Top

Published in:

01-12-2012 | Original Paper

Multidimensional Assessment of Spirituality/Religion in Patients with HIV: Conceptual Framework and Empirical Refinement

Authors: Magdalena Szaflarski, Ian Kudel, Sian Cotton, Anthony C. Leonard, Joel Tsevat, P. Neal Ritchey

Published in: Journal of Religion and Health | Issue 4/2012

Abstract

A decade ago, an expert panel developed a framework for measuring spirituality/religion in health research (Brief Multidimensional Measure of Religiousness/Spirituality), but empirical testing of this framework has been limited. The purpose of this study was to determine whether responses to items across multiple measures assessing spirituality/religion by 450 patients with HIV replicate this model. We hypothesized a six-factor model underlying a collective of 56 items, but results of confirmatory factor analyses suggested eight dimensions: Meaning/Peace, Tangible Connection to the Divine, Positive Religious Coping, Love/Appreciation, Negative Religious Coping, Positive Congregational Support, Negative Congregational Support, and Cultural Practices. This study corroborates parts of the factor structure underlying the Brief Multidimensional Measure of Religiousness/Spirituality and some recent refinements of the original framework.

Available only for authorised users

Belcher, A. E., Dettmore, D., & Holzemer, S. P. (1989). Spirituality and sense of well-being in persons with AIDS. Holistic Nursing Practice, 3(4), 16–25.PubMed

Bernstein, K., Lyon, M. E., & D’Angelo, L. J. (2009). “Will you pray with me?” Do HIV-infected adolescents want their care providers involved in their religious or spiritual lives? Journal of Adolescent Health, 44(2), S25.CrossRef

Bormann, J. E., Gifford, A. L., Shively, M., Smith, T. L., Redwine, L., Kelly, A., et al. (2006). Effects of spiritual mantram repetition on HIV outcomes: A randomized controlled trial. Journal of Behavioral Medicine, 29(4), 359–376.PubMedCrossRef

Braxton, N. D., Lang, D. L., Sales, J. M., Wingood, G. M., & DiClemente, R. J. (2007). The role of spirituality in sustaining the psychological well-being of HIV-positive black women. Women and Health, 46(2–3), 113–129.

Canada, A. L., Murphy, P. E., Fitchett, G., Peterman, A. H., & Schover, L. R. (2008). A 3-factor model for the FACIT-Sp. Psychooncology, 17(9), 908–916.PubMedCrossRef

Cotton, S., McGrady, M. E., & Rosenthal, S. L. (2010). Measurement of religiosity/spirituality in adolescent health outcomes research: Trends and recommendations. Journal of religion and health, Feb 2. [Epub ahead of print].

Cotton, S., Puchalski, C. M., Sherman, S. N., Mrus, J. M., Peterman, A. H., Feinberg, J., et al. (2006). Spirituality and religion in patients with HIV/AIDS. Journal of General Internal Medicine, 21(5), S5–S13.PubMedCrossRef

Dalmida, S. G. (2006). Spirituality, mental health, physical health, and health-related quality of life among women with HIV/AIDS: Integrating spirituality into mental health care. Issues in Mental Health Nursing, 27(2), 185–198.PubMedCrossRef

DeVellis, R. F. (1991). Scale development: Theory and applications (Vol. 26). Newbury Park, CA: SAGE.

Ellison, C. G., & Levin, J. S. (1998). The religion-health connection: Evidence, theory, and future directions. Health Education and Behavior, 25(6), 700–720.PubMedCrossRef

FACIT. (2007). Functional Assessment of Chronic Illness Therapy. Welcome. Available at: http://www.facit/org/about/welcome.aspx. Accessed 26, February, 2010.

Fetzer Institute and National Institute on Aging Working Group. (1999; reprinted 2003). Multidimensional measurement of religiousness/spirituality for use in health research: A report of a national working group. Kalamazoo, MI: Fetzer Institute.

Garber, M., Hanusa, B. H., Switzer, G. E., Mellors, J., & Arnold, R. M. (2007). HIV-infected African Americans are willing to participate in HIV treatment trials. Journal of General Internal Medicine, 22(1), 17–42.PubMedCrossRef

Guillory, J. A., Sowell, R., Moneyham, L., & Seals, B. (1997). An exploration of the meaning and use of spirituality among women with HIV/AIDS. Alternative Therapies in Health and Medicine, 3(5), 55–60.PubMed

Hall, D. E., Koenig, H. G., & Meador, K. G. (2009). Episcopal measure of faith tradition: A context-specific approach to measuring religiousness. Journal of Religion and Health, 49(2), 164–178.PubMedCrossRef

Hall, D. E., Meador, K. G., & Koenig, H. G. (2008). Measuring religiousness in health research: Review and critique. Journal of Religion and Health, 47(2), 134–163.PubMedCrossRef

Harris, S. K., Sherritt, L. R., Holder, D. W., Kulig, J., Shrier, L. A., & Knight, J. R. (2008). Reliability and validity of the Brief Multidimensional Measure of Religiousness/Spirituality among adolescents. Journal of Religious Health, 47(4), 438–457.CrossRef

Hill, P. C., & Hood, R. W. (1999). Measures of religiosity. Birmingham, Ala: Religious Education Press.

Idler, E. L., Musick, M. A., Ellison, C. G., George, L. K., Krause, N., Ory, M. G., et al. (2003). Measuring multiple dimensions of religion and spirituality for health research: Conceptual background and findings from the 1998 General Social Survey. Research on Aging, 25(4), 327–365.CrossRef

Ironson, G., & Kremer, H. (2009). Spiritual transformation, psychological well-being, health, and survival in people with HIV. International Journal of Psychiatry in Medicine, 39(3), 263–281.PubMedCrossRef

Ironson, G., Kremer, H., & Ironson, D. (2006a). Spirituality, spiritual experiences, and spiritual transformations in the face of HIV. In J. D. Koss & P. Hefner (Eds.), Spiritual transformation and healing: Anthropological, theological, neuroscientific, and clinical perspectives (pp. 241–262). Lanham, MD: AltaMira Press.

Ironson, G., Solomon, G. F., Balbin, E. G., O’Cleirigh, C., George, A., Kumar, M., et al. (2002). The Ironson-Woods Spirituality/Religiousness Index is associated with long survival, health behaviors, less distress, and low cortisol in people with HIV/AIDS. Annals of Behavioral Medicine, 24(1), 34–48.PubMedCrossRef

Ironson, G., Stuetzle, R., & Fletcher, M. A. (2006b). An increase in religiousness/spirituality occurs after HIV diagnosis and predicts slower disease progression over 4 years in people with HIV. Journal of General Internal Medicine, 21(5), S62–S68.PubMedCrossRef

Jenkins, R. A. (1995). Religion and HIV: Implications for research and intervention. Journal of Social Issues, 51, 131–144.CrossRef

Johnstone, B., Yoon, D. P., Franklin, K. L., Schopp, L., & Hinkebein, J. (2009). Re-conceptualizing the factor structure of the Brief Multidimensional Measure of Religiousness/Spirituality. Journal of Religion and Health, 48(2), 146–163.PubMedCrossRef

Jöreskog, K. G., & Sörbom, D. (2006). LISREL 8.8 for Windows [Computer software]. Lincolnwood, IL: Scientific Software International, Inc.,

Kendler, K. S., Liu, X. Q., Gardner, C. O., McCullough, M. E., Larson, D., & Prescott, C. A. (2003). Dimensions of religiosity and their relationship to lifetime psychiatric and substance use disorders. The American Journal of Psychiatry, 160(3), 496–503.PubMedCrossRef

Kline, R. B. (2005). Principles and practice of structural equation modeling (2nd ed.). New York: Guilford Press.

Koenig, H. G. (2008a). Concerns about measuring “spirituality” in research. The Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, 196(5), 349–355.PubMedCrossRef

Koenig, H. G. (2008b). Medicine, religion, and health: Where science & spirituality meet. West Conshohocken, Pa: Templeton Foundation Press.

Koenig, H. G., McCullough, M. E., & Larson, D. B. (2001). Handbook of religion and health. New York: Oxford University Press.CrossRef

Koenig, H., Parkerson, G. R., Jr., & Meador, K. G. (1997). Religion index for psychiatric research. The American Journal of Psychiatry, 154(6), 885–886.PubMed

Kremer, H., & Ironson, G. (2009). Everything changed: Spiritual transformation in people with HIV. International Journal of Psychiatry in Medicine, 39(3), 243–262.PubMedCrossRef

Miller, W. R., & Thoresen, C. E. (2003). Spirituality, religion, and health. An emerging research field. The American Psychologist, 58(1), 24–35.PubMedCrossRef

Mokuau, N., Hishinuma, E., & Nishimura, S. (2003). Validating a measure of religiousness/spirituality for Native Hawaiians. Pacific Health Dialog, 8(2), 407–416.

Mrus, J. M., Leonard, A. C., Yi, M. S., Sherman, S. N., Fultz, S. L., Justice, A. C., et al. (2006). Health-related quality of life in veterans and nonveterans with HIV/AIDS. Journal of General Internal Medicine, 21(5), S39–S47.PubMedCrossRef

Neff, J. A. (2006). Exploring the dimensionality of “religiosity” and “spirituality” in the Fetzer Multidimensional Measure. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, 45(3), 449–459.CrossRef

Pargament, K. I. (1999; reprinted 2003). Religious/spiritual coping. In Fetzer Institute, National Institute on Aging Working Group. Multidimensional measurement of religiousness/spirituality for use in health research: A report of a national working group (pp. 43-56). Kalamazoo, MI: Fetzer Institute.

Pargament, K. I., Koenig, H. G., & Perez, L. M. (2000). The many methods of religious coping: Development and initial validation of the RCOPE. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 56(4), 519–543.PubMedCrossRef

Pargament, K. I., McCarthy, S., Shah, P., Ano, G., Tarakeshwar, N., Wachholtz, A., et al. (2004). Religion and HIV: A review of the literature and clinical implications. The Southern Medical Journal, 97(12), 1201–1209.CrossRef

Peterman, A. H., Brady, M. J., Fitchett, G., & Cella, D. (2000). Spirituality and quality of life among cancer and HIV/AIDS patients: the role of ethnicity. Savannah, GA: Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Psychosomatic Society.

Peterman, A. H., Fitchett, G., Brady, M. J., Hernandez, L., & Cella, D. (2002). Measuring spiritual well-being in people with cancer: The Functional Assessment of Chronic Illness Therapy—Spiritual Well-Being scale (FACIT-Sp). Annals of Behavioral Medicine, 24(1), 49–58.PubMedCrossRef

Piedmont, R. L., Mapa, A. T., & Williams, J. E. G. (2007). A factor analysis of the Fetzer/NIA Brief Multidimensional Measure of Religiousness/Spirituality. Research in the Social Scientific Study of Religion, 17, 177–196.

Ridge, D., Williams, I., Anderson, J., & Elford, J. (2008). Like a prayer: The role of spirituality and religion for people living with HIV in the UK. Sociology of Health & Illness, 30(3), 413–428.CrossRef

SAS Institute Inc. (2002–2003). SAS 9.1 for Windows [Computer software]. Cary, NC, USA: SAS Institute Inc.

Siegel, K., & Schrimshaw, E. W. (2002). The perceived benefits of religious and spiritual coping among older adults living with HIV/AIDS. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, 41, 91–102.CrossRef

Sowell, R., Moneyham, L., Hennessy, M., Guillory, J., Demi, A., & Seals, B. (2000). Spiritual activities as a resistance resource for women with human immunodeficiency virus. Nursing Research, 49(2), 73–82.PubMedCrossRef

Stewart, R. P., & Koeske, G. F. (2006). Religion, spirituality, and medicine. Lancet, 353, 664–667.

Szaflarski, M., Ritchey, P. N., Leonard, A. C., Mrus, J. M., Peterman, A. H., Ellison, C. G., et al. (2006). Modeling the effects of spirituality/religion on patients’ perceptions of living with HIV/AIDS. Journal of General Internal Medicine, 21(5), S28–S38.PubMedCrossRef

Tarakeshwar, N., Vanderwerker, L. C., Paulk, E., Pearce, M. J., Kasl, S. V., & Prigerson, H. G. (2006). Religious coping is associated with the quality of life of patients with advanced cancer. Journal of Palliative Medicine, 9(3), 646–657.PubMedCrossRef

Trevino, K. M., Pargament, K. I., Cotton, S., Leonard, A. C., Hahn, J., Caprini-Faigin, C. A., et al. (2007). Religious coping and physiological, psychological, social, and spiritual outcomes in patients with HIV/AIDS: Cross-sectional and longitudinal findings. AIDS and Behavior, 14(2), 379–389.PubMedCrossRef

Tsevat, J., Leonard, A. C., Szaflarski, M., Sherman, S. N., Cotton, S., Mrus, J. M., et al. (2009). Change in quality of life after being diagnosed with HIV: A multicenter longitudinal study. AIDS Patient Care STDS, 23(11), 931–937.PubMedCrossRef

Tuck, I., & Thinganjana, W. (2007). An exploration of the meaning of spirituality voiced by persons living with HIV disease and healthy adults. Issues in Mental Health Nursing, 28(2), 151–166.PubMedCrossRef

Underwood, L. G., & Teresi, J. A. (2002). The Daily Spiritual Experience Scale: Development, theoretical description, reliability, exploratory factor analysis, and preliminary construct validity using health-related data. Annals of Behavioral Medicine, 24(1), 22–33.PubMedCrossRef

Woods, T. E., Antoni, M. H., Ironson, G. H., & Kling, D. W. (1999). Religiosity is associated with affective and immune status in symptomatic HIV-infected gay men. Journal of Psychosomatic Research, 46(2), 165–176.PubMedCrossRef

Yoon, D. P., & Lee, E. K. (2007). The impact of religiousness, spirituality, and social support on psychological well-being among older adults in rural areas. Journal of Gerontological Social Work, 48(3–4), 281–298.PubMed

Title: Multidimensional Assessment of Spirituality/Religion in Patients with HIV: Conceptual Framework and Empirical Refinement
Authors: Magdalena Szaflarski
Ian Kudel
Sian Cotton
Anthony C. Leonard
Joel Tsevat
P. Neal Ritchey
Publication date: 01-12-2012
Publisher: Springer US
Published in: Journal of Religion and Health / Issue 4/2012
Print ISSN: 0022-4197
Electronic ISSN: 1573-6571
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10943-010-9433-9

At a glance: The STEP trials

Springer Medicine

Multidimensional Assessment of Spirituality/Religion in Patients with HIV: Conceptual Framework and Empirical Refinement

Abstract

At a glance: The STEP trials

Springer Medicine

Abstract

Please log in to get access to this content

Other articles of this Issue 4/2012

The Prevalence of Spirituality, Optimism, Depression, and Fatalism in a Bi-ethnic Stroke Population

The Evil Eye—An Ancient Superstition

Religious Involvement, Psychosocial Resourcefulness, and Health

HPV High Risk and Protective Behaviors: The Effects of Religious Affiliation

A Statistical Investigation of the Relationship Between Personal Attachment Style and Satisfaction with Evangelical Church Membership

How Religious Coping is Used Relative to Other Coping Strategies Depends on the Individual’s Level of Religiosity and Spirituality