, 35, 36–42.PubMedCrossRef

Gorsuch, R. L., & McPherson, S. E. (1989). Intrinsic/extrinsic measurement: I/E revised and single-item scales. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, 28, 348–358.CrossRef

Hackney, C. H., & Sanders, G. S. (2003). Religiosity and mental health: A meta-analysis of recent studies. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, 42, 43–55.CrossRef

Hoven, C. W., Duarte, C. S., & Mandell, D. J. (2003). Children’s mental health after disasters: The impact of the world trade center attack. Current Psychiatry Reports, 5, 101–107.PubMedCrossRef

Janoff-Bulman, R. (2004). Posttraumatic growth: Three explanatory models. Psychological Inquiry, 15, 30–34.

Johnson, H., & Thompson, A. (2008). The development and maintenance of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in civilian adult survivors of war trauma and torture: A review. Clinical Psychology Review, 28, 36–41.PubMedCrossRef

Jonas, E., & Fischer, P. (2006). Terror management and religion: Evidence that intrinsic Religiousness mitigates worldview defense following mortality salience. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 91, 553–567.PubMedCrossRef

Khouzam, H. R. (2000). Religious meditation and its effect on posttraumatic stress disorder in a Korean War veteran. Clinical Gerontologist, 22, 125–131.

Koenig, H. G. (2001). Religion and medicine II: Religion, mental health and related behaviors. International Journal of Psychiatry in Medicine, 31, 97–109.PubMedCrossRef

Lavi, T., & Solomon, Z. (2005). Palestinian youth of the Intifada: PTSD and future orientation. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 44, 1176–1183.PubMedCrossRef

Leong, F. T. L., & Zachar, P. (1990). An evaluation of Allport’s religious orientation scale across one Australian and two United States samples. Educational and Psychological Measurement, 50, 359–368.CrossRef

Lesniak, K. T., Rudman, W., Rector, M. B., & Elkin, T. D. (2006). Psychological distress, stressful life events and religiosity in younger African American adults. Mental Health Religion and Culture, 9, 15–28.CrossRef

Lewis, C. A., Maltby, J., & Day, L. (2005). Religious orientation, religious coping and happiness among UK adults. Personality and Individual Differences, 38, 1193–1202.CrossRef

Maltby, J. (1999). The internal structure of a derived, revised, and amended measure of the religious orientation scale: The “age-universal” I-E Scale-12. Social Behavior and Personality, 27, 407–412.CrossRef

Maltby, J., & Day, L. (2000). Depressive symptoms and religious orientation: Examining the relationship between religiosity and depression within the context of other correlates of depression. Personality and Individual Differences, 28, 383–393.CrossRef

Maltby, J., & Day, L. (2003). Religious orientation, religious coping and appraisals of stress: Assessing primary appraisal factors in the relationship between religiosity and psychological well-being. Personality and Individual Differences, 34, 1209–1224.CrossRef

McIntosh, D. M., Silver, R. C., & Wortman, C. B. (1993). Religion’s role in adjustment to negative life events: Coping with the loss of a child. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 65, 812–821.PubMedCrossRef

Milevsky, A., & Levitt, M. J. (2004). Intrinsic and extrinsic religiosity in preadolescence and adolescence: Effect on psychological adjustment. Mental Health Religion and Culture, 7, 307–321.CrossRef

Nad, S., Marinko, D., Vuksan-AEusa, B., Jakovijevic, M., & Jakovijevic, G. (2008). Spiritual well being, intrinsic religiosity and suicidal behavior in predominantly Catholic Croatian war veterans with chronic posttraumatic stress disorder: A case control study. Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, 196, 79–83.PubMedCrossRef

Nader, K. O., Pynoos, R. S., Fairbanks, L. A., Al-Ajeel, M., & Al-Asfour, A. (1993). A preliminary study of PTSD and grief among the children of Kuwait following the Gulf crisis. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 32, 407–416.CrossRef

Nzita Di Makwala, M. (2008). Overcoming the ordeals of war: An exploration of resiliency factors among children in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Dissertation Abstracts International, Section B, The Sciences and Engineering, 68(8-B), 5585.

Overcash, W. S., Calhoun, L. G., Cann, A., & Tedeschi, R. G. (1996). Coping with crises: An examination of the impact of traumatic events on religious beliefs. The Journal of Genetic Psychology, 157, 455–464.PubMedCrossRef

Pargament, K. I., Koenig, H. G., & Perez, L. M. (2000). The many methods of religious coping: Development and initial validation of the RCOPE. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 56, 519–543.PubMedCrossRef

Park, C. L. (2005). Religion as a meaning-making framework in coping with life stress. Journal of Social Issues, 61, 707–729.CrossRef

Payne, R. P., Bergin, A. E., Bielema, K. A., & Jenkins, P. H. (1991). Review of religion and mental health: Prevention and the enhancement of psychological functioning. Prevention in Human Services, 9, 11–40.

Pfefferbaum, B., DeVoe, E. R., Stuber, J., Schiff, M., Klein, T. P., & Fairbrother, G. (2005). Psychological impact of terrorism and families in the United States. In Y. Danieli, D. Brom, & J. Sills (Eds.), The trauma of terrorism sharing knowledge and shared care, an international handbook (pp. 305–317). Binghamton, NY: Haworth Press.

Pine, D. S., & Cohen, J. A. (2002). Trauma in children and adolescents: Risk and treatment of psychiatric sequelae. Biological Psychiatry, 51, 519–531.PubMedCrossRef

Punamaki, R. L., Kanninen, K., Qouta, S., & El-Sarraj, E. (2002). The role of psychological defenses in moderating between trauma and posttraumatic symptoms among Palestinian men. International Journal of Psychology, 37, 286–296.CrossRef

Qouta, S., Punamaki, R. L., & El Sarraj, E. (2003). Prevalence and determinants of PTSD among Palestinian children exposed to military violence. Child Adolescence Psychiatry;, 12, 265–272.CrossRef

Saab, B. R., Chaaya, M., Doumit, M., & Farhood, L. (2003). Predictors of psychological distress in Lebanese hostages of war. Social Science and Medicine, 57, 1249–1257.PubMedCrossRef

Salsman, J. M., Brown, T. L., Brechting, E. H., & Carlson, C. R. (2005). The link between religion and spirituality and psychological adjustment: The mediating role of optimism and social support. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 31, 522–534.PubMedCrossRef

Schiff, M. (2006). Living in the shadow of terrorism: Psychological distress and alcohol use among religious and non-religious adolescents in Jerusalem. Social Science and Medicine, 62, 2301–2312.PubMedCrossRef

Scholte, W. F., Olff, M., Ventevogel, P., de Vries, G. J., Jansveld, E., Lopes-Cardozo, B., et al. (2004). Mental health symptoms following war and repression in Eastern Afghanistan. Journal of the American Medical Association, 292, 585–593.PubMedCrossRef

Schuster, M. A., Stein, B. D., Jaycox, L. H., Collins, R. L., Marshall, G. N., Elliott, M. N., et al. (2001). A national survey of stress reactions after the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. New England Journal of Medicine, 345, 1507–1512.PubMedCrossRef

Schwartzwald, J., Weisenberg, M., Waysman, M., Solomon, Z., & Klingman, A. (1993). Stress reactions of school-age children to the bombardment by Scud missles. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 102, 404–410.CrossRef

Solomon, Z., & Berger, R. (2005). Coping with the aftermath of terror–resilience of ZAKA body handlers. Journal of aggression, maltreatment and trauma, 10, 593–604.CrossRef

Solomon, Z., & Lavi, T. (2005). Israeli youth in the second Intifada: PTSD and future orientation. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 44, 1167–1175.PubMedCrossRef

Soroszki, H. (1996). The relationship between values and coping with stress among religious and secular Jews. MA Thesis, Bar-Ilan University.

Stein, A. L., Giao, Q. T., Lund, L. M., Haji, U., Dashevsky, B. A., & Baker, D. G. (2005). Correlates for posttraumatic stress disorder in Gulf War veterans: A retrospective study of main and moderating effects. Journal of Anxiety Disorders, 19, 861–876.PubMedCrossRef

Stephens, C., & Long, N. (1999). Posttraumatic stress disorder in the New Zealand Police: The moderating role of social support following traumatic stress. Anxiety, Stress, and Coping, 12, 247–264.CrossRef

Taylor, A. J. W., Nailatikau, E., & Walkey, F. H. (2002). A hostage trauma in Fiji. Australasian Journal of Disaster and Trauma Studies, 6, ISSN: 1174–4707.

Thabet, A. A. M., Abed, Y., & Vostanis, P. (2002). Emotional problems in Palestinian children living in a war zone: A cross-sectional study. Lancet, 359, 1801–1804.PubMedCrossRef

Thabet, A. A. M., & Vostanis, P. (1999). Post traumatic stress reactions in children of war. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry and Allied Disciplines, 40, 385–391.CrossRef

Ullman, S. E., & Filipas, H. H. (2001). Predictors of PTSD symptom severity and social reactions in sexual assault victims. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 14, 369–389.PubMedCrossRef

Wenger, J. L. (2004). The automatic activation of religious concepts: Implications for religious orientations. The International Journal for the Psychology of Religion, 14, 109–123.CrossRef

Wenger, J. L. (2007). The implicit nature of intrinsic religious pursuit. The International Journal for the Psychology of Religion, 17, 47–60.

Title: The Role of Religious Orientations in Youth’s Posttraumatic Symptoms After Exposure to Terror
Authors: Avital Laufer
Zahava Solomon
Publication date: 01-09-2011
Publisher: Springer US
Published in: Journal of Religion and Health / Issue 3/2011
Print ISSN: 0022-4197
Electronic ISSN: 1573-6571
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10943-009-9270-x

At a glance: The ONWARDS insulin icodec trials

Springer Medicine

The Role of Religious Orientations in Youth’s Posttraumatic Symptoms After Exposure to Terror

Abstract

At a glance: The ONWARDS insulin icodec trials

Springer Medicine

Abstract

Please log in to get access to this content

Other articles of this Issue 3/2011

Non-organizational Religious Participation, Subjective Religiosity, and Spirituality among Older African Americans and Black Caribbeans

A Theoretical Model of the Holistic Health of United Methodist Clergy

Psychometric Testing of the Daily Spiritual Experiences Scale Among African Americans in the Jackson Heart Study

Diffusing the Clash of Otherness in Projective and Complex-Discharging Fields

Homonegativity and its Relationship to Religiosity, Nationalism and Attachment Style

Paul Tillich and Psychoanalysis