2025 Theses Doctoral

An Investigation of Spiritual Decline and Posttraumatic Stress and Wellness

Crete, Abigail

Previous research has documented the wide prevalence and significant negative public health consequences of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). However, not all individuals who experience a traumatic event go on to develop PTSD. While several risk and resilience factors have been identified for the development of post traumatic stress (PTS) symptoms, including spirituality and the phenomenon of post-traumatic spiritual growth, very little research has explored whether and to what extent spiritual decline may contribute to its etiology.

This dissertation explores the unique role of spiritual decline in PTS and the long-term spiritual and psychological benefits of spirit-mind-body wellness programming across three papers derived from two empirical studies: one cross-sectional sample of trauma-exposed adults in the United States (n = 422) and one repeated-measures sample (n = 84) of undergraduate students who opted into a spirit-mind body wellness program, Awakened Awareness for Adolescents.

Paper 1 revealed a moderating effect of spiritual decline on the relationship between trauma exposure and posttraumatic stress in AA-A participants. Paper 2 replicated and expanded these findings in a larger more representative adult sample through a moderated mediation analysis. Results indicated that religious/spiritual belonging moderated the relationship between trauma exposure and spiritual decline, spiritual decline partially mediated the relationship between trauma exposure and posttraumatic stress, and the presence of and search for meaning in life moderated the relationship between spiritual decline and posttraumatic stress.

Furthermore, results from Paper 3 indicated that participants who enrolled in Awakened Awareness saw maintained improvements in spirituality in the 3 months following the program and ongoing improvements in mental health variables. Finally, results indicated that changes in spiritual decline following the program were predictive of 3-month-followup posttraumatic stress. These findings support the efficacy of AA-A and have strong implications for the benefits of targeting spiritual decline as a post-traumatic intervention in various applications.