Measuring Spirituality in Children
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
2012
Abstract
Spirituality is an integral part of the study of humanity and resilience. The Youth Spirituality Scale (YSS) was written to be a developmentally appropriate, inclusive measure of spirituality for children. The scale consists of 19 items and one item to identify invalid responding. A pilot study with a diverse sample of 175 youth, ages 7 to 14, suggests the YSS has good internal reliability and a second study with 144 participants ages 8 to 15 indicates it correlates significantly with relevant subscales from the Brief Multidimensional Measurement of Religiousness-Spirituality. Results suggest the measure is a reliable and valid way to assess spirituality in children. Future research to further validate the YSS and explore the relation between spirituality and other factors is recommended.
Department
Psychology
Publication Title
Journal of Psychology & Christianity
Recommended Citation
Sifers, S.K., Warren, J.S., & Jackson, Y. (2012). Measuring Spirituality in Children. Journal of Psychology & Christianity, 31(3), 205-214.
Publisher's Copyright and Source
Copyright © 2012 Christian Association for Psychological Studies. Article published by the Christian Association for Psychological Studies in Journal of Psychology & Christianity, volume 31, issue number 3, Fall 2012, pages 205-214.
