Spirituality and coping with life stress among adult survivors of childhood sexual abuse

Abstract

Objective The purpose of this study was to explore the role of spiritual coping in adult survivors’ responses to current life stressors. Although there has been research on general coping and adult survivors of childhood sexual abuse (CSA), there has been no work done on spiritual coping behaviour and survivors’ current adjustment. Method One hundred and one adult survivors of childhood sexual abuse volunteered to participate in this study. Survivors were recruited through advertisements placed in various community venues. Survivors completed questionnaires on abuse descriptors, the coping resources of social support and general cognitive appraisal, spiritual coping and current distress. Spiritual coping was assessed in relation to a current negative life event. Results In general, spiritual coping predicted the current distress of adult survivors beyond the contribution of demographics, severity of abuse, cognitive appraisal and support satisfaction. For example, self-directed ( β = .27), active surrender ( β = .32), and passive deferral ( β = −.35) significantly contributed to the prediction of anxious mood, [ F(15, 60) = 3.31, p < .0001], while only spiritual discontent ( β = .26) predicted depressive mood, [ F(15, 60) = 3.66, p < .0001] beyond the contribution of other factors. Negative forms of spiritual coping (e.g., spiritual discontent) tend to be related to greater distress, while more positive forms of spiritual coping (e.g., spiritual support) were related to less distress. For instance, spiritual discontent coping was related to greater depressive mood, while active surrender coping and religious forgiveness coping (i.e., seeking God's help to relinquish negative emotion) were associated with lower levels of depressive mood. Conclusions The results highlight the importance of making a distinction between negative and positive forms of spiritual coping when investigating the role of spirituality in the current life functioning of adult survivors of childhood sexual abuse.