Author: Rabia Dasti
Supervisor: Dr. Aisha Sitwat
Degree: MSc
Year: 2008-2010
University: Institute of Applied Psychology, Punjab University, Lahore, Pakistan
Abstract
Recent literature has suggested the role of spirituality in coping and mental health. However there is a dearth of research on impact of spirituality on the mental health of Muslim population. One of the reasons for this is the unavailability of a scale to measure spirituality grounded in the Islamic perspective. The aim of the present study was therefore to develop an indigenous multidimensional measure of spirituality according to the Islamic perspective. The present study is undertaken as a first phase in the long-term project of establishing a relationship between mental health and spirituality. This research was conducted in three phases. Phase one comprised of identification and operationalization of domains of spirituality and item generation based on Islamic perspective. The second phase included evaluation of the questionnaire from religious/spiritual and mental health experts. Out of an item pool of 200, 157 items were approved by the experts. After the approval from the experts, a pilot study was conducted during the third phase and the feedback derived from it was incorporated in the questionnaire for the main study. The main study was conducted on 813 students, who reported no psychological ailment. Corrected Item-to- total correlation analysis was done on each domain of the questionnaire. After excluding items with low corrected item to total correlation in each domain (<.30), a Principal Component Analysis with Oblique (Promax) rotation was conducted on the remaining 75 items. The scree plot also revealed the emergence of eight clear factors which were extracted and named as (1) Self-Discipline, (2) Quest and Search for Divinity. (3) Anger and Expansive Behavior, (4) Self Aggrandizement, (5) Feeling of Connectedness with Allah Ta’ala, (6) Meanness-Generosity, (7) Tolerance-Intolerance, and (8) Islamic Rituals. Moderate to high internal reliability was found for each factor of the scale. Moreover the questionnaire showed good construct, content and face validity. This questionnaire can be used in research to find out the relationship between mental health and spirituality and in clinical settings. Furthermore, it can help in the development of culturally sensitive, indigenous interventions.
Keywords: Spirituality, mental health. Validity, reliability.
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Corresponding Address: Department of Applied Psychology, University of the Punjab, Lahore, Pakistan. Email: chairperson@appsy.pu.edu.pk, Phone: 92-42-9231245
