The spirituality index of well-being: Development and testing of a new measure

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the reliability and validity of the Spirituality Index of Well-Being (SIWB) Scale in a patient population.

STUDY DESIGN: Cross-sectional survey.

POPULATION: Community-dwelling elderly individuals (n = 277) recruited from primary care clinic sites in the Kansas City metropolitan area.

OUTCOMES MEASURED: Internal consistency, concurrent construct validity, discriminant validity, and factor analysis with Varimax rotation.

RESULTS: The initial version of the SIWB contained 40 items: 20 from a self-efficacy domain and 20 from a life scheme domain. Factor analysis yielded 6 items loaded most strongly on factor 1 (intrapersonal self-efficacy) and 6 other items loaded strongly on factor 2 (life scheme). The self-efficacy subscale had an of .83 and the life scheme subscale had an of .80; the total 12-item SIWB scale had an of .87. The SIWB had significant and expected correlations with other quality of life measures related to subjective well-being: EuroQol (r = .18), Geriatric Depression Scale (r = -.35), the Physical Functioning Index from the Short Form 36 (r = .28), and the Years of Healthy Life Scale (r = -.35). Religiosity did not correlate significantly with the SIWB (r = .12; P = .056).

CONCLUSIONS: The 12-item SIWB scale is a valid and reliable measure of subjective well-being in an older patient population