Spiritual Struggles Interview Questions

 

Assessment name:  Spiritual Struggles Interview

Overview: The Spiritual Struggles Interview (SSI) is a structured interview, which includes a set of questions regarding a life problem that included a spiritual aspect.

 

Authors:  Maria Gear Haugen, and Kenneth Pargament

 

Response Type: A spoken response to a series of open-ended questions.

Items

The items are in the form of questions, which the authors describe as three types. A brief description follows.

1. With the divine- questions regarding how the person perceived God in the situation.

2. With others- questions related to relationships, forgiveness, and religious practices like prayer.

3. Within the person – questions about inner conflicts, doubts, and self-blame.

 

Availability:

The full set of questions are available in the PsycTESTS reference below. The questions may be used for educational and research purposes.

 

Reference for the scale

Haugen, M. R. G., & Pargament, K. I. (2012). Spiritual Struggles Interview [Database record]. Retrieved from PsycTESTS. doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.1037/t18730-000

Haugen, M. R. G., & Pargament, K. I. (2013). Spirituality: Spiritual struggles as a fork in the road to the sacred Activities for teaching positive psychology: A guide for instructors, (pp. 53-57). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association. doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.1037/14042-009

 

 

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Reference for clinicians on understanding assessment

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Resource Link:  A – Z Test Index

 

 

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

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Divine Spiritual Struggles Scale

 

Assessment name:  Divine Spiritual Struggles Scale

Scale overview: The Divine Spiritual Struggles Scale measures the degree of distress experienced by adolescents in their relationship with God or a higher power. Scale data were obtained from a sample of adolescents who reported sexual abuse.

 

Authors: Ernest Jouriles and others (see scale reference)

 

 Response Type: Four items are rated on a 4-point scale of frequency related to feeling “punished, abandoned, and questioned God’s love” when they thought about sexual abuse in the preceding month.

0 = not at all

1 = somewhat

2 = quite a bit

3 = a great deal

Scale items

The four items in the scale can be found in the PsycTESTS reference below.

Psychometric properties

The scale was used in two studies (see Jouriles et al., 2020) with a combined n of 347 adolescents who had a mean age of 13.53 and 13.71, respectively. More than 90% were girls. Most of the girls identified as Christian.

Reliability and discriminant validity values were reported. Higher scores on the scale were significantly correlated with adjustment problems after adjusting for other included variables.

 

Availability:

The four items in the scale can be found in the PsycTESTS reference below.

 

Reference for the scale

Jouriles, E. N., Rancher, C., Mahoney, A., Kurth, C., Cook, K., & McDonald, R. (2020). Divine spiritual struggles and psychological adjustment among adolescents who have been sexually abused. Psychology of Violence, 10(3), 334–343. https://doi.org/10.1037/vio0000274 

Jouriles, E. N., Rancher, C., Mahoney, A., Kurth, C., Cook, K., & McDonald, R. (2020). Divine Spiritual Struggles Scale. PsycTESTS. https://doi.org/10.1037/t83716-000

Related Scales 

Religious and Spiritual Struggles Scale

The Brief RCOPE scale (Religious Coping)

Reference for using scales in research:

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AMAZON

 

 

 

 

Reference for clinicians on understanding assessment

Buy Applied Statistics for Counselors

 

GOOGLE BOOKS

 

AMAZON

 

 

 

 

Resource Link:  A – Z Test Index

 

 

 

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  

  

   TWITTER  @Geoff.W.Sutton

 

   PINTEREST  www.pinterest.com/GeoffWSutton

 

Read many published articles and book samples on:

 

  Academia   Geoff W Sutton   

 

  ResearchGate   Geoffrey W Sutton 

 

 

 

 

Attitudes and Experiences of Evangelical Christians with Mental Distress

 

Scale name: Attitudes and Experiences of Evangelical Christians with Mental Distress

Scale overview: Lloyd and Waller (2020) used nine items to assess the relationship of spiritual etiology to mental distress in a British sample (n = 446).

 

Response Type and items:

The 9-questions were organized into three groups. Respondents were presented with different response options depending on the question.

1. Spiritualization of Mental Distress 1-4

Example: Has your current or previous church or related teaching taught that mental distress was the result of demons, spirits or generational curses? Response options were yes, no, or unsure.

2. Views on secular/psychological treatments 5 – 7.

Example: 5. Do you believe psychological treatments, such as therapy, can be successful in treating mental distress? Response options were yes, no, or unsure. Questions 6-7 asked about church support.

3. Interaction with the Church community 8-9

Example: Overall, how do you feel about your church’s attitude towards mental distress? This was rated on a 5-point scale of very positive to very negative. The next items asked, “How has your interaction with the church, in relation to your mental health, affected your faith?” Response options were Strengthened it, Not impacted it, or Weakened it.

The researchers also asked about the cause of mental distress. Respondents had five options. Examples include traumatic or negative life experiences and Other spiritual causes (generational curses, demonic, the occult, etc.)

Results

The researchers reported the percentage of responses endorsed in two tables and provided a summary in the text. In the discussion, they note differences with similar surveys in the United States

Availability:

The questions can be found in the article below. The 9-questions are in Table 1 along with the answers.

Reference for the scale

Christopher E. M. Lloyd & Robert M. Waller (2020): Demon? Disorder? Or none of the above? A survey of the attitudes and experiences of evangelical Christians with mental distress, Mental Health, Religion & Culture, DOI: 10.1080/13674676.2019.1675148

Pdf found on Researchgate 7 September 2022

 

Reference for using scales in research:

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AMAZON

 

 

 

 

Reference for clinicians on understanding assessment

Buy Applied Statistics for Counselors

 

GOOGLE BOOKS

 

AMAZON

 

 

 

 

Resource Link:  A – Z Test Index

 

 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.

 

Links to Connections

Checkout My Website   www.suttong.com

  

See my Books

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FOLLOW me on

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Read published articles:

 

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Behaviors Toward God Scale (BTGS)

 

Scale name:    Behaviors Toward God Scale (BTGS)

Scale overview: The Behaviors Toward God Scale (BTGS) is an 18-item self-report measure of  behavioral responses toward God when people experience a spiritual or religious struggle. The items are grouped into four subscales.

Authors: Julie J. Exline et al. (2021)

Response Type:  

Participants read a statement and rate their behavioral response from 0 = not at all to 10 = extremely.

Subscales: Four (sample item in parentheses)

1. Approach – draw close (tried to trust God)

2. Disengage - turn away or exit (ignored God)

3. Protest-  complain, argue, or question (asked God "Why?")

4. Suppress – avoid or minimize negative feelings toward God (tried to hide feelings of anger or disappointment toward God)

 

Reliability: alpha values for the four subscales ranged from .80 to .89 in study 1 and .79 to .91 in study 2 (Exline et al., 2021)

Validity: The Exline  et al. 2021 article includes the results of factor analyses and correlations with other measures. A technical report by Stauner & Exline (2020) provides a look at the factor structure of a 23-item version, which was reduced to 18-items.

Availability: Author contact email Dr. Julie J. Exline   julie.exline@case.edu

Permissions -- if identified

 References

Exline, J. J., Wilt, J. A., Stauner, N., & Pargament, K. I. (2021). Approach, disengagement, protest, and suppression: Four behaviors toward God in the context of religious/spiritual struggle. Psychology of Religion and Spirituality. https://doi.org/10.1037/rel0000445.supp (Supplemental)

Stauner, N. & Exline, J.J. (2020). Factor analysis of behaviors toward God. Unpublished technical report available from osf.io

 

Reference for using scales in research:

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Reference for clinicians on understanding assessment

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Resource Link for more tests:  A – Z Test Index

 

Links to Connections

Checkout My Website   www.suttong.com

  

See my Books

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  GOOGLE STORE

 

FOLLOW me on

   FACEBOOK   Geoff W. Sutton  

  

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Read published articles:

 

  Academia   Geoff W Sutton   

 

  ResearchGate   Geoffrey W Sutton 

 

 

 

 

Spiritual Abuse Questionnaire (SAQ) by Kathryn Hope Keller

 

Scale name: Spiritual Abuse Questionnaire (SAQ)

Scale overview: The Spiritual Abuse Questionnaire (SAQ) is a 17-item self-report questionnaire that uses a 4-point Likert Type response format to measure two dimensions of abuse: Power-based affective wounding and Conditionality.

Author: Kathryn Hope Keller

 

Response Type: 4-point Likert type. The choices are: Strongly disagree, Disagree, Agree, Strongly agree.

Subscales and Sample Items: There are two subscales.

1. Power-based Affective Wounding: “At times, I was

scolded by my leader and made to feel ashamed and helpless” and “I now feel cynical

about church/religious groups.”

 

2. Conditionality: “I believed I could be totally surrendered to God if I did everything

perfectly according to the church/group’s instructions,” and “I believed God would

punish me if I didn’t do what my church/group encouraged me to do.”

Reliability: Alpha for the 17-item scale was .95 (Keller, 2016). The study sample was 271 and the mean was 50.62 (SD = 14.87, SEM = .90) and Min-Max were 21-80.

Validity: Confirmatory factor analysis yielded a two-factor solution. 

Quoted text below-

For the RSS, r =.76, p<.01. For the subscales, results are as follows: Divine Struggles, r=.68, p<.01; Demonic Struggles, r=.31, p<.01; Interpersonal Struggles, r=.81, p<.01; Moral Struggles, r=.52, p<.01; Doubt Struggle, r=.66, p<.01; and Ultimate Meaning Struggles, r=.54, p<.01. These findings suggest that participants with higher levels of spiritual abuse also experience higher levels of religious and spiritual struggles. (Keller, 2016, page 138)

 

Note. The RSS is the Religious and Spiritual Struggles Scale

 Availability: See pages 226-227 in the dissertation reference below.

Related Posts

Spiritual and Religious Abuse

Spiritual and Religious Harassment

Permissions -- if identified

Author contact in 2021 https://www.kellerpsychology.com/drkeller.html 

 Reference

Keller, K.R. (2016). Development of a spiritual abuse questionnaire. Dissertation available from https://twu-ir.tdl.org/handle/11274/8760

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

 

Test Resource Link:  A – Z Test Index

 Links to Connections

Checkout My Website   www.suttong.com

  

See my Books

  AMAZON      

 

  GOOGLE STORE

 

FOLLOW me on

   FACEBOOK   Geoff W. Sutton  

  

   TWITTER  @Geoff.W.Sutton

 

   PINTEREST  www.pinterest.com/GeoffWSutton

 

Read published articles:

 

  Academia   Geoff W Sutton   

 

  ResearchGate   Geoffrey W Sutton 

 

 

 

 

Religious and Spiritual Struggles Scale Julie Exline et al.

The Religious and Spiritual Struggles Scale (RSS) assesses six domains of potential struggles, which people may experience. The RSS is a 26-item measure with strong psychometric support.

For a list of the items and more details, see the reference below (Exline, Pargament, Grubbs, & Yali, 2014).

Based on Exline et al. (2014) and a general reading of the topic, I define religious/ spiritual (RS) struggles as experiences of personal concern linked to RS beliefs, practices, values, or experiences, which negatively affect thinking, feelings, or behavior, relationships, or health.

The Six Domains of Spiritual Struggles

Following is a quote from page 208 of the 2014 article, which describes the six domains. I have added bold text to help readers identify each domain. Note, r/s is a common abbreviation for religious/spiritual.

The measure assesses six domains of r/s struggle: divine (negative emotion centered on beliefs about God or a perceived relationship with God), demonic (concern that the devil or evil spirits are attacking an individual or causing negative events), interpersonal (concern about negative experiences with religious people or institutions; interpersonal conflict around religious issues), moral (wrestling with attempts to follow moral principles; worry or guilt about perceived offenses by the self), doubt (feeling troubled by doubts or questions about one’s r/s beliefs), and ultimate meaning (concern about not perceiving deep meaning in one’s life).

The Brief RCOPE also contains items related to spiritual struggles but is more focused on coping than the RSS  I reviewed here. Also note, in the article about the RSS (Exline et al., 2014), the authors view negative religious coping as another way of framing RS struggles.

Scale items

See the references for a complete list of the items and the domains. See the quote above for a description of the items within each of the six domains.

Each item is rated on a 5-point scale where 1 = not at all/does not apply and 5 = a great deal. Researchers average the item scores to obtain a total score and subscale scores.

Spiritual Struggles and Mental Health

All of the RSS subscales predicted mental health criteria.*

The best predictors of emotional distress related to religious and spiritual struggles were the Ultimate Meaning and Divine subscales of the RSS.

The RSS Interpersonal and Moral subscales predicted loneliness

The functioning of the RSS Doubt subscale suggested the possibility that in some cases doubt might not link to distress.

* Mental health variables were: Depression, Anxiety, State Anger, Life satisfaction, Loneliness, and Presence of life meaning

Reliability and Validity

The 2014 publication includes extensive details of the RSS development, including data supporting adequate reliability and validity values and construct validity. Alpha values ranged from .85 to .93 across the six subscales in the development study of 1141 undergraduates. 

For a study of the relationship between this RSS measure and the RCOPE scale, see Wilt et al. (2022).

Creating a Survey

The RSSS and other measures may be added to surveys along with other items when researchers follow the permission instructions. Learn more about Creating Surveys. Creating Surveys is  an easy to read and recommended text and resource required by professors at graduate and undergraduate universities.

Get help Creating Surveys on AMAZON    or   GOOGLE  Worldwide

Permission and copyright (from PsycTESTS):

Test content may be reproduced and used for non-commercial research and educational purposes without seeking written permission. Distribution must be controlled, meaning only to the participants engaged in the research or enrolled in the educational activity. Any other type of reproduction or distribution of test content is not authorized without written permission from the author and publisher. Always include a credit line that contains the source citation and copyright owner when writing about or using any test.

Cite this post

Sutton, G. W. (2020, January 22).  Religious and Spiritual Struggles Scale Julie Exline et al. Assessment, Statistics, and Research. Retrieved from  https://statistics.suttong.com/2020/01/religious-and-spiritual-struggles-scale.html

Related Posts

Religious and Spiritual Coping

Spiritual Struggles

The Brief RCOPE scale

Attachment to God Inventory

Resource Link- list of tests on this blog:  A – Z Test Index

References

Exline, Julie J., Pargament, Kenneth I., Grubbs, Joshua B., & Yali, Ann Marie. (2014). The Religious and Spiritual Struggles Scale: Development and initial validation. Psychology of Religion and Spirituality, 6(3), 208-222. doi:https://dx.doi.org/10.1037/a0036465

Exline, J. J., Pargament, K. I., Grubbs, J. B., & Yali, A. M. (2014). Religious and Spiritual Struggles Scale [Database record]. Retrieved from PsycTESTS. doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.1037/t36191-000

Wilt, J. A., Exline, J. J., & Pargament, K. I. (2022). Coping with religious and spiritual struggles: Religious and secular techniques. Spirituality in Clinical Practice. https://doi.org/10.1037/scp0000289.supp (Supplemental)

The RSS scale contains items that may be useful to clinicians considering religious and spiritual concerns raised by counseling clients.

Learn more about counseling statistics in: Applied Statistics Concepts for Counselors on AMAZON or GOOGLE

See how to include spirituality and other items in survey research in Creating Surveys on AMAZON    or    GOOGLE

A related book

Working with Spiritual Struggles in Psychotherapy

        by Pargament and Exline

Connections

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Publications (many free downloads)

  Academia   Geoff W Sutton   (PhD)     

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