Bereavement, Religion, and Posttraumatic Growth: A Matched Control Group Investigation

This study examined the intersection between bereavement, religion, and posttraumatic growth (PTG). A total of 369 young adults completed the Brief Multidimensional Measure of Religiousness/Spirituality (Fetzer Institute/NIA, 1999) and the Posttraumatic Growth Inventory (Tedeschi & Calhoun, 1996), divided equally into three groups: one bereaved by a violent loss (accident, suicide, or homicide) in the prior two years, one bereaved by a nonviolent death in the prior two years, and a third, nonbereaved group that experienced a general life stressor in the two years preceding the study. Individuals in the two bereaved groups generally endorsed greater religiousness when compared with persons in the nonbereaved group (as assessed by daily spiritual experiences, organizational religiousness, religious coping, forgiveness, and religious support). In addition, survivors who had lost loved ones to a violent death had higher scores across all domains of PTG and reported more distress symptomatology. When controlling for demographics and other study variables, bereavement status and religion factors significantly increased the explained variance in participants' perceptions of PTG and psychological distress. Although the study design restricts the ability to draw any causal conclusions, these findings highlight the possible spiritual impact of bereavement and how specific dimensions of religion can contribute to growth and healing in the adjustment process.