Compulsive sexual behavior, religiosity, and spirituality: A systematic review

Background and aims In recent years, increasing attention has been given to the relationship between compulsive sexual behavior (CSB), religiosity, and spirituality. This review summarizes research examining the relationship CSB has with religiosity and spirituality, clarifying how these constructs inform the assessment and treatment of this syndrome. Methods The present paper reviews research published through August 1, 2021, using the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analyses (PRISMA) guidelines. Only studies providing quantitative analyses were included. Results This review identified 46 articles, subsuming 59 studies, analyzing the relationship between CSB and religiosity or spirituality. Most studies used cross-sectional designs with samples primarily composed of heterosexual White men and women. Generally, the studies found small to moderate positive relationships between religiosity and CSB. Studies considering the mediating or moderating role of moral incongruence identified stronger, indirect relationships between religiosity and problematic pornography use (PPU), a manifestation of CSB. Few studies examined the association between spirituality and CSB, but those that did either reported negative relationships between indicators of spiritual well-being and CSB or positive relationships between CSB and aspects of spiritual struggles. Discussion and conclusions Although research examining CSB and religiosity has flourished, such growth is hampered by cross-sectional samples lacking in diversity. Moral incongruence assists in explaining the relationship between religiosity and PPU, but future research should consider other manifestations of CSB beyond PPU. Attention should also be given to examining other religiosity and spirituality constructs and obtaining more diverse samples in research on CSB, religiosity, and spirituality.

Spiritual trauma as a manifestation of religious and spiritual struggles in female victims of sexual abuse in adolescence or young adulthood in the Catholic Church in Poland

Specialists on issues of sexual abuse in religious institutions unanimously stress that this kind of experience significantly affects the victims’ spirituality. Particularly devastating and distorting for their spirituality is sexual abuse committed by clergy. In order to explore this issue for the first time in Poland, the authors conducted a qualitative study in the form of semi-structured interviews with five women who had experienced sexual abuse by Catholic clergy and/or religious in adolescence and young adulthood. The interviews were analyzed using the interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) and narrative methodology. The results showed that four respondents experienced or had experienced religious struggles in three areas: interpersonal, intrapsychic, and relationship with God. These struggles are complex and intense enough to be referred to as “spiritual trauma” (Doyle, 2009, 2011; Kusner & Pargament, 2015), “religious trauma” (Panchuk, 2018), or “spiritual violence” (Tobin, 2019). The results of the study may be of importance for people helping or having any other kind of contact with victims of clergy sexual abuse.

Family Caregivers of Persons With Mild Dementia Share Their Spiritual Struggles

The lives of family caregivers of persons with Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias (ADRD) may change dramatically with disease progression in their loved one. Many rely on spirituality as a resource for coping. There is evidence that persons experiencing transition/losses, as a consequence of disease/illness, can experience spiritual struggles or a crises in meaning. However, there is limited research related to spiritual struggles among family caregivers of persons with ADRD, particularly in the beginning stages of the disease process. In this study, three domains of spiritual struggle were identified after analyzing 27 caregiver interviews using the constant comparative method: 1) changes in relationship with their higher power (e.g., feelings of anger towards, feeling punished by, feeling disconnected from, and questioning); 2) changes in spiritual practices (e.g., decreased participation as a consequence of feeling unsupported, judged, or misunderstood by spiritual communities); and 3) dissonance between previously held core beliefs and current life circumstances (e.g., feelings of shame, doubt, and guilt as well as cessation of self-care activities due to the belief that they must sacrifice everything for their loved one). Notably, 74% experienced spiritual struggle in one domain; 33% in two domains, and 11% in three domains. The majority of participants had come to resolution of these spiritual struggles by the time they were interviewed. However, 40.7% were experiencing ongoing spiritual struggles, at the time of interview, suggesting the importance of identifying and addressing spiritual struggles in this population over time in order to enhance coping and adaptation.

Religious and Spiritual Struggles in a German-Speaking Sample: a Validation Study

This paper presents the German adaptation and validation of the Religious and Spiritual Struggles Scale (RSSS) (Exline et al. 2014). Religious and spiritual (r/s) struggles consist of inner conflicts regarding supernatural, interpersonal and intrapersonal concerns, which in the RSSS are categorized into six struggles: Divine, Demonic, Doubt, Interpersonal, Moral and Ultimate Meaning. The prevalence of these as well as mental health correlates and associations with centrality of religiosity were explored in a sample of 1359 German-speaking participants, primarily university students from Switzerland. Inner r/s struggles have primarily been studied in samples from the United States, and data are lacking for more secular societies such as Switzerland, where these struggles are experienced as well. For the first time, the RSSS was translated into and administered in the German language and its six-factor structure confirmed with confirmatory factor analysis.