Background:

It is widely assumed that holding spiritual beliefs offers individuals comfort and support in times of difficulty. It might be expected then that individuals who feel that religion is important to them and offers them strength and comfort would report being less affected after having been exposed to a potentially life-threatening trauma.

Methods:

From 1999 to 2002, 7485 residents in Canberra and surrounds were interviewed for the PATH Through Life Project, a longitudinal survey being conducted by the Centre for Mental Health Research. Participants, drawn from three age groups, were rein-terviewed from 2003 to 2006. Questions asked in both interviews covered sociodemographic, physical and mental health measures, and personality attributes. In both interviews, participants were also asked about their attendance at religious services, their position concerning religion and the extent to which religion was a source of strength and comfort to them.

In January 2003 before commencement of wave 2 interviews, a major bushfire hit the Canberra region. When reinterviewed, participants were asked about their level of exposure to the fire and the extent to which they experienced symptoms of post-traumatic stress. About 89.6% of wave 1 participants took part in wave 2, and of these, 6596 (88.1%) answered questions concerning bushfire exposure.

Results:

The analyses examined whether individuals with strong religious beliefs experienced lower levels of post-traumatic stress after the fires, compared with their less religious counterparts. Associations between these factors were found to vary across the life span and were strongest for participants in midlife.