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Measuring Spirituality and Religiosity in Health Research

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Spirituality, Religiousness and Health

Part of the book series: Religion, Spirituality and Health: A Social Scientific Approach ((RELSPHE,volume 4))

Abstract

This chapter describes the methodological challenges to measure multidimensional constructs such as spirituality/religiosity. It describes indicators of ‘spirituality’ with respect to core dimensions and related secondary indicators. The underlying layers of distinct aspects of spirituality refer to a person’s experience/faith, attitudes and behaviors. These indicators could all be measured as independent dimensions with standardized instruments. Among the rich number of available questionnaires, some examples to measure specific aspects of spirituality were shortly described. These were categorized according to their themes and topics, i.e., Spiritual attitudes, convictions and activities; Spiritual Wellbeing; Spiritual Struggles; Spiritual Coping; and Spiritual Needs. However, there is not one optimal instrument, but different instruments which might be suited, and all have their pros and cons.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Professorship Quality of Life, Spirituality and Coping, Institute of Integrative Medicine, Witten/Herdecke University, Witten, Germany

    Arndt Büssing

  2. IUNCTUS – Center for Christian Spirituality, Philosophical-Theological Academy, Münster, Germany

    Arndt Büssing

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  1. Arndt Büssing
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Correspondence to Arndt Büssing .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. School of Medicine, Federal University of Juiz de Fora, Juiz de Fora, Brazil

    Giancarlo Lucchetti

  2. Institute of Psychiatry, University of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil

    Mario Fernando Prieto Peres  & Rodolfo Furlan Damiano  & 

  3. Hospital Israelita Albert Einstein, São Paulo, Brazil

    Mario Fernando Prieto Peres

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Büssing, A. (2019). Measuring Spirituality and Religiosity in Health Research. In: Lucchetti, G., Prieto Peres, M.F., Damiano, R.F. (eds) Spirituality, Religiousness and Health. Religion, Spirituality and Health: A Social Scientific Approach, vol 4. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-21221-6_2

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