Better to Not Be Alone: Relationships between Hurricane Related Trauma, Spiritual Support, and Social Support

Abstract

There has been a paucity in the literature on the protective effects of spiritual and social support as it pertains to trauma symptoms following a disaster. This secondary analysis investigated: a) the longitudinal analysis of the effect of perceived spiritual support (PSS; measured using PSSS-S2) on posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTSS); and b) the effect of social support and Wave-1 PTSS results on Wave-2 PTSS among Hurricane-Katrina (H-K) volunteers. We hypothesized that, 1. The shortform PSSS-S2 would have an adequate one-dimensional structure in our H-K sample; 2. PSSS-S2 would be inversely related to Wave-2 PTSS, after controlling for Wave-1 PTSS and other disaster factors; and 3. Wave-2 perceived social support would be inversely related to Wave-2 PTSS. In 2005, researchers of universities the Deep South conducted a questionnaire survey on H-K volunteers, some of whom were also disaster victims (N = 542; age = 29.66 + 9.10, African American = 55%). The Wave-1 survey was delivered at three-months after H-K, the Wave-2 survey was delivered six-months after H-K. Robust Confirmatory Factor Analysis was used to verify the single-item structure of PSSS-S2. Multiple regression analysis was employed using SPSS27. The Robust CFA results indicate good model fit. In our final regression model, Wave-1 PTSS (β = 0.527, p < 0.001) and other H-K stressors (β = 0.154, p < 0.035) were positively associated with Wave-2 PTSS. Being older, having experienced less PTSS in Wave-1, and perceiving higher rates of social support were negatively related with Wave-2 PTSS. The present study demonstrated the lasting nature of PTSS. The present study demonstrated the lasting nature of PTSS. The six-months follow-up is important because it was the time a diagnosis of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) could be established for volunteers. Our findings underscore the importance of social support and perceived spiritual support in fending off the negative role of disaster-induced stressors [1].