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Religious and Spiritual Struggles Scale- 5-Item (RSS-5)


Prayers 2025
Geoffrey W Sutton & Artspace.ai


Assessment name: Religious and Spiritual Struggles Scale- 5-Item (RSS-5)

Scale overview:

The five-item version of the Religious and Spiritual Struggles Scale (RSS-5) is a reliable measure of clinically relevant struggles (divine, interpersonal, moral, doubt, ultimate meaning struggles) in mental health care settings.

Authors: Sarah G. Salcone, Julie J. Exline, Kenneth I. Pargament, Joseph M. Currier, Ryon C. McDermott, Don E. Davis, Amanda M. Raines, Yejin Lee

Cite this post

Sutton, G.W. (2025). Religious and Spiritual Struggles Scale- 5-Item (RSS-5). Assessment, Statistics, and Research.  https://statistics.suttong.com/2025/03/religious-and-spiritual-struggles-scale.html

Response Type: Participants rated each item on a scale of occurrence from 1 = Not at all to 5 = A great deal. 

Scale items: There are five items–one from each of the five subscales of the long RSS scale.

   Example

Questioned whether life really matters.

Felt as though God had abandoned me.

Psychometric properties

The authors provide strong evidence of internal consistency as well as factorial, incremental, and convergent validity. Data are available from three studies.

Availability: The five items are available in the article listed below. (Open Access)

Reference for the scale:

Salcone, S.G., Currier, J.M., McDermott, R.C. et al. Development and Evaluation of the Religious and Spiritual Struggles Scale-5 (RSS-5). J Psychopathol Behav Assess 47, 8 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10862-024-10182-9


Organizing information from this measure

Data from the RSS-5 are within the core S - SELF domain in the SCOPES model as a measure of an aspect of spiritual identity and linked to the C (Cognitive) dimension as a set of beliefs and to E (Emotion) dimension when a struggle evokes emotional responses.

Find more measures of spirituality in:

Assessing Spirituality & Religiosity A Handbook

Beliefs, Practices, Values, & Experiences

 

Paperback on AMAZON

 

Hardcover on AMAZON

eBook on Google










Read more about spiritual struggles

https://suttonpsychology.blogspot.com/2020/01/spiritual-struggles.html



Reference for using scales in research:

Buy Creating Surveys on

GOOGLE BOOKS

 

AMAZON

 


 

 

 





Reference for clinicians on understanding assessment

Buy Applied Statistics for Counselors

 

GOOGLE BOOKS

 

AMAZON

 


 

 





Resource Links:
 

All Measures A – Z Test Index

Spirituality Measures A - Z

Statistical Concepts A - Z


NOTICE:

The information about scales and measures is provided for clinicians and researchers based on professional publications. The links to authors, materials, and references can change. You may be able to locate details by contacting the main author of the original article or another author on the article list.


Post Author


Geoffrey W. Sutton PhD is Emeritus Professor of Psychology who publishes book and articles about clinical and social psychology including the psychology of religion. Website:     www.suttong.com

   

Books available on   AMAZON       and the   GOOGLE STORE

 

Connections

   FACEBOOK   Geoff W. Sutton  

  

   X  @Geoff.W.Sutton

 

   PINTEREST  www.pinterest.com/GeoffWSutton

 

Read many published articles and book samples on:

 

 

 

  ResearchGate   Geoffrey W Sutton 

  Academia   Geoff W Sutton   

 





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