Religious Coping Strategies in Patients With Post-traumatic Growth Due to COVID-19: A Qualitative Study

The COVID-19 crisis has caused a wave of stress, psychological disorders and physical problems in the world, but some people experience post-traumatic growth despite these problems. The aim of this study was to explain the religious coping strategies of growth based on the experiences of patients with COVID-19.

A qualitative research design was conducted using content analysis method. Twenty-five participants were selected using purposive sampling and interviewed using semi-structured and in-depth interviews. Purposeful sampling was used to achieve data saturation. Data were analyzed according to the step-by-step process of Brown and Clark content analysis using MAXQDA software.

Data analysis resulted in 386 primary codes, 18 basic themes, 11 organizing themes. Religious coping strategies of post-traumatic growth in patients with COVID-19 were: “Spiritual reflection”, “Positive religious framing”, “Prayer”, “Religious benevolence”, “Invocation”, “Trusting”, “Religious hope”, “Religious modeling”, “Religious acceptance”, “Preparation for Death”, and “Seeking Religious support”.

Positive religious coping strategies significantly contribute to post-traumatic growth in patients with COVID-19. The findings of the present study can be used to design scales for measuring religious coping strategies, design and effectiveness of intervention programs to help COVID-19 patients to cope with disease stress and facilitate post-traumatic growth.