The Role of Religious Coping, Positive Reappraisal, and Spiritual Appraisals in the Meaning-Making Process Following Traumatic Bereavement

The relationships among spiritual appraisals, religious coping, positive reappraisal, posttraumatic growth, depression, and anxiety were examined. MANOVAs revealed that males utilize positive reappraisal more than females, but only for those who lost a loved one to terminal illness. For the overall sample, females used more positive religious coping than males. Unmarried individuals used more desecration appraisals than married participants, but only for the group who lost a loved one to terminal illness. No differences were found between races. Simple regression analyses showed increases in age were related to decreases in desecration appraisals, but only for the group who lost a loved one to terminal illness. For the overall sample, increases in age were related to decreases in negative religious coping. The number of months since the death was unrelated to the dependent variables. Exploratory analyses using independent samples t-tests showed that participants who lost a loved one to an event other than terminal illness used more desecration appraisals and reported more depression than participants who lost a loved one to terminal illness. Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) revealed that positive reappraisal partially mediated the relationship between positive religious coping and posttraumatic growth while desecration appraisals led to negative religious coping, and negative religious coping led to more depression and anxiety. Sacred loss, depression, and anxiety were unrelated to positive religious coping. The findings related to desecration and depression, from the SEM, were true for both those who lost a loved one to terminal illness and those who lost a loved one in another event.;This study adds to the research in that results show the constructs of sacred loss and desecration so similar that they may be one construct. In addition, sacred loss does not appear to be the initial appraisal that begins the meaning-making process through positive religious coping. Regardless of the spiritual appraisal that is made it may be the type of religious coping that determines whether one experiences posttraumatic growth or depression and anxiety. In the current study, positive and negative religious coping along with their resultant experiences are separated, indicating that there may be separate processes of reacting to a loss when using religious coping. In regard to clinical implications, for clients who display desecration appraisals and/or negative religious coping after bereavement, therapists should be more attuned to the possibility of those clients developing depressive and/or anxiety symptoms and suggest appropriate coping skills. Therapists can also help clients who use positive religious coping through the process of positive reappraisal, in an attempt to help facilitate PTG and meaning made. The results of this study also add to the knowledge base that has led to the development of possible programs to encourage PTG. In addition, this knowledge can help therapists to be respectful of a client's religious views and their use of religion to cope with hardship, which can aid therapists in building rapport and respect.