Posttraumatic Growth and Religiosity in Latino College Students Who Have Experienced Psychological Trauma

In the field of psychology, research on the aftermath of trauma has historically focused on the negative consequences. More recently, empirical evidence suggests that individuals often derive benefits or personal growth as a result of these extraordinary events, thus the term posttraumatic growth. The purpose of this future study is to assess the relationship between religiosity and posttraumatic growth in Latino/a college students at a large, predominately White institution using previously validated constructs. Traumatic events are universally experienced, therefore, growth is expected in all populations. Furthermore, research suggests that minorities may face additional stressors, called minority status stressors, which include discrimination and alienation. In addition, college Latino populations remain relatively understudied with respect to posttraumatic growth. Empirical data on posttraumatic growth and deriving benefits from difficult circumstances propose there are several factors that may enhance this experience. Among these factors are optimism, event-related rumination, gender of the individual, time elapsed since the traumatic experience, and religiosity (Calhoun, Cann, Tedeschi, & McMillan, 2000; Park, Cohen, & Murch, 1996; Updegraff & Marshall, 2005; Weiss, 2004). The instruments used for data collection will consist of the Posttraumatic Growth Inventory, Daily Spiritual Experience Scale, Impact of Event Scale-Revised, and a demographic questionnaire (Tedeschi & Calhoun, 1995; Underwood & Teresi; 2002; Weiss & Marmar, 1997). The measures, hosted on the Internet by Survey Monkey , will be distributed via e-mail to Latino/a students currently enrolled at the University of Maryland, College Park. Data analysis will consist of correlational analysis via multiple regressions, and ANOVA’s to analyze the relationship between all variables. The computer program SPSS will be used to perform data analysis. The results expected based on previous findings in the literature include: (a) elevated levels of posttraumatic growth, (b) a relationship between the severity of the event and religiosity, (c) gender differences in posttraumatic growth, (d) greater religiosity and growth among recent migrant students, and (e) a positive correlation between religiosity and posttraumatic growth. Introduction Suffering resulting from traumatic events is a universal occurrence, and the ability of individuals as well as groups to emerge positively transformed from such events has been noted (Davis & Nolen-Hoeksema, 2001; Powell, Rosner, Butollo, Tedeschi, & Calhoun, 2004; Tedeschi, Park, & Calhoun, 1998). Though the phenomena of personal benefits or growth resulting from traumatic events have always been present, they had remained relatively overlooked in the field of psychology. Traditionally, negative responses to severe stressors have served as the focus of the literature on stress and its repercussions (Tedeschi & Calhoun, 2004). Indeed, Rubonis and Bickman (1991) showed in their study that a relationship exists between traumatic events and the incidence of psychopathology. Tedeschi and Calhoun (1995) cite empirical evidence demonstrating other negative effects of such events, including negative affect, negative rumination, and negative behavioral changes. However, as more investigations have been conducted addressing the aftereffects of trauma, higher rates of personal growth than psychiatric disorder have been found (Tedeschi & Calhoun, 1995; Tedeschi & Calhoun, 2004). Although numerous terms have been used to label this concept, one of the widely accepted and recently coined terms to describe the process of personal growth following a traumatic event is posttraumatic growth (Tedeschi & Calhoun, 1995). Other terms used in the literature include stress-related growth (Park, Cohen, & Murch, 1996) and perceived benefits (Affleck, Tennen, Croog, & Levine, 1987; McMillen, Smith, and Fisher, 1997). Posttraumatic growth (PTG) is the concept that an individual may experience cognitive growth following a traumatic event, and enhance their psychological functioning as a result (Tedeschi et al., 1998). Though PTG itself may be considered an outcome, it also incorporates the process of cognitive reconstruction following trauma that has challenged an individual’s assumptions of the world (Park & Helgeson, 2006; Tedeschi et al., 1998). Davis and Noel-Hoeksama (2001) describe it as the effort put forth to reestablish one’s cognitive understanding of life. In most instances however, the experience of growth does not imply the relief of psychological distress. Many investigations of perceptions of benefits show that although PTG is present, the trauma victims continue to experience a degree of psychological distress throughout (Cordova, Cunningham, Carlson, & Andrykowski, 2001; Frazier, Conlon, & Glaser, 2001; Salter & Stallard, 2004; Wortman, 2004).