Citation

McCormick WH, Carroll TD, Sims BM, Currier J. Ment. Health Relig. Cult. 2017; 20(10): 1042-1054.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2017, Informa - Taylor and Francis Group)

DOI

10.1080/13674676.2018.1440544

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Emerging research has documented greater risk for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and depression among young adults with prior adverse childhood experiences (ACEs). Building upon prior findings, we hypothesised that religious/spiritual (R/S) struggles may serve as an intervening pathway through which accumulation of ACEs impacts mental health symptom severity in this population. Young adults (N = 458) were recruited from a southeastern university to complete an online self-report survey that assessed for ACEs, lifetime trauma exposure, R/S struggles, PTSD and depressive symptomatology. Bivariate correlations yielded significant positive relationships between ACEs and all six types of R/S struggles, depression, and PTSD. Additionally, when accounting for non-childhood trauma exposure, the mediational analyses indicated an indirect effect of struggles with ultimate meaning on the well-establish association between ACEs and mental health symptoms. Clinical implications (such as the importance of fostering meaning making), study limitations, and future research directions are discussed.

Language: en

Keywords

Adverse childhood experiences; depression; posttraumatic stress disorder; religious/spiritual struggles; young adulthood