Date

12-19-2023

Department

School of Behavioral Sciences

Degree

Doctor of Education in Community Care and Counseling (EdD)

Chair

Fred Volk

Keywords

moral injury, divorce, Catholics, character domain, religiosity, perception of suffering

Disciplines

Counseling

Abstract

Catholics who are faithful to the teachings of the Catholic Church on the indissolubility of marriage and who experience a civil divorce are at high risk for moral injury. This study was anchored on a character domain theoretical framework, and it investigated the impact of moral injury on character identity (measured by self-discrepancy) through the mediation of the perception of suffering. Religiosity was explored as a moderator for the relationships of moral injury to perception of suffering, perception of suffering to character identity, and moral injury to character identity. Participants (N = 251) were recruited from social media groups, various parishes throughout the United States, through Catholic news agencies, and Catholic podcasters to take an online survey. This quantitative, descriptive, cross-sectional, correlation design utilized PROCESS Model 59 with multiple linear regression which found that there was a significant positive relationship between moral injury and character identity, that perception of suffering mediated the relationship between moral injury and character identity, and that religiosity moderated the pathway between moral injury and perception of suffering. The purpose of this study was to make contributions to fill the gaps in research literature by expanding the understanding of moral injury through a character domain perspective, adding research studies for civilian populations suffering from moral injuries, and in hope that more specific and efficacious therapies can be developed.

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