The Religiosity and Spirituality Scale for Youth: Development and Initial Validation

• Main Author: Hernandez, Brittany C.
• Other Authors: Kelley, Mary Lou
• Format: Others
• Language: en
• Published: LSU 2011
• Subjects: Psychology
• Online Access: http://etd.lsu.edu/docs/available/etd-10142011-115001/

The literature cites multiple definitions for religiosity and spirituality, with little consensus among researchers. Religiosity/spirituality has been associated with a myriad of positive outcomes in both adults and youth. Despite the importance of these constructs, there are little to no psychometrically sound measures created to assess religiosity or spirituality in youth. Adult measures are psychometrically strong for use with older populations, but none were developed for use with young people. The purpose of the current study was to develop a psychometrically sound measure of religiosity and spirituality for use with diverse samples of youth. A sample of 307 youth, aged 9-17 were recruited from churches and schools. The majority of the sample consisted of Caucasian youth from a Catholic/Christian background. Factor analyses resulted in a 37-item measure with two factors, Faith-based Coping and Religious Social Support/Activities. The measure demonstrated strong internal consistency and test-retest reliability data, as well as good preliminary validity.