The aim of the research was to construct the Spiritual Coping Questionnaire (SCQ). Two studies have been carried out: the first on the sample of 1,296 persons facing stressful situations, and the second, on 352 persons undergoing alcohol addiction therapy. The first study provided data for PCA and CFA, calculation of internal consistency, test–retest reliability and descriptive statistics of the questionnaire. The second study allowed the author to verify the construct and criterion validity of the tool. The final version of the SCQ is composed of 32 items constituting two scales: positive and negative spiritual coping. The scale of positive spiritual coping includes four subscales—domains (personal, social, environmental and religious), and the scale of negative spiritual coping, three subscales (personal, social and religious). The validity and reliability of the tool are satisfactory. The questionnaire can be used to measure spiritual coping, both among religious and non-religious people.
Background: Relatively strong theoretical assumptions and previous studies concerning co-occurring addictive behaviors suggest a subpopulation representing general proclivity to behavioral addictions (BAs), and there are gender-specific subpopulations. This study aimed to compare latent profile analysis (LPA) and latent class analysis (LCA) as the methods of investigating different clusters of BAs in the general student population and among students positively screened for at least one BA. Participants and procedure: Analyses of six BAs (study, shopping, gaming, Facebook, pornography, and food) and their potential antecedents (personality) and consequences (well-being) were conducted on a full sample of Polish undergraduate students (N = 1182) and a subsample (n = 327) of students including individuals fulfilling cutoff for at least one BA. Results: LPA on the subsample mostly replicated the previous four profiles found in the full sample. However, LCA on a full sample did not replicate previous findings using LPA and showed only two classes: those with relatively high probabilities on all BAs and low probabilities. LCA on the subsample conflated profiles identified with LPA and classes found with LCA in the full sample. Conclusions: LCA on dichotomized scores (screened positively vs. negatively) were less effective in identifying clear patterns of interrelationships between BAs based on relatively strong theoretical assumptions and found in previous research. BAs can be investigated on the whole spectrum of behavior, and person-centered analyses might be more useful when they are based on continuous scores. This paper provides more detailed analyses of the four basic clusters of BAs, prevalence, and co-occurrence of particular BAs within and between them, their gender and personality risk factors, relationships to well-being, and their interrelationships as emerging from the results of this and previous studies.
Background: Previous studies have shown that a disease outbreak may cause high stress among healthcare workers. However, the vast majority of those studies applied a variable-centered approach, in which relationships between the variables are believed to be identical across the studied population. The main purpose of this study was to identify latent profiles of healthcare workers with similar combinations of levels of various work-related stressors during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic and to examine their predictors.Methods: A cross-sectional paper-and-pencil study was conducted among a convenience sample of 297 emergency department (ED) nurses and 219 emergency medical services (EMS) staff members working in 10 hospital EDs and 52 EMS centers in Ardabil province, Iran. Data were collected using the Health and Safety Executive Management Standards Indicator Tool (HSE-MS IT).Results: Using the latent profile analysis (LPA), five work-related stress profiles were identified: “high stress with a good understanding of one’s job role” (11.1%), “moderate stress” (41.9%), “relatively high stress with average demands and a very low understanding of one’s job role” (23.8%), “low stress” (18.0%), and “generally low stress but with very high job demands and relational conflicts” (5.2%). Age, marital status, service location, workplace, and the number of overtime hours significantly predicted profile membership.Conclusion: The results of the study suggest the importance of incorporating various sources of stress and using the person-centered approach when investigating the work-related stress of healthcare workers during disease outbreaks. Identifying sociodemographic and work-related predictors of profile membership may be useful for preparing interventions that will be better suited to healthcare workers’ needs.
11 September 2019 in Journal of Religion and Health
This qualitative study involved a sample of 121 Polish mental health professionals who were interviewed about their definitions of spirituality and their opinions and practices concerning the inclusion of clients’ spirituality in therapy. Using inductive content analysis, we identified seven categories regarding the definitions of spirituality: (1) relationship, (2) transcendence, (3) dimension of functioning, (4) a specific human characteristic, (5) searching for the meaning of life, (6) value-based lifestyle, and (7) elusiveness and indefinability. The majority of respondents claimed to include elements of spirituality in therapy. However, some participants included spirituality only under certain circumstances or conditions, or did not include it at all, citing lack of need, lack of a clear definition of spirituality, their own insufficient knowledge, lack of experience, fear, or concern over ethical inappropriateness. Implicit techniques were primarily used when working on clients’ spirituality. This article deepens the knowledge on including spirituality in mental health care, with special consideration for a specific context of a highly religious and religiously homogenous culture.
The aim of the study was to examine the sex differences in the initial level of spiritual coping, forgiveness, and gratitude and changes occurring in these areas during a basic alcohol addiction treatment program. The study involved 112 persons, including 56 women and 56 men, who started and completed a basic alcohol addiction treatment program at day care units of 11 treatment centers. Two measurements were taken: one in the first week of the treatment, and one in the last week (5th–7th week after baseline). The Spiritual Coping Questionnaire, the Forgiveness Scale, and Gratitude Questionnaire were used. When starting the therapy, women had a higher level of negative spiritual coping (p = .024) and a lower level of forgiveness of others (p = .041) than men. During the therapy, positive changes in spiritual coping occurred in both sex groups, although in the case of women they involved improvements in more domains and they were stronger. The increase in the level of moral values (except for self-forgiveness) was noted solely in women. The study reveals the need to take sex differences into consideration when introducing spiritual elements into the therapy.