Faith and trauma : a mixed methods investigation of the relationship between religion/spirituality and psychological outcomes in women after interpersonal violence.

Interpersonal violence (IpV) in women, including physical and sexual assault, creates devastating and lasting effects on an individual’s mental, physical, relational, and spiritual self. The current study was developed to further explore how various religious and spiritual (RS) concepts (God image and religious coping) are associated with psychological outcomes in IpV-exposed women. This exploratory study used a sequential mixed methods design by first employing interviews with exposed women (N = 9), which were followed by a national survey (N = 1,165; IpV: n = 538; Control: n = 627). This dissertation includes one qualitative article and two quantitative articles that outline the findings of these data. Findings reveal that women exposed to IpV report using their RS beliefs in the aftermath of this trauma, report higher psychological distress than the women not exposed to IpV, and that generational differences exist in psychological outcomes of women exposed to IpV. This work offers insight into the psychological effects of IpV in women and how generational differences effect these outcomes. It also offers recommendations for future research needed in this area.