@article{ref1,
title="Perceived spiritual support counteracts the traumatic impact of extreme disasters: exploration of moderators",
journal="Psychological trauma: theory, research, practice, and policy",
year="2021",
author="Ai, Amy L. and Raney, Arthur A. and Paloutzian, Raymond F.",
volume="ePub",
number="ePub",
pages="ePub-ePub",
abstract="INTRODUCTION: Extreme disasters have increased exponentially in recent years and result in threats and traumatic reactions in communities globally. Humans turn to their existential relations for survival following disasters; yet, religion and spirituality (R/S) remains underinvestigated in disaster contexts, with most studies measuring general R/S concepts in Christian samples. To address the resulting gap, this study sought to (a) establish short form, disaster-specific scales of perceived spiritual support (PSS); (b) test the factor's relationships with mental health outcomes; and (c) explore moderators of those relationships. <br><br>METHOD: With strong community engagement, a culturally diverse sample (N = 566) completed an online survey after Hurricanes Maria and Michael (H-MM). Multivariate analyses established psychometric properties for 2 PSS short-form scales (PSSS-S1 and -S2) and revealed associations between and moderators of (disaster-related experiences and character strengths) the scales and 2 traumatic outcomes: posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and posttraumatic growth (PTG). <br><br>RESULTS: PSSS-S1 and -S2 demonstrated adequate reliability and validity. PSS was associated inversely with PTSD symptoms at a marginal level but positively and strongly with PTG. Character strengths moderated the link of PSS to PTSD but not PTG. Most disaster-related factors were associated with both outcomes. <br><br>CONCLUSIONS: The findings highlight the function of PSS in survival. PSSS-S1 and -S2 are adequate measures for rapid and cross-cultural data collection in extreme disasters. The differential associations of PSS and moderators with the 2 outcomes can be interpreted in light of 2 forms of well-being, which may have implications for theory, research, and practice in trauma psychology. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).<p /> <p>Language: en</p>",
language="en",
issn="1942-9681",
doi="10.1037/tra0001133",
url="http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/tra0001133"
}