Religious and Spiritual Struggles and Mental Health Following a Disaster: The Moderating Role of Spiritual Fortitude

Survivors of disasters or traumatic experiences often experience religious/spiritual (R/S) and mental health consequences (e.g., anxiety, depression). In coping with these negative experiences, people draw on a variety of coping strategies. Past research highlights the role of R/S coping as an important factor for navigating disasters, traumatic experiences, and R/S struggles. One promising, newly researched R/S coping strategy is spiritual fortitude (SF), which refers to one's ability to draw on transcendent, spiritual resources to deal with negative emotions when facing severe stressors. In this study, we recruited 295 adults who reported experiencing a disaster. Results suggested that resource loss was positively associated with both R/S struggles and mental health symptoms. Furthermore, SF moderated the relationship between resource loss and (a) R/S struggles and (b) post-traumatic stress disorder, but not the relationships between resource loss and (a) anxiety or (b) depression. We discussed limitations, areas for future research, and practical implications.