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The distinct roles of spirituality and religiosity in physical and mental health after collective trauma: a national longitudinal study of responses to the 9/11 attacks

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Abstract

Researchers have identified health implications of religiosity and spirituality but have rarely addressed differences between these dimensions. The associations of religiosity and spirituality with physical and mental health were examined in a national sample (N = 890) after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks (9/11). Health information was collected before 9/11 and health, religiosity, and spirituality were assessed longitudinally during six waves of data collection over the next 3 years. Religiosity (i.e., participation in religious social structures) predicted higher positive affect (β = .12), fewer cognitive intrusions (β = −.07), and lower odds of new onset mental (incidence rate ratio [IRR] = .88) and musculoskeletal (IRR = .94) ailments. Spirituality (i.e., subjective commitment to spiritual or religious beliefs) predicted higher positive affect (β = .09), lower odds of new onset infectious ailments (IRR = 0.83), more intrusions (β = .10) and a more rapid decline in intrusions over time (β = −.10). Religiosity and spirituality independently predict health after a collective trauma, controlling for pre-event health status; they are not interchangeable indices of religion.

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Notes

  1. A larger sample of the KN panel was also asked questions by Knowledge Networks about their coping strategies and acute stress response to the attacks approximately 9–14 days after 9/11 (see Silver et al. 2002). Since these variables have been examined earlier and were not of interest to the present set of analyses, we excluded that prior wave of data collection for simplicity, and focus on the restricted sample described herein.

  2. Given the generally representative nature of our sample, this suggests that Muslims were greatly underrepresented. However, because our surveys were conducted in the context of the 9/11 attacks, it is possible that a larger number of our participants were Muslim but did not want to disclose their religious identities.

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Acknowledgments

Project funding provided by National Science Foundation grants BCS-9910223, BCS-0211039, and BCS-0215937 to Roxane Cohen Silver. The authors would like to thank Virginia Gil-Rivas and Judith Andersen for their assistance with the study design and data collection, and the Knowledge Networks Government, Academic, and Non-profit Research team of J. Michael Dennis, William McCready, Kathy Dykeman, Rick Li, and Vicki Pineau for providing access to data collected on KN panelists, for preparing the Web-based versions of our surveys, for creating the data files, for general guidance on their methodology, and for their survey research and sampling expertise.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, University of Denver, 2155 S. Race St., Denver, CO, 80208, USA

    Daniel N. McIntosh

  2. Department of Psychology, University at Buffalo, State University of New York, Buffalo, NY, USA

    Michael J. Poulin

  3. Departments of Psychology and Social Behavior and Medicine, University of California, Irvine, CA, USA

    Roxane Cohen Silver

  4. Program in Nursing Science, University of California, Irvine, CA, USA

    E. Alison Holman

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  1. Daniel N. McIntosh
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Correspondence to Daniel N. McIntosh.

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McIntosh, D.N., Poulin, M.J., Silver, R.C. et al. The distinct roles of spirituality and religiosity in physical and mental health after collective trauma: a national longitudinal study of responses to the 9/11 attacks. J Behav Med 34, 497–507 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10865-011-9331-y

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