TRAUMA COPING STRATEGIES AND POSTTRAUMATIC GROWTH AMONG CATHOLIC RELIGIOUS MEN AND WOMEN SURVIVORS OF KIDNAPPING IN SOUTHERN ECCLESIASTICAL PROVINCES OF NIGERIA

Abstract

Kidnapping in Nigeria has become an issue of great concern given the trauma it leaves the survivors with. There are more studies and interventions on posttraumatic stress disorders than posttraumatic growth; this research investigated the trauma coping strategies and posttraumatic growth among the Catholic religious men and women survivors of kidnapping in the southern Ecclesiastical provinces of Nigeria. The objectives were to; assess the immediate trauma reactions, establish the indicators of posttraumatic growth, assess the trauma coping style, determine the relationship between the trauma coping style and posttraumatic growth, determine the relationship between the trauma severity and the posttraumatic growth, and identify the coping strategies adopted by them. The study was anchored on the organismic valuing theory after adversity, and adopted the explanatory sequential mixed method research design. The target population was 86 survivors, and all were included in the study using total population sampling technique given the manageable size. An adapted version of the Immediate Trauma Response Scale (ITRS), Posttraumatic Growth Inventory (PTGI) Brief resilient Trauma Coping Strategy scale were administered in the quantitative phase of the study while twenty-one purposefully selected survivors from the first phase were put into focus group discussion guided by the Indicators of Posttraumatic Growth and the coping strategies in the qualitative phase. Trauma reaction symptoms and posttraumatic growth domains were evident in the results; there was a statistically significantly weak negative relationship between the immediate trauma reactions and posttraumatic growth; there was also a statistically significant positive relationship between the trauma coping style and posttraumatic growth. The study recommends recommended dual dimension approach to trauma therapy that has both pathological and transformational focused interventions which pay attention to positive resilient coping strategies. It also recommended an improved government policy that promotes a swift intervention in securing the release of kidnap victims, and tackle the menace of kidnapping in a more productive manner.