Associations between trauma exposure, religious coping, and psychiatric distress in a community sample in Nairobi, Kenya

ABSTRACT

Adults (N = 703) in Nairobi, Kenya completed a screening survey in the aftermath of the postelection violence (PEV) of 2008. This study examined associations between exposure to PEV, prior trauma exposure, religious coping, and psychiatric distress. Results indicated a dose-response effect of the amount of PEV and prior trauma exposure on the severity of concurrent symptoms of psychiatric distress. Over 90% of the sample reported a religious affiliation, and the majority of participants also reported frequent use of religious coping strategies. However, there was no significant effect for the use of turning to religion as a form of coping on psychiatric distress. Study results aligned with existing research on the dose-response, cumulative effect of frequent exposure to trauma. Further research can investigate the nuanced ways that community members use their religion to cope.

KEYWORDS:

• Kenya
• postelection violence
• religious coping
• trauma exposure