The structure of religion and spirituality in a diverse sample of adults in the United States: A report on exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses in the study on stress, spirituality, and health.

Year: 2025

Type: article

Abstract: Objective: This paper details psychometric analyses of religion and spirituality (R/S) measures in a diverse sample of U.S. adults in the Study on Stress, Spirituality, and Health (SSSH). Methods: participants. Given our goal of identifying a robust, parsimonious set of R/S measures for common use in U.S. cohort studies, we analyzed the structure of individual R/S items in a combined sample and disregarded whether items were part of a pre-existing scale. Results: 2=8,186) demonstrated that a correlated 4-factor model fit better than a unidimensional model or orthogonal (uncorrelated) 4-factor model. Conclusions: Future work is needed to confirm this model in other datasets, to demonstrate the external validity of these core R/S constructs in relation to a range of outcomes, and to finalize a robust but efficient set of R/S measures for use in U.S. cohort studies.

Source: Psychology of Religion and Spirituality

DOI: 10.1037/rel0000585

Authors: Wade C. Rowatt, Shawn Latendresse, Blake Victor Kent, Thomas A. Fergus, Erica T. Warner, Jordan Marr, Yvette C. Cozier, Alka M. Kanaya, A. Heather Eliassen, Martha L. Daviglus, Shelley A. Cole, Jorge E. Chavarro, Kenneth I. Pargament, Alexandra E. Shields

Institutions: Baylor University, Harvard University, Massachusetts General Hospital, Westmont College, Boston University, University of California, San Francisco, Brigham and Women's Hospital, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Texas Biomedical Research Institute, Bowling Green State University

Language: English

Topic: Religion, Spirituality, and Psychology

Subfield: Health

Field: Social Sciences

Domain: Social Sciences

SDG: Good health and well-being

Open Access status: hybrid

Funders: John Templeton Foundation, National Institutes of Health, National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, National Cancer Institute, National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, National Center for Research Resources, National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences

OpenAlex ID: W4415813752