Religious coping, perceived discrimination, and posttraumatic growth in an international sample of forcibly displaced Muslims

ABSTRACT

Displaced persons are exposed to trauma and experience posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTS). Many displaced Muslims come from communities that rely on religious practices to cope with traumatic experiences, and religious coping has been identified as predictive of posttraumatic growth (PTG). Discrimination may contribute to increased PTS and promote in-group identification. In this study, we hypothesized that perceived discrimination would enhance the relationship between religious coping and PTG. Results indicated that religious coping predicted PTG, but the overall interaction with discrimination was not significant. However, probing moderating effects at discrete levels of discrimination yielded enhanced relationship between religious coping and PTG at its mean and above until reaching the highest values of discrimination. For individuals who experience moderate to high levels of discrimination, religious coping increased PTG. These findings highlight the essential role of religious coping in promoting growth for many Muslims exposed to forced migration and elevated levels of discrimination.

KEYWORDS:

• Refugee
• trauma
• Islam
• PTSD
• religious coping

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the University of Washington Population Health Initiative (PI: Zoellner) and The National Institute of Mental Health under grant [R34MH112756].