Date of Award

2022

Degree Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts in Psychology

Specialization

Clinical Psychology

Department

Psychology

First Advisor

Nicole H. Weiss

Abstract

Depression is a common outcome of trauma exposure. As such, it is imperative to investigate factors that may mitigate this association. Although religious coping has been previously studied within the context of trauma, there is a dearth of research examining the potential reciprocal relationships between religious coping and depression among trauma-exposed individuals at the daily level. The current study addresses this gap in the literature by exploring the bidirectional daily relations between religious coping and depression symptoms in a community sample of trauma-exposed adults. Participants were 84 individuals with a history of sexual assault who self-identified as being religious (Mage = 37.43, 67.5% women, 83.1% white). Cross-lagged models showed that prior-day religious coping significantly and positively predicted next-day depression symptoms when controlling for prior-day depression symptoms, whereas prior-day depression did not predict next-day religious coping when controlling for prior-day religious coping. These findings highlight the role of religious coping as an antecedent of depression symptoms among trauma-exposed individuals, underscoring its potential utility in the detection and treatment of depression in this population.

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Available for download on Friday, May 17, 2024

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