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


METHODS
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 (beta=.27), active surrender (beta=.32), and passive deferral (beta=-.35) significantly contributed to the prediction of anxious mood, [F(15, 60)=3.31, p<.0001], while only spiritual discontent (beta=.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.
Gall
Terry Lynn
TL
Saint Paul University, 223 Main Street, Ottawa, Ontario K1S 1C4, Canada.
D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000339:Affect; D000368:Aged; D002648:Child; D002650:Child Abuse, Sexual / Q000523:psychology*; D003674:Defense Mechanisms; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007389:Internal-External Control; D008016:Life Change Events; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012069:Religion and Psychology; D012944:Social Support; D017741:Survivors / Q000523:psychology*