https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1875-296X
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ABSTRACT
We used two waves of longitudinal data from a sample of South Africans (n = 274) to examine whether religious/spiritual (R/S) struggles following an interpersonal transgression might lead to both pain (i.e., depression) and gain (i.e., perceived posttraumatic growth) six months later. We also explored the role of positive R/S coping in modifying each of these associations. After adjusting for a variety of covariates and prior values of the respective outcome assessed at baseline, the results indicated that R/S struggles were associated with a small increase in depression and perceived posttraumatic growth six months later. Positive R/S coping moderated the association between R/S struggles and perceived posttraumatic growth (but not depression), with R/S struggles yielding a stronger positive association with perceived posttraumatic growth at lower levels of positive R/S coping. We discuss some implications of our findings for supporting people who encounter R/S struggles in the aftermath of interpersonal transgressions.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).
Correction Statement
This article has been republished with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.
Notes
1 Interpersonal transgressions were coded into thematic categories (see Table S1 for summary statistics). The transgressions that were most common included inappropriate communication (34.31%), betrayal (25.91%), and insensitive behavior (19.34%).
2 One participant had a missing response to a single depression item at W1. The W1 depression score for this participant was based on the average of their responses to the other five items. The results for the primary analysis involving depression remained the same when this participant was omitted.