Title:
Sacred loss and desecration in moral injury among combat veterans
Author:
Carol K. Stewart
Thesis Advisor:
Gina M. Magyar-Russell
Committee Member:
Joseph Stewart-Sicking
Committee Member:
Thomas Rodgerson
Committee Member:
Stephen Fowl
Degree Granting Institution:
Loyola University Maryland--College of Arts and Sciences
Place:
Baltimore (Md.)
Publisher:
Loyola University Maryland
Date Created:
2021
Type of Resource:
text
Genre:
thesis
Language:
eng
Format:
application/pdf
Physical Form:
electronic
Digital Source:
born digital
Abstract:
Building on research that supports the connections between PTSD and moral injury as well as the connections between sacred loss and desecration and well-being, this study explored whether spiritual assessments of sacred loss and desecration impacted the experience of moral injury. A sample (n=288) of military servicemembers from all branches of service who served in combat from 2001 to the present were included. Participants were administered questionnaires that included the Moral Injury Questionnaire – Military Version (MIQ-M) and the Moral Injury Symptom Scale (MISS-M) which were used to assess moral injury by both reported exposure and reported symptoms. Other scales used included the PTSD Checklist for DSM-5 (PCL-5), the Sacred Loss and Desecration Scale, and the IPIP-50 to measure personality. Hierarchical regression analysis provided confirmation that desecration contributed to unique explained variance in the prediction of moral injury after controlling for personality, whether measuring moral injury exposure or moral injury symptoms. Sacred loss did not contribute unique explained variance. The personality domains of emotional stability, conscientiousness, and agreeableness also contributed to the variance. Utilizing the Hayes’ Process Macro, the relationship between PTSD and moral injury was partially mediated by desecration when measuring moral injury exposure. Sacred loss did not mediate the relationship between PTSD and moral injury in moral injury exposure. Neither desecration nor sacred loss mediated the relationship between PTSD and moral injury in moral injury symptoms. Both measures of moral injury were significantly positively correlated with PTSD. In addition, sacred loss and desecration were found to be positively correlated with both moral injury measures. These findings offer support that a spiritual appraisal of sacred loss and/or desecration may affect the experience of moral injury. Implications for clinicians and pastoral counselors are also discussed.
Subject:
Academic theses
Subject:
Thèses et écrits académiques
Subject:
dissertations
Degree:
Doctor of Philosophy
Level:
Doctoral
Discipline:
Pastoral Counseling
Restrictions on Access:
Author has given permission to make this work available online.
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Identifier:
StewartCK-21
