Trauma and Post-traumatic Growth: Spirituality and Self-compassion as Mediators Among Parents Who Lost Their Young Children in a Protracted Conflict

• Published in: Journal of religion and health Vol. 59; no. 5; pp. 2623 - 2637
• Main Authors: Khursheed, Masrat, Shahnawaz, Mohammad Ghazi
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York Springer 01.10.2020; Springer US; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Aging; Clinical Psychology; Compassion; Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; Original Paper; OTHER REGULAR PAPERS; Post-traumatic growth; Public Health; Religious Studies; Self compassion; Spirituality; Serial Mediation Effect; Spirituality; Self-Compassion; PTG; Trauma
• ISSN: 0022-4197; 1573-6571
• DOI: 10.1007/s10943-020-00980-2

The purpose of the present study was to expand the knowledge on trauma and posttraumatic growth (PTG) by exploring this relationship in parents who lost their children in Kashmir (India). The main aim of the present study was to examine whether spirituality and self-compassion mediate the relationship between trauma and PTG. Data were collected from 80 parents in the age range of 35-80 years (Mean Age = 52.09). Traumatic Grief scale Prigerson et al. (in Am J Psychiatry 154:616-623, 1997), Daily Spirituality Scale (Underwood and Teresi, Ann Behav Med 24(1):22-33, 2002), Self-Compassion Scale (Raes et al., Clin Psychol Psychoth 18:250-255, 2011), and PTG Inventory (Tedeschi and Calhoun, J Trauma Stress 9(3):455-471, 1996) scales were used to measure trauma, spirituality, selfcompassion, and PTG, respectively. Results of the study indicated the presence of average amount of spirituality and high amount of trauma among the participants. High level of self-compassion and post-traumatic growth was also found among the participants. The results showed that there is no significant direct relationship between trauma and PTG; however, both the indirect paths (trauma, spirituality, and PTG as well as trauma, self-compassion, and PTG) were found to be significant. The results of the present study supported serial mediation model of Trauma and PTG through spirituality and self-compassion. It implies that trauma would lead to spirituality which in turn would lead to self-compassion and which would finally result in PTG. The result provided another lens to see the relationship between trauma and PTG.