Measuring Spirituality in Children
Measuring Spirituality in Children
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衡量儿童的灵性
DOI：
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发表时间：
2012
期刊：
影响因子：
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通讯作者：
Y. Jackson
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
Sarah K. Sifers;J. Warren;Y. Jackson
灵性是人性和韧性研究中不可或缺的一部分。青年灵性量表(YSS)是一种适合儿童发展的包容性灵性测量工具。该量表由19个条目和1个条目组成，用于识别无效反应。一项对175名7岁至14岁青年进行的不同样本的初步研究表明，YSS具有良好的内部可靠性，另一项有144名8岁至15岁参与者的研究表明，YSS与简短的宗教-灵性多维测量的相关分量表显著相关。结果表明，该测量方法是评估儿童灵性的可靠和有效的方法。未来的研究将进一步验证YSS并探索灵性与其他因素之间的关系。灵性是个体持有的一套内化的信仰，它可以包括但不限于涉及教条和组织成员资格的宗教实践(Haug，1998 a)。灵性可以为生命提供意义，为事件提供解释，这可能会在面对人类生存的挑战时带来一种舒适感、希望和价值感。它还可以为人们的行为方式提供指导，特别是在与他人的关系中(Exline，2002；Haug，1998 b)。精神社区可以提供社会和工具支持(Stander，Piercy，Mackinnon，&Helmeke，1994)。为了更好地了解青少年(包括年龄较大的儿童和青少年)的信仰和灵性的发展，我们必须首先区分一些经常在口语中用作同义词的术语。信仰可以被定义为一种信仰和价值观的体系，它赋予一个人的生活意义，为与这些信仰一致的行为提供动力，将个人与他人联系起来，并描述最终的现实(神或永恒的真理)。信仰包括有意识的和无意识的成分。宗教是一种通过规定的习俗、团体成员身份和对特定概念的信仰来表达自己的信仰的手段。宗教通常包括传统、仪式、艺术和/或象征。灵性是一种寻找生命意义的驱动力，是对与神圣或终极现实相关的经历的理解(Fowler，1996)。灵性可能是也可能不是宗教的核心组成部分(Hill等人，2000)。可以想见，关于宗教的研究比关于灵性的研究更多，而且对两者的许多研究(尽管不是全部)都来自基督教取向(参见Hodge，Cardenas&Montoya，2001；Regnerus&Elder，2003)·此外，大多数适合儿童发展的衡量标准侧重于宗教而不是灵性，并且大多数都专门针对基督教(Sexson，2004)。需要更广泛的视角(Benson，Scales，Sesma，&Roehlkepartain，2005)。目前的研究试图超越这种有限的视角，创造和测试一种适合发展的灵性衡量标准，供来自不同宗教和精神背景的年轻人使用。灵性的重要性在一项对城市青少年的研究中，超过90%的受访者报告说宗教对他们至少有一定的重要性，只有1%的人报告说不相信上帝或更高的力量(Holder等人，2000年)。这表明，绝大多数青年都有精神或宗教信仰或从事这类活动。然而，对文献的回顾表明，该领域有一种忽视灵性的倾向，特别是当一个人在有组织的宗教的背景下看待灵性时(参看Hodge等人，2001；泡菜和Schaffner，1990；Regnerus&Elder，2003)·这是有问题的，因为一个人可能从事精神行为和信仰，但不参加有组织的宗教，并且这种灵性可以是有益的(Cotton，Zebracki，Rosenthal，Tsevat，&Drotar，2006)。…
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.Spirituality is an internalized set of beliefs that an individual holds, which can include, but is not limited to, religious practices that involve dogma and organizational membership (Haug, 1998a). Spirituality can provide meaning for life and explanations for events, which may lead to a sense of comfort, hope, and value in the face of the challenges of human existence. It also can provide guidelines for the way people act, especially in relation to others (Exline, 2002; Haug, 1998b). Spiritual communities may provide social and instrumental support (Stander, Piercy, Mackinnon, & Helmeke, 1994). To better understand the development of faith and spirituality in youth (both older children and young adolescents), one must first differentiate some terms that are frequently used synonymously in colloquial language. Faith can be defined as a system of beliefs and values that give meaning to one's life, provide motivation for actions congruent with such beliefs, link individuals with others, and describe the ultimate reality (a deity or eternal truth). Faith includes conscious and unconscious components. Religion is a means of expressing one's faith through prescribed practices, group membership, and belief in particular concepts. Religion often includes traditions, rituals, art, and/or symbols. Spirituality is a drive to find meaning in one's life and to make sense of one's experiences as they relate to the divine or ultimate reality (Fowler, 1996). Spirituality may or may not be a core component of religion (Hill et al., 2000).Considerably more research has been conducted on religion than spirituality and much (although by no means all) of the research on both has come from a Christian orientation (cf., Hodge, Cardenas, & Montoya, 2001; Regnerus & Elder, 2003)· Furthermore, most measures that are developmentally appropriate for children focus on religion rather than spirituality, and the majority of those are specifically geared toward Christianity (Sexson, 2004). A much broader perspective is needed (Benson, Scales, Sesma, & Roehlkepartain, 2005). The current study attempted to move beyond this limited perspective to create and test a developmentally appropriate measure of spirituality for use with youth from diverse religious and spiritual backgrounds. Such a measure could be used to assess spirituality in youth to explore the possibility of spirituality being a protective factor, for example.Importance of spiritualityIn a study of urban adolescents, over 90% of respondents reported that religion was at least somewhat important to them and only 1% reported not believing in a God or Higher Power (Holder et al., 2000). This suggests that the overwhelming majority of youth have spiritual or religious beliefs or engage in such practices. A review of the literature, however, indicates a tendency by the field to overlook spirituality, especially when one looks at spirituality outside of the context of organized religion (cf., Hodge et al., 2001; Kimchi & Schaffner, 1990; Regnerus & Elder, 2003)· This is problematic as it is possible for a person to engage in spiritual behaviors and beliefs but not participate in an organized religion, and this spirituality can be beneficial (Cotton, Zebracki, Rosenthal, Tsevat, & Drotar, 2006). …