God in times of adversity: A mixed-methods study investigating the relationship between religious coping and identification on the trauma appraisals and world assumptions of Muslim refugees/asylum seekers

Background: The Cognitive Model of PTSD highlights the importance of pre-trauma beliefs on trauma appraisals and coping mechanisms. Worldview-based models propose that traumas shatter fundamental world assumptions, resulting in a search for meaning. Religion provides one way of offering meaning for individuals during times of distress. This research aimed to link Religious Coping Theory with cognitive and worldview-based trauma models to investigate the role of religious coping and identification on world assumptions and trauma appraisals within a community sample of Muslim refugees/asylum seekers. Method: A sequential mixed-methods design was used. Quantitative questionnaires were initially administered to eighty four participants, followed by qualitative interviews with six participants. Results: Quantitative findings indicate that religious coping and identification did not explain substantial variance in trauma symptoms, appraisals and world assumptions. Exploratory analyses revealed significant correlations between questionnaire language and trauma symptoms as well as immigration status, trauma appraisals and world assumptions. Qualitative findings, in contrast, illustrate the significant influence of Islam on the trauma appraisals, world assumptions and coping mechanisms of participants. Islam seemed to be used to evaluate and deal with trauma experience within premigration, migration and postmigration phases of the refugee/asylum seeker journey. Conclusion: These findings illustrate the need for greater research on cultural explanatory models of trauma for this population. This study provides specific insight into how participants utilise Islam in appraising and coping with their trauma experiences through the various phases of their journey. Findings are discussed in light of limitations, research and clinical implications.

Name dc:type.qualificationname

Professional Doctorate

Level dc:type.qualificationlevel

Doctoral

Grantor dc:publisher.institution

University of Wolverhampton

Year dc:date.issued

2019

Author dc:creator

• Munsoor, Hannah S.

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Hinton, Danny

• post-traumatic stress
• religious coping
• trauma appraisals
• world assumptions
• Islam
• Muslim
• refugees
• asylum

Statement dc:rights

• Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International

Licence

• https://wlv.dspace7.openrepository.com/bitstreams/88d6df1e-ff95-4fe1-b4cb-007de0f925cc/download