Childhood Trauma and Experience in Close Relationships Are Associated with the God Image: Does Religiosity Make a Difference?

(Un)holy Smokes? Religion and Traditional and E-Cigarette Use in the United States

This study employed national cross-sectional survey data from the 2021 Crime, Health, and Politics Survey (n = 1578 to 1735) to model traditional cigarette and e-cigarette use as a function of religious affiliation, general religiosity, biblical literalism, religious struggles, and the sense of divine control. Although the odds of abstaining from cigarettes and e-cigarettes were comparable for conservative Protestants and non-affiliates, conservative Protestants were more likely to cut down on cigarettes and e-cigarettes during the pandemic. Religiosity increased the odds of abstaining from cigarettes (not e-cigarettes) and reduced pandemic consumption of cigarettes and e-cigarettes. Biblical literalism was unrelated to abstaining from cigarettes and pandemic changes in cigarette use; however, biblical literalists were more likely to cut e-cigarette use during the pandemic. While the sense of divine control was unrelated to abstaining from cigarettes and e-cigarettes, these beliefs increased the odds of cessation from traditional and e-cigarette use. Finally, our religious struggles index was unrelated to smoking behavior. Our study is among the first to report any association between religion and lower e-cigarette use.

Trauma, Spirituality, and Healing: A Journey through the Lens of an Incarcerated Person

This article examines the case study of Joseph, an incarcerated man in a northeastern state who experienced myriad traumas over the course of his life and attained healing through spirituality. We follow his story from his abusive childhood home to the foster care system, where he was further traumatized through repeated forced separations. Then, through his adolescent years and his witnessing the deaths of two integral people in his life, we see Joseph’s spiritual struggles that led him into a life of violence and into an adulthood that found him quickly transitioned from the foster care system to the prison system. It is not until years into his prison sentence that we see Joseph begin attaining some semblance of spiritual clarity and grounding—and this through the providential intervention of a man of faith who himself is incarcerated. Interwoven in Joseph’s case study is a thread of extant literature pertaining to the overarching themes of this article: Trauma, Spirituality, and Healing. To honor Joseph’s faith and to most accurately represent his voice and experience, the author’s references to God are almost exclusively in relation to the Judeo–Christian faith tradition, while acknowledging the much wider application of the term “spirituality”.

The Coronavirus Pandemic and the Occurrence of Psychosomatic Symptoms: Are They Related?

Most studies on the coronavirus pandemic focus on clinical aspects of the COVID-19 disease. However, less attention is paid to other health aspects of the pandemic. The aim of this study was to assess the relationship between the coronavirus pandemic (risk of infection by virus together with associated measures taken to combat it), and the occurrence of a wide range of psychosomatic symptoms and to explore if there is any factor that plays a role in this association. We collected data from a sample of Czech adults (n = 1431) and measured the occurrence of nine health complaints, respondents’ experience during the pandemic and sociodemographic characteristics. The results showed associations between the coronavirus pandemic and increased psychosomatic symptoms and negative emotions. We further found higher risks of increased health complaints in younger people and women. It is also possible that there is higher risk of increased health complaints for respondents with secondary school education, students, and highly spiritual people, but this relationship has to be further investigated. In contrast, respondents with their highest achieved education level being secondary school graduation had a lower risk of increased frequency of stomach-ache. We also found that more negative emotions could increase the frequency of health complaints. Our findings suggest that the coronavirus pandemic and associated government measures could have a significant influence on the prevalence of health complaints and emotional state.