Spiritual Struggle and Adjustment to Loss in College Students: Moderation by Denomination

Abstract

During their college years, students experience a variety of life transitions, including significant gains and losses. Spiritual transformations and struggles surrounding religious faith are also common during college. Despite its prominence, little is known about how spiritual struggle influences college students' adjustment to loss and whether the relationship differs by religious denomination. In a longitudinal study of college students dealing with personally significant losses, the authors assessed how spiritual struggle was related to negative (symptoms of posttraumatic stress and depression) and positive (stress-related growth and life satisfaction) aspects of adjustment and whether denomination moderated these relationships. Results indicated that struggle has a powerful adverse impact on adjustment. Further, denomination moderated the relationship of struggle with posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms concurrently and after a 2-month lag, such that spiritual struggle appeared particularly toxic in terms of loss-related distress for students identifying with the Catholic tradition.