Gender and Race Variations in the Intersection of Religious Involvement, Early Trauma, and Adult Health

PURPOSE: This study aimed to determine gender and race variations in regards to the influence of religious involvement (RI) as a moderator of the effects of early traumatic stress (ETS) on health-related quality of life among adult survivors of child abuse.

DESIGN: A cross-sectional predictive design was used to study Seventh-day Adventist adults in North America (N = 10,283).

METHODS: A secondary analysis of data collected via questionnaires was done using multiple regression.

RESULTS: Data revealed that women had a significantly higher prevalence of any or all ETS subtypes, except for physical abuse prevalence, which was the same for both genders. Blacks reported a significantly higher prevalence of at least one ETS subtype than did Whites, except for neglect, where Whites had a higher prevalence. Exposure to at least one ETS subtype was associated with worse negative effect on mental health (B = -2.08, p < .0001 vs. B = -1.54, p < .0001) and physical health (B = -2.01, p < .0001 vs. B = -1.11, p < .0001) for women compared to men. Among those exposed to all ETS subtypes (n = 447), Whites had significant worse physical health, with White women having almost two times the negative effect on physical health (B = -4.50, p < .0001) than White men (B = -2.87, p < .05). As for RI moderation, based on tests of three-way interactions of race-RI-ETS, there were no associated differences. However, tests of three-way interactions of gender-RI-ETS showed a significant buffering effect. Among those with high levels of negative religious coping (RC), women exposed to ETS had significantly worse physical health (B = -1.28) than men.

CONCLUSIONS: Results give evidence of gender and racial differences on the magnitude of the ETS-health effect, as well as gender differences in ETS-health buffering by RC.

CLINICAL RELEVANCE: Findings suggest gender and racial differences must be considered when devising holistic nursing interventions for improving health outcomes of early trauma survivors.