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Faith of Our Sister Soldiers: National Guard Women Share Stories of Their Faith During and After Deployment

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Abstract

In this qualitative study, we explored the religious and spiritual beliefs of women in the National Guard, the role of religion in their lives, and the effect of deployment and reintegration on women’s belief systems. We conducted semi-structured interviews with 39 women service members who had been deployed. Results of the content analysis revealed five themes: (1) Religious Identity/Belief in God, (2) Religion/Spirituality has a Positive Impact, (3) Religious Activities, (4) Religiosity and Deployment, and (5) Religiosity/Spiritual Experiences Change over Time. Implications for future research and the incorporation of faith-based practices with women service members who may seek mental health treatment are discussed.

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Notes

  1. Participants’ names have been changed to protect confidentiality.

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Acknowledgements

This research was supported by Grants from Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs, Grant W81XWH-11-1-0154 to Patricia Kelly, Johanna Nilsson, and LaVerne Berkel.

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Author notes

  1. Christopher Davids

    Present address: Psychology Department, Westminster College, Salt Lake City, Utah, USA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Counseling and Educational Psychology, University of Missouri – Kansas City, 615 East 52nd Street, Kansas City, MO, 64110, USA

    LaVerne A. Berkel, Johanna E. Nilsson, William Matthew Anderson, Alyssa V. Joiner, Christopher Davids & Christine R. Serpe

  2. Nursing Department, University of Missouri – Kansas City, Kansas City, USA

    Patricia J. Kelly

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  1. LaVerne A. Berkel
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  2. Johanna E. Nilsson
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  3. Patricia J. Kelly
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  5. Alyssa V. Joiner
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Correspondence to LaVerne A. Berkel.

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Conflict of interest

LaVerne Berkel declares that she has no conflict of interest. Johanna Nilsson declares that she has no conflict of interest. Patricia Kelly declares that she has no conflict of interest. William Matthew Anderson declares that he has no conflict of interest. Alyssa Joiner declares that she has no conflict of interest. Christopher Davids declares that he has no conflict of interest. Christine Serpe declares that she has no conflict of interest.

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Related reports based on the same dataset were published by the first three authors in Nursing Research, Counselling Psychology Quarterly, Journal of Counseling and Development, and Women and Health.

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Berkel, L.A., Nilsson, J.E., Kelly, P.J. et al. Faith of Our Sister Soldiers: National Guard Women Share Stories of Their Faith During and After Deployment. J Relig Health 58, 1753–1769 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10943-019-00839-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10943-019-00839-1

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