textSpirituality is an important theme in health research, since a spiritual orientation can help people to cope with the consequences of a serious disease. Knowledge on the role of spirituality is, however, limited, as most research is based on measures of religiosity rather than spirituality. A questionnaire that transcends specific beliefs is a prerequisite for quantifying the importance of spirituality among people who adhere to a religion or none at all. In this review, we discuss ten questionnaires that address spirituality as a universal human experience. Questionnaires are evaluated with regard to psychometric properties, item formulation and confusion with well-being and distress. Although none of the questionnaires fulfilled all the criteria, the multidimensional Spiritual Well-Being Questionnaire is promising.

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Measuring Spirituality as a Universal Human Experience: A Review of Spirituality Questionnaires

Purpose: Nursing research studies investigating the relationship between spiritual wellbeing and health-related quality of life are lacking among Arab hemodialysis patients in Jordan or any other Arab country. The purpose of this study was to explore the associations between spiritual wellbeing, its religious and existential wellbeing dimensions, and health-related quality of life among Jordanian Muslim hemodialysis patients. Design: A cross sectional, quantitative correlational study. Methods: A convenience sample of 150 Jordanian hemodialysis patients completed a structured, self-administered questionnaire. Descriptive, bivariate, and multivariate regression models were used. Findings: The Jordanian hemodialysis patients had a moderate level of spiritual wellbeing and religious wellbeing, a low level of existential wellbeing, and a poor health-related quality of life. The findings revealed a significant moderate positive correlation between the spiritual wellbeing and its dimensions, and health-related quality of life. The existential wellbeing was the strongest predictor, with a large, positive, and significant effect after controlling for other spiritual, demographic and medical-related variables. Conclusion: Overall, the study suggests Jordanian hemodialysis patients use their religious and spiritual beliefs and practices as a coping mechanism, especially as sources of satisfaction, peace, comfort, strength and support, to help improve their health-related quality of life.

Spiritual Wellbeing and Quality of Life among Hemodialysis Patients in Jordan: A Cross-Sectional Correlational Study.

Prayer is an important experience in the lives of many people. We introduce the Using Private Prayer for Coping (UPPC) scale, based on William James’s (1902/1958) concept of personal religious experiences as “a study of human nature” (p. 350) and prayer as an “inward communion or conversation with the power recognized as divine” (p. 352). The UPPC is a consciousness-based scale to assess the use of private prayer for coping in crisis or distress, involving: (a) belief in its importance, (b) faith in its efficacy based on previous experiences, and (c) intention to use this as a means to cope with distress. Three studies in samples with diverse demographic characteristics, belief patterns, and crisis contexts were used to establish the satisfactory psychometric properties of the UPPC, including its association with or predictive value for hedonic and eudaemonic wellbeing following traumatic events or collective disasters.

Using Private Prayer for Coping (UPPC): Its Role and Mechanisms in Adversities Facing Diverse Populations

The concept of perceived spiritual support (PSS) centers on an internalized resource derived from perception of an intimate relationship with a higher power, be it God, Jesus, a cosmic force, ancestral spirits, or a psychologically functional equivalent. The literature has indicated the increasing importance of spiritual support in crises and medical care, but previous assessments tended to focus on mainstream religions with inadequate validation. To meet the gap and based on related scientific theories, three crises-based studies were conducted to develop and validate a 12-item scale of perceived spiritual support (the PSSS) for assessing the spiritual resource of individuals with diverse belief systems. This endeavor was also a response to a long-standing call for measuring consciousness-related faith experience and to an assessment problem—the use of simple frequency measures in large-scale epidemiological or sociological surveys. Participants in the three studies reflect varied makeups of age, gender, generation, race, belief systems, and cultural backgrounds. The findings provide the adequate psychometric information for the PSSS and its predictive value for various outcomes. Multivariate analyses demonstrated the indirect mediating or pathway effect of the PSSS, simultaneously evaluated the effects of other established factors, and tested an explanatory mechanism underlying its predictive value. The results suggest that the PSSS, as a short and easy to use tool, can be used to predict important outcomes in crises and across different populations. More cross-cultural studies are warranted for further validation.

The Perceived Spiritual Support Scale (PSSS): Measuring Support from the Deep Connection with Diverse Sacred Entities

The purpose of this chapter is to articulate reasons why religious and spiritual measures that are valid across different faith traditions and cultures are needed in psychological science and practice. We explain why measuring and assessing spirituality and religiousness is relevant for researchers and practitioners, review some historical background about assessment of religiousness and spirituality, and acknowledge some practical and conceptual challenges to measuring and assessing these constructs. We conclude by proposing some ideas that may help in the effort to bring religious and spiritual measures and assessment more fully into the mainstream of psychological science and practice.

Mainstreaming the Assessment of Diverse Religiousness and Spirituality in Psychology

The Spiritual Well-Being Scale (SWBS) was created in 1982 as a subjective measure of quality of life. It has been used in approximately 300 studies, 200 theses and dissertations, and 35 professional presentations. It has contributed to research in psychology and healthcare globally, and has been translated into over 10 languages—a summary of which is presented in this chapter. Development of the SWBS was based on the observation that people make meaning out of the ambiguity of life by defining goals or values toward which to strive—whether physical, personal, secular, or religious. Because not all things for which people strive are identifiably religious, the word “spiritual” came into use to refer to strivings-in-general. “Spirituality” referred to the achievement of a state of being, or the motivation to be, “spiritual.” SWB is related to, but does not equal, spiritual or spirituality. Because SWB is typically described in two ways, the SWBS has two subscales that yield outcome measures of perceived well-being in two senses: (1) The religious well-being (RWB) subscale reflects SWB in traditionally religious language, because many people explain what SWB means to them in such terms; (2) The existential well-being (EWB) subscale reflects SWB in a-religious, existential language because many people describe their SWB in such terms. RWB and EWB subscale scores can be combined into total SWB, if a combined score is meaningful for the population studied. The present chapter summarizes SWBS research and translations, critiques the SWBS and some of its uses, and suggests future uses and improvements.

Kay C. Bruce

Papers

The Spiritual Well-Being Scale (SWBS): Cross-Cultural Assessment Across 5 Continents, 10 Languages, and 300 Studies