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The importance of spirituality in the treatment of mental illness is increasingly acknowledged, but mental healthcare professionals often feel they lack specific competence. An instrument is missing to quantify the spiritual care competence of mental healthcare professionals in the Netherlands. The aim of this study was thus to translate the Spiritual Care Competence Questionnaire (SCCQ) into Dutch and validate it for use in mental healthcare. After translation, the SCCQ-NL was distributed in a cross-sectional design among 3497 healthcare professionals in two mental healthcare institutions (MHIs) in the Netherlands. In the sample of 730 completed questionnaires, exploratory factor analysis revealed seven factors: perception of spiritual needs competencies, team spirit, spiritual self-awareness, documentation competencies, empowerment and proactive opening competencies, knowledge about other religions, and conversation competencies. One item was deleted during the process. Internal consistency for the 25-item SCCQ-NL subscales is sufficient with Cronbach's alpha ranging from 0.64 to 0.81. Conversation competencies and perception of spiritual needs scored highest in the sample, next to knowledge about other religions and empowerment competencies, while spiritual self-awareness, team spirit and documentation competencies scored the lowest. Small but significant differences in several subscale scores were found for profession, identifying oneself as a believer, practicing prayer and/or meditation, age and working years. The SCCQ-NL can be used for the assessment of spiritual care competencies and for the planning and evaluation of training and improvement strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Spiritual Needs Questionnaire (SpNQ) is an established measure of psychosocial, existential and spiritual needs. Its 4-factor structure has been primarily validated in persons with chronic diseases, but until now has not been done in elderly and stressed healthy populations. Therefore, we tested the factor structure of the SpNQ in: (1) persons with chronic diseases (n = 627); (2) persons with chronic disease plus elderly (n = 940); (3) healthy persons (i.e., adults and elderly) (n = 1468); and (4) chronically ill, elderly, and healthy persons together (n = 2095). The suggested structure was then validated using structured equation modelling (SEM). The 4-factor structure of the 20-item SpNQ (SpNQ-20) was confirmed, differentiating Religious Needs, Existential Needs, Inner Peace Needs, and Giving/Generativity Needs. The psychometric properties of the measure indicated (CFI = 0.96, TLI = 0.95, RMSEA = 0.04 and SRMR = 0.03), with good reliability indices (Cronbach's alpha varying from 0.71 to 0.81). This latest version of the SpNQ provides researchers with a reliable and valid instrument that can now be used in comparative studies. Cultural and religious differences can be addressed using their different language versions, assuming the SpNQ's structure is maintained. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, the relationship between religiosity and value priorities is differentiated, based on a multidimensional model of religiosity (Structure-of-Religiosity-Test). The structure of values is conceptualized using Shalom H. Schwartz's two orthogonal dimensions of self-transcendence vs. self-enhancement and openness to change vs. conservation. The relationship between these two dimensions and the centrality of religiosity, seven religious orientations, seven emotions toward God, and three political orientations were tested with a correlational analysis in a sample of members of Abrahamic religions, the non-denominational, and organized secularists in Switzerland (n = 1093). The results show, that different values are preferred (self-direction, universalism, benevolence, tradition, security, and power values) depending on the content of the religious orientations and emotions toward God. The results indicate the importance of the content of religious orientations and emotions for predicting value-loaded behaviors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Does God listen and respond to prayers? This project provided initial validation for a brief measure of perceived divine engagement and disengagement in response to prayer. As part of a larger project on religious/spiritual struggles among U.S. undergraduates, we used Sample 1 (n = 400) for exploratory factor analysis and Sample 2 (n = 413) for confirmatory factor analysis and initial validity testing. A two-factor model with four items per factor provided acceptable fit. On average, participants reported more divine engagement than disengagement. They endorsed items about God listening more than those about God responding. Divine engagement showed strong positive associations with religiousness and positive-valence variables involving God. Divine disengagement showed strong positive associations with variables suggesting divine struggle or distance. Importantly, both subscales also showed evidence of incremental validity: Divine engagement predicted positive-valence God variables (e.g., secure attachment, collaborative religious coping, gratitude to God, and awareness of God) even when controlling for religiousness and positive God concepts and attitudes. Divine disengagement predicted more spiritual struggles and more negative-valence and distance-related God variables (divine struggle, anxious and distant attachment, and self-directing religious coping) even when controlling for doubt about God's existence, negative God images, anger/disappointment toward God, and concern about God's disapproval. In short, this brief new measure shows promise as a tool to assess beliefs about God's responsiveness to prayer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]