Measuring post-traumatic changes in spirituality/religiosity

Abstract

Changes in spirituality and religiosity may play a vital role in understanding individuals’ post-traumatic growth, the experience of positive outcomes from difficult or traumatic personal experience. Although assessment of post-traumatic growth has been addressed by the development of several measures, these measures fail to capture the domain of spiritual/religious change. In this manuscript, we review 12 quantitative measures of post-traumatic growth, focusing on the degree to which these measures allow an adequate assessment of changes in religiosity and/or spirituality. We consider these concepts in the context of understanding the role of these domains in post-traumatic growth and in facilitating clients’ transitions through adversity.

Keywords:

• post-traumatic changes
• growth
• spirituality
• religiosity

Acknowledgements

Preparation of this manuscript was supported by a grant to the third author from the Iowa Measurement Research Foundation, Iowa City, Iowa.