Many college students in the United States arrive on campus with exposure to both traumatic events and typical negative life events, as well as varying levels of emotional wellness. One way that students may seek out help is through spiritually supportive wellness programming. The current study examines the prevalence of and relationship between traumatic life events, typical negative life events, and spiritual growth and decline as predictors of posttraumatic stress in a sample of undergraduates (N = 88) seeking spiritually supportive wellness. Traumatic and typical negative life events and spiritual decline were predictive of posttraumatic stress. Furthermore, a moderation effect was found such that while participants with high trauma exposure and high spiritual decline reported the highest posttraumatic stress, those with high trauma exposure and low spiritual decline reported lower posttraumatic stress, similar to those with low trauma exposure. These results have implications for the role of spiritual decline in the etiology of PTSD (Posttraumatic Stress Disorder) within emerging adult populations who identify as spiritual that warrant further study.

Emerging-adult undergraduates (ages 18–25) are at increased risk for mental illness, exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Simultaneously, emerging adults face developmental tasks including identity development, finding meaning and purpose, and spiritual individuation. A case study approach is used to elucidate processes of undergraduates coping with collective trauma as a potential pathway to trauma-related spiritual growth via Awakened Awareness for Adolescents (AA-A) and emerging adults, a spiritual-mind-body wellness intervention. Awakened Awareness for Adolescents fosters enhanced spiritual perception to support spiritual individuation for improved mental health and well-being. Processes of spiritual individuation supported by AA-A during the COVID-19 pandemic from February to May 2020 are presented using students’ qualitative data and self-report measures of psychopathology, spiritual well-being, emotional regulation, and cognition. Shared cohort ( N = 15) themes and one in-depth case (1) reveal ideographic processes of personal transformation and spiritual growth, (2) generate hypotheses around pathways of trauma-related spiritual growth and spiritual individuation for future research.

Previous research has documented broad benefits of spiritual intervention programs, including improved spirituality and ameliorated mental health symptoms. However, long-term follow-up examinations of such interventions have yet to be conducted. This study reports on changes in psychological and spiritual variables from posttest to 3-month follow-up in a sample of U.S. undergraduate students. N = 84 undergraduate students ages 18–25 (M = 19.75, SD = 1.6; 69 female, 11 male, and 4 nonbinary) received Awakened Awareness for Adolescents (AA-As), a spirit–mind–body (SMB) intervention composed of 8 weekly 90-min sessions, and completed measures of spirituality (spirituality, spiritual growth, spiritual decline, and Awakened Awareness) and mental health (depression, anxiety, and posttraumatic stress) at posttest and again at 3-month follow-up. Paired-sample t-tests revealed maintenance of spiritual improvements (Awakened Awareness, spiritual growth, and relational spirituality with the Higher Power) with the exception of reversal of spiritual decline and significant ongoing improvements in clinical measures in the months following posttest. Additionally, we observed a moderating effect such that changes in spiritual decline after posttest were associated with follow-up posttraumatic stress. An ongoing lived transcendent relationship with the Higher Power, Awakened Awareness, and spiritual growth appears to offer sustained protection at three-month follow-up against depression and symptoms of trauma. Our findings support the efficacy of AA-A as well as the need for ongoing SMB wellness resources.

The New Psychology of Love - December 2018