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This paper replicates and extends previous analyses supporting the dimensionality of a new measure of spirituality-religiosity designed for largely minority participants in substance abuse treatment. Data are presented from participants in explicitly faith-based substance abuse treatment programs (Teen Challenge), and multi-group confirmatory factor analysis techniques are applied to assess the invariance of the factor structure, comparing data from the new Teen Challenge validation sample with the correlation matrix from the initial scale development sample. Model fit in the present analyses reached acceptable levels with the addition of error covariances. Further, invariance tests comparing scale development and Teen Challenge validation samples did not suggest systematic variation in loadings between groups. The present comparisons support the originally proposed four-dimensional structure while supporting the use of the measure in both traditional and faith-based programs. Strengths of the present analyses include: use of diverse treatment programs in several states as well as increased precision of the present CFA findings, as program level effects (i.e., intra-class correlations) have been removed through use of residualized data in the analyses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Extant measures of spirituality-religiosity, not developed specifically with substance abuse treatment populations in mind, may not be culturally appropriate in regard to either: (1) the 12-step “culture” found in many treatment programs; or (2) racial-ethnic minority populations overrepresented in publicly funded programs. A 40-item four-dimensional measure was developed, which differentiates “religiosity” (religious practices) from “spirituality” (an individual's relationships with God/higher power, others, and self). Instrument development involved: qualitative focus groups with individuals in seven diverse Texas treatment programs; quantitative exploratory and confirmatory (CFA) analyses to test the four-factor model conducted using data from 237 diverse clients in treatment programs in Tennessee and Virginia. Confirmatory analyses indicate acceptable fit indices (>0.90) for the four-factor model, and acceptable reliability estimates for all subdimensions (≥0.70) provide further support for the measures. Results support the potential usefulness of the measures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reliable and valid measures of religiosity and spiritual dimensions appropriate for ethnically diverse groups are needed. I examine the factor structure of the relatively new Fetzer multidimensional measure (Fetzer Institute 1999). Confirmatory factor analyses (CFA) of national data collected in the 1998 General Social Survey are conducted to (1) test the fit of the proposed dimensionality of the Fetzer measure, specifically comparing the Fetzer structure with a simpler single-factor model suggested by preliminary exploratory factor analyses; and (2) evaluate ethnic differences in factor structure of the Fetzer items. Data from 1,201 adults, 1,019 whites and 182 African Americans, are examined to compare the fit of the multidimensional Fetzer model against an alternative single-factor (“unitary spirituality”) model. CFA analyses indicated that only the Fetzer models had acceptable fit indices (NFI and/or NNFI approaching or reaching 0.90). Ethnic differences in loadings, while significant, were not substantively different. These findings suggest that a multidimensional measure like the Fetzer is useful for multiethnic research and that combining the daily spirituality and values/beliefs dimensions into a single factor provides a simpler model overall (compared to the Fetzer model separating these dimensions out) while providing acceptable fit. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Data from a community sample of 1,784 Anglo, African-American, and Mexican-American adults were examined to assess: (I) the nature and magnitude of observed racial/ethnic and acculturation level differences in depression, (2) the relative contribution of sociodemographic and psychosocial factors (fatalism and religiosity) to observed differences, and (3) the joint effects of fatalism and religiosity as sociocultural resources with regard to depression in differing racial/ethnic and acculturation level subgroups. Analyses indicate the most dramatic differences in depression among males- African Americans were roughly similar to Anglos and levels of depression were significantly higher among the least acculturated Mexican Americans relative to Anglos, even after statistical controls. Acculturation level differences among Mexican-American females were explained by statistical controls. Lower levels of depression among more highly acculturated than among less acculturated Mexican Americans provide little support for a simplistic stress formulation of acculturation. Rather, the interplay of acculturation, Fatalism, and religiosity supports a more complex cultural marginality model, emphasizing the consistency of attitudinal elements and language use as facilitators or inhibitors of assimilation into Anglo culture. Both those who successfully acculturate and those who are most insulated in traditional culture appear least depressed from this perspective. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]