We examined experiencing divine love as an indicator of affective spiritual growth in a prospective cohort of 200 patients surviving cardiac surgery. These patients previously completed two-wave preoperative interviews when standardized cardiac surgery data were also collected. The information included left ventricular ejection fraction, New York Heart Association Classification, baseline health (physical and mental), optimism, hope, religiousness, prayer coping, religious/spiritual coping, and demographics. We then measured divine love at 900 days postoperatively. Hierarchical linear regression indicated the direct effect of positive religious coping on experiences of divine love, controlling for other key variables. Postoperatively perceived spiritual support was entered at the final step as an explanatory factor, which appeared to mediate the coping effect. None of the other faith factors predicted divine love. Further research regarding divine love and spiritual support may eventually guide clinical attempts to support patients' spiritual growth as an independently relevant outcome of cardiac surgery. 1. Introduction Severe cardiovascular disease (CVD) is a condition that constitutes the highest mortality in the United States (US) [1]. Cardiac surgery is a life-saving operation for many with advanced heart conditions. However the risk of perioperative death is real, and it is most acute for those with heart failure or advanced age. As such, surgeons routinely inform patients of the possibility of death due to surgery-related complications. The life and death stakes in these circumstance makes an existential challenge inevitable, and survival from such experiences can pave a way to spiritual growth [2]. The present study explored experiencing divine love, as a form of personal growth or spiritual transformation, in a long-term followup of patients who survived cardiac surgery and participated in a two-wave preoperative study [2]. For decades behavioral health research has focused primarily on pathology and negative affect traits (e.g., depression, pain) as indices of recovery from life-threatening conditions. This symptom reduction refers to the concept of subjective well-being (SWB, the hedonic tradition), in contrast to that of psychological well-being (PWB, the eudaimonic tradition) in light of positive psychology that focus on the positive side of life even in adversity [3]. The latter especially involves personal growth after trauma, such as worldview alteration (e.g., meaning in life, enhanced relations). Thus, experiencing divine love after
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