Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Spiritual Resiliency'

Doctor of Philosophy
Department of Family Studies and Human Services
Farrell J. Webb
This study examined the relationships between and among the factors of compassion fatigue, burnout, compassion satisfaction and spiritual resiliency in association with the care work of United States Army chaplains who minister to soldiers, families, and Department of the Army (DA) civilians in the military. This investigation breaks new ground in understanding the factors that affect chaplain care work. Data were collected from 408 active duty Army chaplains who responded to and completed the online survey. Information about rank, years of service, battle fatigue/stress and number of deployments was collected. These data along with specific scales were combined into the Chaplain Care Work Model—the tool used in this investigation. Scores from three measurement instruments: Professional Quality of Life Scale R-IV, Spiritual Well-Being Scale, and the Resilience Scale were used to test the hypotheses for this study. Of particular interest, the measurement scales of Spiritual Well-Being and Resiliency were combined to develop a new measurement construct labeled Spiritual Resiliency. The model of Chaplain Care Work was tested using path analysis and structural equation modeling techniques to illustrate the relationships of the predictors (constructed from latent variables—Chaplaincy Status, Deployment Status, and Self Care) to the outcome measure of Care Work (also a latent variable). Overall 85% of the variance in care work can be attributed to the model’s predictors, adding to the value of examining care work among those who provide direct service to others. Findings indicated that spiritual resiliency ebbed and flowed as a function of the different levels of compassion fatigue, burnout, and compassion satisfaction experienced by the chaplains because of their care work. Furthermore, number of deployments and experience (years of chaplain service) had significant relationships with compassion fatigue and burnout. Results from the findings were underpinned by explicit narrative comments provided by chaplains. These comments provided rich material in support of the significant relationships discovered in this study, and offered insights into how care work is both meaningful and necessary for maintaining a healthier chaplaincy.

In order to integrate a mind, body, spirit approach in school settings, yoga programming such as Y.O.G.A. for Youth was introduced to one public and two charter schools in Los Angeles area urban neighborhoods. The study examined the effectiveness of the overall program and its effect on adolescent stress, emotional affect, and resilience. A survey was administered to measure the three dependent variables and informal interviews were conducted to determine the overall effectiveness of the program. The results of the mixed method approach indicated that the overall program was effective in creating a general sense of well-being and statistically significant in alleviating stress (p < .05), increasing positive affect (p < .05), and resilience (p < .001), in the participants (N=30).

In order to integrate a mind, body, spirit approach in school settings, yoga programming such as Y.O.G.A. for Youth was introduced to one public and two charter schools in Los Angeles area urban neighborhoods. The study examined the effectiveness of the overall program and its effect on adolescent stress, emotional affect, and resilience. A survey was administered to measure the three dependent variables and informal interviews were conducted to determine the overall effectiveness of the program. The results of the mixed method approach indicated that the overall program was effective in creating a general sense of well-being and statistically significant in alleviating stress (p < .05), increasing positive affect (p < .05), and resilience (p < .001), in the participants (N=30).

Researchers have not been able to ascertain how survivors of childhood trauma, especially sexual abuse, develop resilience. To explore resilience and what influences its development, this mixed-method study investigated the roles of cognitive emotion regulation and proactive coping by using a critical-realist ontology. The data was collected from eight women (between ages 25 and 56) who considered themselves to be resilient survivors of severe child sexual abuse. Harvey’s (2000) Multidimensional Trauma Recovery and Resiliency Interview (MTRR-I), the Cognitive Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (Garnefski, Kraaij&Spinhoven, 2002) and Greenglass’s (1999) Proactive Coping Inventory were used to gather the data necessary to determine whether resilience is influenced by cognitive emotion regulation strategies and proactive coping and to attempt to define what could be considered as traits of resilience in survivors or child sexual abuse. Through thematic analysis, approximately 50 a-priori codes were generated and grouped into 23 themes using the Atlas.ti program. The objective of this study is to explore the relationship between cognitive emotion regulation, proactive coping and resilience in order to better understand, and develop intervention processes that can provide survivors of child sexual abuse and other trauma with the resources needed to be more resilient. Although causality could not be determined between these variables, it became evident that the more often a participant employs adaptive cognitive emotion regulation strategies and the higher the scores on the Proactive Coping Inventory are, the more resilient the participant tends to be. The participants who displayed higher levels of resilience also verbalised that they felt they had dealt with the abuse and had managed to move on in their lives. Even though all the participants considered themselves to be resilient, half of them were functioning at a noticeably lower rate of resilience than the others. All the participants claimed to rely on spiritual strength in some way and attribute their resilience to their faith in God. The higher the levels of resilience, the more the participants used adaptive cognitive emotion regulation strategies and proactive coping; and the more optimistic their views of the future and the more they considered their lives to be meaningful. Because the study was based on the ecological model of human development (Bronfenbrenner, 1995, 2005,) the interplay of the proximal environment, the individual, the social context and the changes that have taken place over time, were all taken into consideration because resilience, cognitive emotion regulation and proactive coping skills all develop within and between the same systems in which an individual develops. However, Bronfenbrenner (2005) states that the family is no longer taking the responsibility for the upbringing of children as it should and that other settings in society have had to step in to fulfil the role. One aspect of mental health is the ability to develop spiritually and since schools may not include religious instruction because it is the responsibility of the family, it happens that children are not being developed spiritually and this could influence the way in which individuals deal with traumatic childhood experiences.
Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2011.
Educational Psychology
unrestricted

This research focuses on spiritual well-being in the workplace and its relation to work performance. Extant empirical studies have mostly focused on demonstrating statistical links between these two concepts to the exclusion of qualitative studies that can better explain what spiritual well-being may be and how the experience is possibly related to work performance. Especially under-researched is the ground-level employees’ perspectives and the possible incompatibility of spiritual and organisational goals. This research thus examined the experiences of spiritual well-being among successful healthcare sales representatives in Malaysia, particularly on how their spiritual inclinations or their inclination for meaningfulness interfaced with the need to meet work targets. This qualitative research is exploratory and is framed within a constructionist epistemological stance. It used narrative inquiry as its methodology. Its primary data were stories successful healthcare sales representatives in Malaysia told about their work. These were collected and analysed using narrative interviews and narrative analysis respectively. What the research found was that the relation between spiritual well-being and work performance was depicted to be diverse, fragile and transitory. This was predicated on the ground-level employees’ experience of the interface between their spiritual inclinations and the need to meet work targets, which was diverse and changeable. What the research also found was that spiritual well-being resembled an experience that was constructed as employees engaged with their work. Spiritual well-being is thus neither merely found at work nor merely brought to work but constructed in the interplay between the employees’ spiritual inclinations and what they do at work. The research contributes to theoretical development in the area by advancing an expanded understanding of spirituality in the workplace. It demonstrates that spiritual well-being is contingent upon the work employees do, and the extent to which the work may be amenable for the construction of the experience. Thus, the relation between spiritual well-being and work performance ought to be understood from the way individual employees construct and individualise their experience of work. The research also foregrounds the importance of using models of organisation that accommodate the constructed, interactive and evolving nature of spiritual well-being in the workplace.

碩士
淡江大學
教育心理與諮商研究所碩士班
104
Although there have been some literatures focused on developing research into spiritual experience in terms of individual psychological resilience, the research methods such as a simple narrative and object relations theory are mostly used in discussion on the image of God and object function of the role. It is rare to see applying psychological mechanism of self-psychology to analyze the course of resilience after trauma. Two Case studies have been adopted as a research method, and the depth interviews for five times were conducted to two female Christians from March to May of 2016. Through depiction and analysis, the results have been found as follows: (1) Even though the interviewees had known God and had had real spiritual experience, continuous verifications were still needed to establish a static belief in a person who is worth to be loved. (2) God is to be as others, guiding the plan of life. It is not only to fulfill the perfection of the self, which is illustrated by Heinz Kohut, a self-psychologist. (3) Experiencing in transformation of internal resilience, interviewees are supported by mature narcissistic energy and desire to connect with God. In other words, God has been giving them emotional satisfaction. In addition, through reconstruction of the relationship with God, interviewees with positive connection with God could transfer to the families, reconciled from conflict relationship for years.Living with spirits of glorifying God and serving human beings, two interviewees with professional capabilities are more willing to help people who needed, sharing life stories with people who suffered from difficulties.

M.A. (Industrial Psychology)
The aim of the research is to explore the impact of the spiritual life dimension on individuals’ personal resilience through the analysis of narratives. The complexity of the global world of business requires individuals to be resilient in order to survive and thrive. Through focusing on spirituality, the study highlights possible tools and techniques that may assist individuals in developing personal resilience. A literature review was conducted in order to describe resilience as recognised in the literature and to define the concept ‘spirituality’. The research method was qualitative in order to allow for depth of understanding and more specifically, a narrative approach provided data in the form of meaningful stories. Purposive sampling was used based on certain criteria with the intention of selecting cases that were best suited to achieve the research objectives. The sample of four professional individuals was small to meet the requirements of in-depth interviews and narrative data analysis. The data collection process explored individuals’ subjective understanding of spirituality and their subjective description of the impact of their spirituality on their resilience. The findings show that purpose and meaning and religion are the main themes used to define spirituality. Common spiritual practices include: prayer, reflection, meditation/contemplation, visualisation, attending church, and following a spiritual routine. These practices result in positivity for the participants in this study. Setbacks and change surfaced as the main examples of situations requiring resilience.

碩士
國立暨南國際大學
輔導與諮商研究所
100
This research paper has been prepared to examine the social and mental impact of students raised from poverty stricken parts of Singapore. With the objective of “Resiliency”, this paper explores the “self-belief” of a needy college student. The research consists of a group of four Singapore College students who participated in a trial experiment conducted to identify their ‘resilience’ in overcoming hardships and adversities. (This paper focuses on emotional adversity, financial adversity, and social adversity). The qualitative analysis; required the individuals to be assessed through in depth detailed interviews. Thereafter, the responses were collected and analyzed. Results of research as below: 1. Experience of youths living in low social economic areas within Singapore includes: structural and environmental changes of family, needy mentality, and deprivation of social, economic and intellectual opportunities. 2. The findings – also indicate the needy youths, embraced the concept of “self-belief, which includes: control of inner emotions, the values of filial piety and gratitude. Higher education and intellect would provide greater financial benefits in shifting away from low income class of society; frugality and thriftiness, I am a good (daughter, student , friend) , pragmatism, hardiness during troubled times , there are no gains without pains , delay of gratification, positive attitude, self- respect, self-responsible, and lastly, learn from one’s mistake. 3. Resiliency of the needy youths in Singapore when facing different adversities includes: Emotional adversity – Sharing one’s problem with peers, seeking assistance from rightful mentor, mitigate the impact of negative repercussions, self-motivation, desire to escape from the poverty trap. Financial adversity – be thrifty, do part time work, save, seek financial assistance from peers, apply for subsidies, delay of gratification, and break the poverty cycle through education. Social adversity – do not bear grudges, to strive towards fulfilling the goal; failing which compromises maybe made, communication and seeking for resources, willing to take responsibility and express their stand, forgive and forget, honor promise to friends, computer games, exercise and online chatting, sharing knowledge, and re-establish relationships. In conclusion, the findings and the facts published in this research was disseminated to interested parties, organizations and social workers within the community. Key word: needy youth, resiliency

This interdisciplinary, qualitative study is an in-depth look at Orthodox Christian lay ministry experience and resilience in the United States. Thirteen Orthodox Christian women and men—all who identify with a vocation in lay ministry and have Orthodox theological education—were interviewed for this exploration. Their insights into the struggles and supports in ministry reveal a climate in the Orthodox Church in the United States that can be ambivalent, at times even hostile, to lay ministry. The research findings suggest that despite the stark environment for lay ministry in the Orthodox Church, emerging themes of resilience can help explain how people continue to dedicate their lives to lay ministry, persevere through hardship, and still produce “good fruit.” This investigation is important for both lay ministry in the Orthodox Church as well as the study of resilience. Common themes of support and struggle point to an emerging charism of “lay vocational ecclesiastical ministry” as well as distinct features of Orthodox Christian Resilience. Building on Michael Ungar’s theoretical framework known as the “social ecology of resilience,” the author introduces a “social-spiritual ecology of resilience” conceptual model. This can explicitly account for spiritual and religious components of people’s environments that might constitute significant factors of resilience. Study findings, then, lead to suggestions on how to better support Orthodox Christian lay ministry resilience in the United States while encouraging the dignity of the laity as a whole.

碩士
國立臺灣大學
社會工作學研究所
101
While disaster is a common society phenomenon, gender as a critical aspect in social structure lies in a margin position, and the influence of gender power structure in private sphere to disaster adjustment is insufficient. Therefore, this paper is going to explore the relationship between gender division of housework, family decision-making and adjustment and resilience via gender perspective about the inequality of gender power in gender division of housework and family decision-making. This study use face-to- face interview survey, and stratified sampling method to sample survivors of Typhoon Morakot, those who older than 20 years old and lives in Dawu township, Daren township in, Jialan Jinfeng township in Taitung County, Taoyuan Dist In Kaohsiung City, Taiwu township, Mudan Township in Pingtung County. Total of 245 participants were interviewed, but removed the unsuitable, finally, the actual sample is 156. Conclusion shows that, 1. The relationship between gender division of housework and disaster adjustment and resilience. (1) The relationship between the division of housework before disaster and disaster adjustment and resilience. i. The division of housework before disaster is significantly correlated to bio-psycho-spiritual adjustment after three time point of disaster. This factor is particularly significantly related to post-disaster psycho- adjustment and spiritual-adjustment. ii. To women, if her family household is traditional wife-responsible in the pre-disaster, her psycho-adjustment after one and two year of the disaster should be poorer; to men, if his family household is traditional wife-responsible in the pre-disaster, his psycho-adjustment after one year of the disaster should be poorer, and spiritual-adjustment after three time point of disaster should be poorer. (2) The relationship between the division of housework after disaster and disaster adjustment and resilience. i. The division of housework after disaster is significantly correlated to psycho-adjustment after one and two year of the disaster, and spiritual-adjustment after three time point of disaster. ii. To men, if his family household is traditional wife-responsible in the pro-disaster, his spiritual-adjustment after three time point of disaster should be poorer. (3) The difference between traditional wife-responsible housework model, gender equality housework model, and husband-responsible housework model on disaster adjustment and resilience. When the participant’s housework model is the wife-responsible housework model, the psycho-adjustment after one year of the disaster and the spiritual-adjustment after two year of the disaster, is worth than husband-responsible housework model. In other words, the traditional wife-responsible housework model will make psycho-adjustment and spiritual-adjustment poorer. 2. The relationship between family decision-making and disaster adjustment and resilience. (1) Family decision-making before and after the disaster is not correlated to bio-psycho-spiritual adjustment and resilience. (2) Whether female or male, family decision-making is not correlated to bio-psycho-spiritual adjustment and resilience. Look at the percentage of family decision-making, the family decision-making is gender equality model. Therefor we suggest that gender equality family decision-making model is good for disaster adjustment and resilience. (3) Both of before and after the disaster, three family decision-making model all have no significant difference in disaster adjustment and resilience. But in the view of the average score, gender equality family decision-making model is good for disaster adjustment and resilience. 3. The circumstance of respondents in demographic characteristics, disaster expose and disaster adjustment and resilience. (1) The disaster bio-psycho-spiritual adjustment , spiritual-adjustment and resilience after the disaster of aborigine is better than non-aborigine. (2) Religion after the disaster is an important factor to influence bio- adjustment. (3) Economic sufficient before the disaster is an important factor to influence psycho-adjustment after one year of the disaster; Economic sufficient after the disaster is an important factor to influence bio-psycho-spiritual adjustment, bio-adjustment, psycho-adjustment after two month of the disaster; Average monthly income after the disaster is an important factor to influence spiritual-adjustment after one and two year of the disaster. (4) Division of housework before and after the disaster is an important factor to predict the bio-adjustment, psycho-adjustment, spiritual-adjustment and resilience in three time point. (5) Family decision-making is an important factor to predict resilience. Based on research findings, this paper will give advice in terms of social work intervention services and disaster policy perspective. In terms of social work intervention services perspective, the helping worker should possess the sensitivity of gender and culture, provide the gender and culture inclusive mental support, offer childcare service and respite care service to reduce women’s housework and care burden and pressure, help women to participate the community, and empower economic vulnerable people. In terms of disaster policy perspective, disaster recovery policy must bring in Taiwan''s aboriginal peoples’ need and culture, As for the gender aspect, the disaster policy of gender sensitivity must be developed. In this way, women’s housework and care burden can be reduce, and women can participate in mitigation, preparedness, response, and recovery policy.

Dissertação de Mestrado apresentada ao ISPA - Instituto Universitário
Objectivo: Perceber as relações entre as variáveis psicológicas de bem-estar espiritual e resiliência em doentes oncológicos Método: Estudo correlacional realizado a 201 indivíduos com idade igual ou superior a 18 anos com diagnóstico de cancro pertencentes à população portuguesa. Foram utilizados como instrumentos: SHALOM e Escala de Resiliência Resultados: A dimensão Pessoal e Ambiental do Bem-Estar Espiritual (BEE) parecem estar significativamente relacionados com a Escala de Resiliência. Os domínios Comunitário e Transcendental do Bem-Estar Espiritual não parecem estar relacionados com a Resiliência nesta amostra. A subescala Pessoal do Bem-Estar Espiritual apenas se encontra significativamente relacionado com o domínio Sentido de Vida da resiliência (β=.44; t=4.63; p≤.001). A subescala Ambiental do Bem-Estar Espiritual está relacionada com o domínio Auto-Suficiência e Autoconfiança da escala de Resiliência (β=2.55; t=2.91; p≤.005). Discussão: A relação que os indivíduos estabelecem consigo próprios e com o mundo físico e biológico auxilia-os no enfrentamento do cancro, desenvolvendo a capacidade de lidar positivamente com situações adversas. O pequeno tamanho da amostra, os enviesamentos on-line e da colheita de dados face a face e a natureza correlacional do estudo, limita a generalização destes resultados e não permite fazer inferências de causalidade entre essas variáveis. Estudos futuros deverão investigar estas questões.
ABSTRACT: Purpose: Understanding the relationship between the psychological variables of spiritual well-being and resilience in cancer patients Method: crossectional study was carried out with 201 individuals over 18 years old with a diagnosis of cancer belonging to the Portuguese population. SHALOM and The Resilience Scale were used as instruments Results: Only Personal and Environmental domains of Spiritual Well-Being (SWB) seem to be significantly related to the Resilience Scale. The Communal and Transcendental domains of SWB not seem to be related to Resilience in this sample. The domain Personal of SWB is significantly related to the domain Sense of Life of the Resilience Scale (β = .44, t = 4.63; p≤.001). Environmental domain of the SWB is related to the domain Self-Reliance and Self-confidence of the Resilience Scale (β = 2.55, t = 2.91; p≤.005). Discussion: The relationship that individuals establish with themselves and with the physical and biological world helps them in coping with cancer, developing the ability to positively deal with adverse situations. The small sample size, the biases of online and face to face data collection and the correlational nature of design, limits the generalization of these results and does not allow inferences of causality and directionality between these variables. Further studies should investigate this questions.

Spiritual organizations have historically played an important role in social and civil movements (Aminzade & Perry 2007). This research is one investigation of how spiritual organizations may benefit sustainability initiatives and contribute to increased community resilience. Based on a case study of the Transition Towns movement in the United Kingdom, the research also addresses how to minimize anticipated and actual pitfalls of spiritual organization involvement. Research was conducted through the use of semi-structured telephone interviews with key-informants within Transition Towns in the United Kingdom and with affiliated spiritual organizations. An analysis of themes discussed by participants and relevant literature suggests that the benefits of involving spiritual organizations in sustainability initiatives include the following: institutional (benefits derived from well established institutions such as churches); normative (benefits derived from a non-pragmatic based rationale for committing to social change as well as assigning intrinsic values to Nature); motivational (benefits derived from the ability of spiritual organizations to motivate people); leadership/influence (the influence and leadership that individuals with spiritual background can have in sustainability initiatives); bonding/ bridging (benefits to social capital derived from the strengthened community ties that spiritual organizations can create). Of these, the benefit of normative values was identified as most important by interviewees. Based on these findings, this research argues that spiritual capital is an important social capital resource for sustainability initiatives. Anticipated pitfalls of involving spiritual organizations in sustainability initiatives reported by interviewees included: fears of division (concern that involvement of spiritual organization could divide members along theological lines); belief that explicit reference to spirituality is “off putting” (people from diverse spiritual backgrounds or who identified as non-spiritual might be less likely to take part in situations identified with one or more specific spiritual groups or traditions) and structural or institutional barriers (based on belief, or traditions of practice, spiritual organizations might be unlikely to take part). A key finding was that Transition Town members were not experiencing these pitfalls. Another key finding was that the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) were very involved in the Transition Towns movement. It was concluded based on these findings that spiritual organizations have been able to benefit Transition Towns sustainability initiatives in the UK. Findings suggest that spiritual organizations which are most able to act as important sources of ‘spiritual capital’ for sustainability and community resilience initiatives are identified with the following characteristics: non-proselytizing, socially and theologically inclusive, and emphasizing social and/or environmental justice. By being a source of spiritual capital, spiritual organizations can offer the beneficial components of normative values that motivate, influence and bind communities.

Dissertação de mestrado em Gestão de Recursos Humanos
A presente pesquisa tem como propósito analisar a relação existente entre a inteligência espiritual e a resiliência emocional na gestão, duas temáticas que têm atraído a atenção de académicos e práticos nas organizações. Com vista à orientação desta investigação, formulou-se a seguinte questão: Qual a relação entre a inteligência espiritual (IE) e a resiliência emocional (RE) em gestores? Para responder à questão de investigação realizou-se um inquérito por questionário composto por duas escalas: uma de inteligência espiritual (Inventário de autoavaliação de inteligência espiritual – IAIE com 16 itens, versão portuguesa da escala SISRI-24) e outra de resiliência emocional (Connor and Davidson Resilience Scale with 10 itens – CD-RISC-10), além de um conjunto de variáveis sociodemográficas. Esta pesquisa contou com a participação de 104 gestores portugueses. Para analisar os dados foi utilizado o programa SPSS versão 26. As pontuações dos respondentes na escala IAIE e suas dimensões apontam para níveis médios de inteligência espiritual, o mesmo se verificando na escala de resiliência emocional. Os testes de comparação de médias revelam a existência de diferenças estatisticamente significativas nas escalas de inteligência espiritual e resiliência emocional em função de algumas variáveis demográficas e profissionais. No que concerne a relação entre a inteligência espiritual e a resiliência emocional na gestão, encontrou-se uma correlação positiva, embora baixa.
This research aims to analyze the correlation between spiritual intelligence and emotional resilience in management, two subjects that.have attracted the attention of academics and practitioners in organizations. The following question was asked in order to guide this investigation: What is the relationship between spiritual intelligence (SI) and emotional resilience (ER) in managers? To answer the research question, a correlational study was carried out compouding two scales: the first is about spiritual intelligence (The Portuguese version of the Self-Assessment Inventory of Spiritual Intelligence – SISRI-24) and the other of emotional resilience (Connor and Davidson Resilience Scale with 10 items – CD-RISC-10), in addition to a set of sociodemographic variables. This survey was attended by 104 Portuguese managers. To analyse the data the SPSS version 26 was carried out. Respondents' scores on the IAIE scale and their dimensions point to average levels of spiritual intelligence, as do the emotional resilience scale. The means comparison tests reveal the existence of statistically significant differences in the scales of spiritual intelligence and emotional resilience due to some demographic and professional variables. Concerning the relationship between spiritual intelligence and emotional resilience in management, a positive, albeit low, correlation was found.

Dissertação de Mestrado apresentada no ISPA - Instituto Universitário
A espiritualidade está ligada a perceções positivas de saúde e um aumento no bem-estar, tanto em indivíduos com doença crónica, como em indivíduos sem a mesma. A resiliência é a capacidade que nos permite lidar com a adversidade e, em caso de doença é uma capacidade fundamental para um melhor bem-estar e uma melhor perceção da própria saúde. A presente dissertação pretende confirmar a relação entre a espiritualidade e a resiliência e, num patamar mais avançado, perceber se a resiliência pode explicar a relação entre a espiritualidade e o bem-estar mental e o estado de saúde percebido. Para tal, foram utilizadas medidas quantitativas, através de quatro escalas: Escala de Transcendência Espiritual; Escala de Resiliência; Escala de Bem-Estar Mental; e Questionário de Saúde Reduzido – SF36, numa amostra da população portuguesa dividida num grupo de pessoas com doença crónica e num grupo de pessoas sem doença cronica.
ABSTRACT: Spirituality is linked to positive perceptions of health and an increase in well-being, both in individuals with chronic illness and individuals without it. Resilience is the capacity that allows us to deal with adversity and, in case of illness, is a fundamental capacity for better well-being and a better perception of one’s own health. The present dissertation aims to confirm the relationship between spirituality and resilience and, at a more advanced level, to understand if resilience can explain the relationship between spirituality and mental well-being and perceived health status. For that, quantitative measures were used, through four scales: Spiritual Transcendence Scale; Resilience Scale; Mental Well-Being Scale; and Short-Form Health Survey SF-36, in a sample of the Portuguese population divided into a group of people with chronic illness and a group of people without chronic illness.

Dissertação de Mestrado apresentado no ISPA – Instituto Universitário para obtenção de grau de Mestre na especialidade de Psicologia da Saúde
Introdução: Com base na literatura evidencia-se que, no processo de doença crónica, o cuidador familiar da criança é compreendido como um fator de proteção e auxílio para a mesma, e devido ao impacto da doença, na vida da criança, podem surgir reações positivas de enfrentamento da doença no cuidador. O principal objetivo desta investigação é compreender a adaptação dos cuidadores familiares à doença crónica da criança, avaliando a resiliência, bem-estar espiritual, bem-estar subjetivo e crescimento pós-traumático. Método: A amostra é constituída por 127 participantes (M = 40 anos,26; DP = 7,38), que são, ou foram, cuidadores de crianças com doenças crónicas. Os participantes preencheram um questionário online com os seguintes instrumentos: Escala de Resiliência, o Questionário de Bem-Estar Espiritual, a Escala de Satisfação com a Vida, a Escala de Afeto Positivo e Negativo e o Inventário de Desenvolvimento Pós-Traumático. Resultados: Os resultados evidenciam a manifestação das variáveis supracitadas na população de pais cuidadores de crianças com doenças cronicas e demonstram que o estado civil, internamentos e bem-estar espiritual estão relacionados com resiliência, bem-estar subjetivo, crescimento pós-traumático e resiliência predizem o bem-estar espiritual, o crescimento pós-traumático e o bem-estar espiritual são preditores de bem-estar subjetivo, e o bem-estar subjetivo e espiritual contribuem para o crescimento pós-traumático. Conclusão: Este estudo demonstra que os cuidadores tendem a manifestar ajustamento psicossocial na gestão da situação de doença crónica, percecionando as variáveis psicossociais supracitadas, e possibilita evidências empíricas importantes para a criação de um modelo teórico que explique a relação entre as mesmas.
Introduction: Based on the literature, it is evident that in the process of chronic disease, the family caregiver of the child is understood as a factor of protection and assistance to the child, and due to the impact of the disease on the child's life, positive reactions to confront the disease can arise in the caregiver. The main objective of this research is to understand the adaptation of family caregivers to the chronic disease of the child, assessing the child's resilience, spiritual well-being, subjective well-being and post-traumatic growth. Method: The sample consists of 127 participants (M age = 40;26 SD = 7.38), who are, or were, caregivers of children with chronic diseases. Participants completed an online questionnaire with the following tools: Resilience Scale, the Spiritual Wellbeing Questionnaire, the Life Satisfaction Scale, the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule, and the Posttraumatic Growth Inventory Results: The results show the manifestation of the abovementioned variables in the population of parents caring of children with chronic illnesses and demonstrate that marital status, internments and spiritual well-being are related to resilience, subjective well-being, post-traumatic growth and resilience predict spiritual well-being, post-traumatic growth and spiritual well-being are predictors of subjective well-being, and subjective and spiritual well-being contribute to post-traumatic growth. Conclusion: This study shows that caregivers tend to manifest psychosocial adjustment in the management of the chronic disease situation, perceiving the aforementioned psychosocial variables, and provides important empirical evidence for the creation of a theoretical model that explains the relationship between them.