Coping with Trauma: The Relationship between Religiosity, Spirituality, and Post-Traumatic Symptoms among Civilians Exposed to Ongoing Rocket-Fire

Living under ongoing shelling and missile attacks could cause a widespread of disruption of everyday life and emotional distress. Coping with such distress could be associated with the personal resources of religion and spirituality. The present study aimed to examine the relationships between religiosity and spirituality with Post Traumatic stress Disorder (PTSD) symptoms among a civilian population frequently exposed to missile and rocket threats. One hundred and twenty-four (N = 124) civilian participants living within 10 km from shelling and missile attacks fired towards them, completed demographic, religiosity, spirituality, and PTSD questionnaires. The study findings demonstrate that religiosity is associated with higher levels of PTSD symptoms while spirituality is associated with lower levels of PTSD symptoms. When dividing the sample into two groups-religious and secular, no association was found between religiosity and PTSD symptoms among the religious group, whereas among the secular group, there was a positive association. Spirituality was negatively associated with PTSD symptoms among both groups. This study may offer a significant contribution to models of intervention following continued exposure to trauma, emphasizing the importance of spiritually and sensitivity to religion while coping with PTSD symptoms. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.