Spiritual Well-Being Scale: Mental and Physical Health Relationships (Chapter 48 of Oxford Textbook of Spirituality in Healthcare)

The existence of this handbook documents the recent increase in research on and practical attention to the role of spirituality in healthcare. One essential companion to the concept of spirituality is spiritual well-being (SWB).[1] That is, although the degree and type of spirituality per se can no doubt play an important role in how well a person faces the dilemmas related to health issues,[2,3] the degree to which a person perceives or derives a sense of wellbeing from that spirituality may be equally or more important. In this connection, SWB is an outcome indicator, or barometer, of how well a person is doing in the face of whatever the person is confronting.[4] Therefore, although SWB is not synonymous with spirituality, it is closely related to it. Similarly, SWB is not synonymous with mental health or physical health, but is likely to be related to both of them. SWB connotes one\u27s subjective perception of well-being in both the religious and/or existential dimensions in accord with whatever is implicitly or explicitly conceived of as a spiritual umbrella for the individual. The Spiritual Well-Being Scale (SWBS)* was developed in order to be a tool for self-assessment of these aspects of general perceived well-being. [ 4,5] Since its first publication in 1982, a large body of research has been done with the SWBS. In preparation for writing this chapter, a literature search documented the scale\u27s use in over 300 published articles and chapters, 190 doctoral dissertations and Masters theses, 35 posters and presentations, and 50 unpublished papers. It has also been reprinted in no less than 4 books on palliative care and counseling. [ 6-9] An exhaustive review of all of this research is beyond the scope of this chapter; the interested reader is referred to a companion review article. [ 10] Here, we focus specifically and selectively on research related to healthcare. We highlight those studies using the SWBS that are related to mental health variables or to the mental and well-being issues that are consequences or correlates of physical health conditions. In order to maximize the usefulness of this chapter, it is necessary to ( 1) summarize the intellectual roots of the concept of SWB and what the SWBS does and does not measure, (2) explain the meaning and utility of its religious well-being (RWB) and existential well-being (EWB) subscales, (3) summarize the literature with the SWBS as related to mental and physical health variables, ( 4) note any strengths and weaknesses, research directions, and applications of the SWBS, and (5) summarize implications of SWB research for healthy health care practice

Spiritual Well-Being Scale (SWBS): Measuring Spiritual Well-being in International Contexts

The Spiritual Well-Being Scale (SWBS) is a 20-item measure of self-perceived spiritual health. Developed in the 1980s, it includes 2 subscales with 10 items each. Responses are made on a 6-point continuum from Strongly Disagree to Strongly Agree with no neutral point; 9 of the items are negatively worded to minimize response biases. The US samples show good internal consistency and test-retest reliability. Content validity was established in construction. Expected correlations with religion and spirituality indices, social and psychological mea-sures, and physical functioning and demonstration of expected group differences support criterion validity. Factor analysis commonly shows 2 factors corresponding to the religious and existential dimensions, but 3, 4, and even 5 factors are found in some cultural samples. Together, data show the SWBS is a good indicator of biopsychosocial and spiritual wellness. Gradually, international interest in the SWBS has grown, and the SWBS has been translated into 22 lan-guages to date. Results of translations are broadly consistent with the English-language literature. In general, translations are internally consistent and show good test-retest reliability. In some groups, negatively worded items tend to cluster together regardless of content, suggesting a methods factor for those samples. Among international samples, factor analysis generally results in 2 fac-tors or 2 factors and an additional methods factor. Empirical correlates and group differences found with SWBS translations generally parallel those with the English version

Psychology of Religion in the World

The psychology of religion used to be a small and little known field. Although a few pockets of work in the area were done when Psychology began, it was functionally nonexistent for 1/3 of psychology’s history, and received little attention for most of the rest of it. However, in the past 20 years the field has become vast in scope.  It now intersects all subfields of general psychology. Also, the psychology of religion no longer exists only in Western countries.  It is now an international field with research being conducted worldwide. This article summarizes this trend and documents psychology of religion in the world and in Brazil as a part of it. The need for a multilevel interdisciplinary approach to research and theory is highlighted, as a way to synthesize knowledge of religiousness cross-culturally and trans-religiously. Future research should invoke a meaningmaking model in order to examine not merely observable religious behaviors, beliefs, or experiences, but their underlying roots, i.e., their meanings and attributions made about them. Such research can help us eliminate barriers between disciplines, cultures, religions, and nations

The development of the Meaning in Life Index (MILI) and its relationship with personality and religious behaviours and beliefs among UK undergraduate students

The scales available for assessing meaning in life appear to be confounded with several related constructs, including purpose in life, satisfaction with life, and goal-directed behaviour. The Meaning in Life Index (MILI), a new instrument devised as a specific measure of meaning in life, was developed from responses to a pool of 22 items rated by a sample of 501 undergraduate students in Wales. The nine-item scale demonstrated sufficient face validity, internal consistency, and scale reliability to commend the instrument for future use. With respect to personality, the MILI scores were most strongly predicted by neuroticism (negatively), and less strongly by extraversion (positively) and psychoticism (negatively). With respect to several religious behavioural variables, those who attended church at least weekly returned significantly higher MILI scores than those who attended church less frequently. Intrinsic religiosity was the only orientation to be significantly associated with the MILI scale scores, although the magnitude of the association was smaller than anticipated. These results suggest that meaning in life is associated more strongly with individual differences in personality than with specific religious behaviours and attitudes. The implications of these results are discussed in terms of individual's personal values and attitudes that might underlie their experience of a meaning in life

Human interaction with the divine, the sacred, and the deceased: topics that warrant increased attention by psychologists

Humans have likely been attempting to communicate with entities believed to exist, such as the divine, sacred beings, and deceased people, since the dawn of time. Across cultures and countries, many believe that interaction with the immaterial world is not only possible but a frequent experience. Most religious traditions across the globe focus many rituals and activities around prayer to an entity deemed divine or sacred. Additionally, many people–religious, agnostic, and atheists alike–report communication with their departed loved ones. During highly stressful times associated with natural disasters, war, pandemics, and other threats to human life, the frequency and intensity of these activities and associated experiences substantially increase. Although this very human phenomenon seems to be universal, the empirical literature on the topic within psychology is thin. This paper discussed the topic and reviews what we know from the professional literature about how people perceive communication with these unseen entities. It highlights the perceptual and social cognition evidence and discussed the role of attribution theory, which might help us understand the beliefs, motivations, and practices of those engaged with communication with the unseen. Empirical laboratory research with mediums is discussed as well, examining the evidence for communication with the deceased. Final reflections and suggestions for future research are also offered

An interdisciplinary framework for Islamic cognitive theories

The Islamic psychology (IP) community in Europe has recently witnessed a heated debate about the credentials required to participate in the theoretical substantiation of IP and Islamically integrated psychotherapy and counseling. This debate has provided convenient circumstances for Muslim psychologists and Islamic scholars alike to rethink their roles within the flourishing movement. Specifically, the discussions hint toward the importance of adopting a collaborative research methodology for IP, in particular for basic research. The methodology of choice will need to define the necessary qualifications and responsibilities of scholars and psychologists in a collaborative research process (personal collaboration) and evince its capability to appropriately marry knowledge and data, diverging research methods, and perspectives, concepts, and theories from Islamic studies and contemporary psychology (content-related collaboration). Here, we devise and offer a case illustration of an Islamic Psychology Basic Research Framework (coined the SALAAM Framework). This framework uses the Institute for Interdisciplinary Studies (IIS) Model of Interdisciplinary Research, developed by the IIS at the University of Amsterdam. Our first aim is to appropriate the IIS model for the IP literature by applying the model's research process phases and technique for the integration of disparate bodies of knowledge—that is, the identification of common ground—to methodological approaches in the contemporary IP literature. Our second aim is to exemplify the devised SALAAM Framework using the relatively unexplored area of Islamic cognitive theories (ICTs), which remain underdeveloped in contemporary psychological literature, primarily because of a lack of commensurability with the nomenclature of contemporary psychology. We thus provide a primer on the potential scope of ICTs. Toward the end of this article, we discuss the potential of the project of interdisciplinary construction of Islamic psychological theory, and the ability of the SALAAM Framework to establish a research program in IP that centers on cognition. We finally offer our reflections on the distinctiveness of Islamic psychologies in comparison to mainstream and Christian psychology.Q4WOS:0004589189000062-s2.0-8506156876

Spiritual Well-Being, Depression, and Stress Among Hemodialysis Patients in Jordan

Purpose: The spiritual dimension of a patient’s life is an important factor that may mediate detrimental impacts on mental health. The lack of research investigating spiritual well-being, religiosity, and mental health among Jordanian hemodialysis patients encouraged this research. This study explored levels of spiritual well-being and its associations with depression, anxiety, and stress. Design: A quantitative, cross-sectional correlational study. Method: A sample of 218 Jordanian Muslim hemodialysis patients completed a structured, self-administered questionnaire. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and linear multivariate regression models. Findings: The hemodialysis patients had, on average, relatively low levels of spiritual well-being, moderate depression, severe anxiety, and mild to moderate stress. The results of the regression models indicated that aspects of spiritual well-being were negatively associated with depression, anxiety, and stress, but only existential well-being consistently retained significant associations after controlling for religious well-being, religiosity, and sociodemographic variables. Conclusions: Greater spiritual and existential well-being of Jordanian hemodialysis patients were significantly associated with less depression, anxiety, and stress. It appears that these patients use religious and spiritual beliefs and practices as coping mechanisms to overcome their depression, anxiety, and stress. The implications for holistic clinical practice are explored

The Mysticism Scale as Measure for Subjective Spirituality: New Results with Hood's M-Scale and the Development of a Short Form

Streib H, Klein C, Keller B, Hood RW. The Mysticism Scale as Measure for Subjective Spirituality: New Results with Hood's M-Scale and the Development of a Short Form. In: Ai AL, Harris KA, Wink P, Paloutzian R, eds. Assessing Spirituality and Religion in a Diversified World: Beyond the Mainstream Perspective. New York: Springer; 2021: 45.In this chapter, we suggest the use of Hood’s Mysticism Scale (M-scale) for a differential assessment of subjective spirituality. We base this view on the conceptualization of mysticism and its relation to spirituality, and on the definition of spirituality as individualized experience-orientated religiosity. This perspective was empirically tested in the Bielefeld-based Cross-cultural Study on Spirituality, which explored in comprehensive semantic analyses how participants in the USA and Germany define spirituality and revealed that more spiritual than religious people preferably associate spirituality with experiences of all-connectedness, search for a higher self, existential truth, and humanistic morality. Moreover, structural equations modeling based on this and other recent data sets reveal that the M-scale and its factors have considerable effects on self-rated spirituality. Thus, we recommend the M-scale as measure for subjective spirituality, which avoids the widespread problem of many extant measures that assess spirituality primarily in terms of either (Christian) religiosity or psychosocial well-being. The M-scale may be very useful in research that intends to assess the subjective spirituality of a diversity of participants who might affiliate with various religious traditions and worldviews, including the non-religious, atheists, and non-theists. Besides the well-established 32-item version of the M-scale, the chapter additionally presents an economic 8-item short form of the M-scale and its psychometric properties

An Arabic Version of the Spiritual Well-Being Scale

This article reports on two studies to develop and validate an Arabic language version of the Spiritual Well-Being Scale (SWBS). The first study was a pilot study at a major government university in Jordan (N = 75, students). The second and main study was conducted in 5 large regional hospitals in Jordan (N = 63, patients). The SWBS was translated from English to Arabic and reviewed by an expert panel for language, cultural, and spiritual consistency. The Arabic version of the SWBS was revised after the results of the pilot study and further reviewed by an expert panel. The resulting data were subjected to descriptive and factor analysis. Results showed that the final version of the SWBS used in the main study had a two-factor structure consistent with previous studies. Descriptive data for a range of demographic variables are presented. Issues of inadequate translation and lack of variation in responses for some items are identified and the results discussed in light of dominant Islamic theological frameworks. © 2012 Taylor and Francis Group, LLC