Bifactor Models of Religious and Spiritual Struggles: Distinct from Religiousness and Distress
The Religious and Spiritual Struggles Scale (RSS) measures important psychological constructs in an underemphasized section of the overlap between religion and well-being. Are religious/spiritual struggles distinct from religiousness, distress, and each other? To test the RSS’ internal discriminant...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2016-06-01
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| Series: | Religions |
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| Online Access: | http://www.mdpi.com/2077-1444/7/6/68 |
| _version_ | 1817997932754894848 |
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| author | Nick Stauner Julie J. Exline Joshua B. Grubbs Kenneth I. Pargament David F. Bradley Alex Uzdavines |
| author_facet | Nick Stauner Julie J. Exline Joshua B. Grubbs Kenneth I. Pargament David F. Bradley Alex Uzdavines |
| author_sort | Nick Stauner |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The Religious and Spiritual Struggles Scale (RSS) measures important psychological constructs in an underemphasized section of the overlap between religion and well-being. Are religious/spiritual struggles distinct from religiousness, distress, and each other? To test the RSS’ internal discriminant validity, we replicated the original six-factor measurement model across five large samples (N = 5705) and tested the fit of a restricted bifactor model, which supported the mutual viability of multidimensional and unidimensional scoring systems for the RSS. Additionally, we explored a bifactor model with correlated group factors that exhibited optimal fit statistics. This model maintained the correlations among the original factors while extracting a general factor from the RSS. This general factor’s strong correlations with religious participation and belief salience suggested that this factor resembles religiousness itself. Estimating this general factor seemed to improve Demonic and Moral struggles’ independence from religiousness, but did not change any factor’s correlations with neuroticism, depression, anxiety, and stress. These distress factors correlated with most of the independent group factors corresponding to the original dimensions of the RSS, especially Ultimate Meaning and Divine struggles. These analyses demonstrate the discriminant validity of religious/spiritual struggles and the complexity of their relationships with religiousness and distress. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-14T02:45:32Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-53ef31dea4004b9ebf67be82f489eb0a |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2077-1444 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-14T02:45:32Z |
| publishDate | 2016-06-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Religions |
| spelling | doaj.art-53ef31dea4004b9ebf67be82f489eb0a2022-12-22T02:16:33ZengMDPI AGReligions2077-14442016-06-01766810.3390/rel7060068rel7060068Bifactor Models of Religious and Spiritual Struggles: Distinct from Religiousness and DistressNick Stauner0Julie J. Exline1Joshua B. Grubbs2Kenneth I. Pargament3David F. Bradley4Alex Uzdavines5Department of Psychological Sciences, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH 44106, USADepartment of Psychological Sciences, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH 44106, USADepartment of Psychological Sciences, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH 44106, USADepartment of Psycholog, Bowling Green State University, Bowling Green, OH 43403, USADepartment of Psychological Sciences, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH 44106, USADepartment of Psychological Sciences, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH 44106, USAThe Religious and Spiritual Struggles Scale (RSS) measures important psychological constructs in an underemphasized section of the overlap between religion and well-being. Are religious/spiritual struggles distinct from religiousness, distress, and each other? To test the RSS’ internal discriminant validity, we replicated the original six-factor measurement model across five large samples (N = 5705) and tested the fit of a restricted bifactor model, which supported the mutual viability of multidimensional and unidimensional scoring systems for the RSS. Additionally, we explored a bifactor model with correlated group factors that exhibited optimal fit statistics. This model maintained the correlations among the original factors while extracting a general factor from the RSS. This general factor’s strong correlations with religious participation and belief salience suggested that this factor resembles religiousness itself. Estimating this general factor seemed to improve Demonic and Moral struggles’ independence from religiousness, but did not change any factor’s correlations with neuroticism, depression, anxiety, and stress. These distress factors correlated with most of the independent group factors corresponding to the original dimensions of the RSS, especially Ultimate Meaning and Divine struggles. These analyses demonstrate the discriminant validity of religious/spiritual struggles and the complexity of their relationships with religiousness and distress.http://www.mdpi.com/2077-1444/7/6/68religionspiritualitystrugglebifactormeasurementlatentconfirmatory factor analysisdistressdepressionanxiety |
| spellingShingle | Nick Stauner Julie J. Exline Joshua B. Grubbs Kenneth I. Pargament David F. Bradley Alex Uzdavines Bifactor Models of Religious and Spiritual Struggles: Distinct from Religiousness and Distress Religions religion spirituality struggle bifactor measurement latent confirmatory factor analysis distress depression anxiety |
| title | Bifactor Models of Religious and Spiritual Struggles: Distinct from Religiousness and Distress |
| title_full | Bifactor Models of Religious and Spiritual Struggles: Distinct from Religiousness and Distress |
| title_fullStr | Bifactor Models of Religious and Spiritual Struggles: Distinct from Religiousness and Distress |
| title_full_unstemmed | Bifactor Models of Religious and Spiritual Struggles: Distinct from Religiousness and Distress |
| title_short | Bifactor Models of Religious and Spiritual Struggles: Distinct from Religiousness and Distress |
| title_sort | bifactor models of religious and spiritual struggles distinct from religiousness and distress |
| topic | religion spirituality struggle bifactor measurement latent confirmatory factor analysis distress depression anxiety |
| url | http://www.mdpi.com/2077-1444/7/6/68 |
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