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TRAUMA, DEVELOPMENT, AND SPIRITUALITY
Abstract
The following essay discusses trauma and resilience, how trauma affects development, and what
might be the determining factors that lead to developmental delays when a child is exposed to
trauma. It also discusses how religion and spirituality can counter the effects of trauma. The
viewpoints regarding spirituality’s mitigating effects on trauma are also discussed, and it is
concluded that religiosity buffers the impact of childhood trauma.
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TRAUMA, DEVELOPMENT, AND SPIRITUALITY
Benchmark: Trauma, Development, and Spirituality Essay
“A bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out, ‘til he
leads justice to victory,” as stated about resilience, in Matthew 12:20 (NIV, 2011). Resilience is
the process of adapting well when faced with trauma or other significant stressors (Wong, Hall,
& Hernandez, 2021). The skills needed to develop resilience are both internal and external, and
they can be learned and strengthened by at risk individuals. Risk factors make an individual less
likely to develop resilience, such as lack of social skills, grief, poor academic achievement,
isolation, and relationship difficulties.
Protective factors on the other hand make developing resilience easier because they alter
an individual’s response to an environmental threat. Protective factors are intelligence, the
ability to regulate behavior, competent parents, effective schooling, and support networks
(Wong, Hall, & Hernandez, 2021). Depending on the culture of the individual, faith and
spirituality may also be protective factors. According to Wong and colleagues (2021), many
protective factors can be taught, especially these six factors: proactive orientation; self-
regulation; proactive parenting; connections and attachments; school achievement and
involvement, IQ, and special talents; and community. Using these six factors, counselors can
assess at-risk children in order to determine which factors need to be increased.
According to Upenieks (2021), childhood abuse has the largest effect on mental health of
all the types of childhood adversity. Therefore, it is necessary to find ways to mitigate the
influence of these early life stressors on the individual’s wellbeing in adulthood. Religion and
spirituality is known to have a broad use as a coping resource for all sorts of trauma, and it tends
to offset some of the mental health consequences of such events. There are two conflicting
views about religiosity and childhood abuse. One view is that those who suffered childhood
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TRAUMA, DEVELOPMENT, AND SPIRITUALITY
abuse decreased in their religiosity, such as church attendance and affiliation. These individuals
may view God as harsh, punitive, and distant; in essence they have a father wound. They reflect
the negative view of their abusers onto God. The other view is that those who experienced
childhood abuse experience an increase in religiosity later in life. They experience spiritual
growth and have more religious openness (Upenieks, 2021). Clearly religiosity is affected by
whether or not children are abused. However, religious stability seems to promote and increase
in psychological wellbeing over time for those who suffered childhood trauma.
Overall, the data suggests that increases in positive religious comping during adulthood
buffers the impact of childhood abuse and psychological distress. Decreases in religiosity on the
other hand exacerbate the effects of abuse and mental distress (Upenieks, 2021). Thus, spiritual
development seems to be able to thwart some of the negative effects of childhood trauma and
promote resilience. According to Brewer-Smyth and Koenig (2014), spirituality can be powerful
sources of hope, meaning, peace, comfort and forgiveness for the self and others. Furthermore,
religion and spirituality have a positive effect on the neurobiology of resilience in victims of
childhood trauma. According to Song and colleagues (2016), a history of childhood emotional
neglect and mental health symptoms was negatively correlated with spirituality. The more
associated with religion and spirituality the participants were, the less depressive symptoms they
suffered after experiencing childhood trauma.
In conclusion childhood trauma tends to have a negative overall effect on the
development of individuals as adults. They are more at risk to develop mental health conditions.
However, it is apparent from empirical data that religion and spirituality help these individuals
develop coping skills that buffer the impact of trauma, such as childhood abuse. More research
is needed however to study the potential benefits of spirituality and religiosity over more
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References
Kathleen Brewer-Smyth & Harold G. KoenigF(2014)FCould Spirituality and Religion Promote
Stress Resilience in Survivors of Childhood Trauma?,FIssues in Mental Health
Nursing,F35:4,F251-256.
New International Version. (2011).FBibleGateway.com. http://www.biblegateway.com/versions/
New-International-Version-NIV-Bible/#booklist
Song, J. M., Min, J. A., Huh, H. J., & Chae, J. H. (2016). Types of childhood trauma and
spirituality in adult patients with depressive disorders.FComprehensive psychiatry,F69, 11-
19.
Van Hook, M. P. (2016). Spirituality as a potential resource for coping with trauma.FSocial Work
and Christianity,F43(1), 7.
Upenieks, L. (2021). Resilience in the aftermath of childhood abuse? Changes in religiosity and
adulthood psychological distress.FJournal of religion and health, 1-25.
Wong, D. W., Hall, K. R., & Hernandez, L. W. (2021).FCounseling individuals through the
lifespan. SAGE publications.
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