Religiosity and Posttraumatic Stress Following Forced Relocation

In order to examine the role of religiosity in situations of extreme stress, such as forced relocation, 326 Israeli settlers who were evicted from the Gaza Strip by the government were tested for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), intrusion and avoidance, and religiosity and religious support. Approximately 40% of the subjects suffered from PTSD. No correlation was found between PTSD and religiosity or religious support. However, among very religious people, high religious support predicted lower PTSD, while among the moderately religious, high religious support predicted higher PTSD. In addition, religiosity measures were positively correlated with intrusion and negatively correlated with avoidance.