Journal article
Conserving Resources During Chronic Disaster: Impacts of Religious and Meaning-Focused Coping on Botswana Drought Survivors
Psychological trauma, Vol.11(2), pp.137-146
02/01/2019
DOI: 10.1037/tra0000420
PMID: 30604986
Abstract
Objective: This study explored the trauma symptoms of those who have endured a multiyear drought in Botswana, an arid, pastoral, and primarily Christian Southern African nation. Particularly, this study used conservation of resources theory to consider the effects of disaster-related resource loss (DRL) and the psychology of religion literature to investigate the roles of religious or spiritual (R/S) and meaning-focused coping. Method: Three hundred undergraduates in Botswana completed culturally adapted measures of their DRL, positive and negative R/S coping, search for meaning in life (meaning-focused coping), lifetime trauma exposure, and current trauma symptoms. Data were collected in the 4th year of the record-setting drought. Results: Hierarchical regression analysis was used to add predictors sequentially and demonstrated that both DRL of energies (e.g., time, money) and coping behaviors (both negative R/S and meaning-focused) positively predicted current trauma symptoms beyond one's personal trauma exposure. Further, positive R/S coping was observed to moderate (buffer) the influence of DRL on trauma symptoms, whereas negative R/S and meaning-focused coping appeared to partially mediate the influence of DRL. Conclusion: This study extends research on DRL and coping to the context of chronic disasters. A nuanced treatment of resource loss (accounting for specific item wordings) suggests that although DRL in general may influence negative R/S coping, only some types of resource loss (energetic) from an ongoing-chronic disaster affect both one's current meaning-focused coping and trauma symptoms. In contrast to negative R/S coping behaviors (e.g., doubt), positive ones (e.g., seeking divine connection) were shown to mitigate those effects.
Details
- Title: Subtitle
- Conserving Resources During Chronic Disaster: Impacts of Religious and Meaning-Focused Coping on Botswana Drought Survivors
- Creators
- Laura R. Shannonhouse - Georgia State UniversityJacquelyn A. Bialo - Georgia State UniversityAaron R. Majuta - University of BotswanaMelissa R. Zeligman - Georgia State UniversityDon E. Davis - Georgia State UniversityStacey E. McElroy-Heltzel - Georgia State UniversityJamie D. Aten - Wheaton College - IllinoisEdward B. Davis - Wheaton Coll, Dept Psychol, Wheaton, IL 60187 USADaryl R. Van Tongeren - Hope CollegeJoshua N. Hook - University of North Texas
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Publication Details
- Psychological trauma, Vol.11(2), pp.137-146
- Publisher
- Educational Publishing Foundation-American Psychological Assoc
- DOI
- 10.1037/tra0000420
- PMID
- 30604986
- ISSN
- 1942-9681
- eISSN
- 1942-969X
- Number of pages
- 10
- Grant note
- 44040 / John Templeton Foundation Georgia State University Center for Stress, Trauma, Resilience
- Language
- English
- Date published
- 02/01/2019
- Academic Unit
- Psychological and Quantitative Foundations
- Record Identifier
- 9984371121102771
Metrics
7 Record Views