Spirituality as a Buffer Between Traumatic Experience and Post-traumatic Stress

Abstract (300 words maximum)

According to the American Psychiatric Association, trauma can be defined as exposure to actual or threatened death, serious injury, or sexual violence, involving direct exposure, etc. As a result of experiencing trauma or a traumatic event, it can lead to symptoms consistent with a formal diagnosis of PTSD. PTSD can then arise from stressful events or situations “of exceptionally threatening or catastrophic nature, which is likely to cause pervasive distress in almost anyone” (WHO, 2016). Anxiety buffer disruption theory (ABDT), suggests that posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a result of the disruption of one’s anxiety-buffering mechanisms. This disruption can lead to overwhelming emotions, hyperawareness of one’s mortality, and wide-ranging reactions to traumatic events. However, the anxiety-buffer system mitigates the effects of potential terror, promotes posttraumatic growth (PTG), and is comprised of three components: cultural worldviews (e.g., spirituality), self-esteem, and social support. In some cases, depending upon the threshold of the PTSD, traumatic experiences can lead to one experiencing a spiritual awakening. A spiritual awakening is a term given to describe a subjective experience in which an individual’s ego transcends their ordinary, finite sense of self to encompass a wider, infinite sense of truth or reality (James, 1902/1985). Moreso, it has been seen recently within research that although trauma has been experienced there is still a relatively low prevalence of PTSD inn some due to “natural resilience”, often related to a survivors’ spiritual resources (Feurerstein, 1989; McClintock et al., 2016). A sample of N=300 individuals with above threshold PTSD symptomology (PCL-5 scores > 34) will be recruited via research panel to examine the relationship between spirituality, PTSD symptoms, and posttraumatic growth. Thus, we expect that individuals who have experienced a traumatic event who report higher spirituality will report lower PTSD symptoms and exhibit higher posttraumatic growth.

Academic department under which the project should be listed

RCHSS - Psychological Science

Primary Investigator (PI) Name

Tyler Collette

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Spirituality as a Buffer Between Traumatic Experience and Post-traumatic Stress

According to the American Psychiatric Association, trauma can be defined as exposure to actual or threatened death, serious injury, or sexual violence, involving direct exposure, etc. As a result of experiencing trauma or a traumatic event, it can lead to symptoms consistent with a formal diagnosis of PTSD. PTSD can then arise from stressful events or situations “of exceptionally threatening or catastrophic nature, which is likely to cause pervasive distress in almost anyone” (WHO, 2016). Anxiety buffer disruption theory (ABDT), suggests that posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a result of the disruption of one’s anxiety-buffering mechanisms. This disruption can lead to overwhelming emotions, hyperawareness of one’s mortality, and wide-ranging reactions to traumatic events. However, the anxiety-buffer system mitigates the effects of potential terror, promotes posttraumatic growth (PTG), and is comprised of three components: cultural worldviews (e.g., spirituality), self-esteem, and social support. In some cases, depending upon the threshold of the PTSD, traumatic experiences can lead to one experiencing a spiritual awakening. A spiritual awakening is a term given to describe a subjective experience in which an individual’s ego transcends their ordinary, finite sense of self to encompass a wider, infinite sense of truth or reality (James, 1902/1985). Moreso, it has been seen recently within research that although trauma has been experienced there is still a relatively low prevalence of PTSD inn some due to “natural resilience”, often related to a survivors’ spiritual resources (Feurerstein, 1989; McClintock et al., 2016). A sample of N=300 individuals with above threshold PTSD symptomology (PCL-5 scores > 34) will be recruited via research panel to examine the relationship between spirituality, PTSD symptoms, and posttraumatic growth. Thus, we expect that individuals who have experienced a traumatic event who report higher spirituality will report lower PTSD symptoms and exhibit higher posttraumatic growth.