Structural validity of a brief scale adapted to measure adolescent spiritual health

Spiritual health is established as an important protective health asset in child populations. Measurement and assessment of this elusive concept are, however, challenging. Brief and age-appropriate instruments are required for surveys and related population health research. One longstanding model describing child spirituality suggests that scales and measures consider four standard domains describing connections to self, others, nature, and the transcendent. In this validation study, we tested the structural validity and internal consistency of a brief, literacy-level appropriate instrument for adolescents that was based on prior adaptations of this model. The 2018 cross-national study population included 47,180 children aged 11–15 years from 9 countries. Based upon theory, factor pattern matrices, and Scree plots, the exploratory factor analysis best supported the four-factor model, with items organized according to the original four domains. Internal consistency of the items was acceptable (alpha>.7) to good (alpha>.8) within domains, again within each of the 9 countries. The confirmatory factor analysis again supported the four-factor model (by country, SRMR: 0.020 to 0.042; and AGFI and NFI fit: >0.98). Model fit indices for the four-factor model were improved compared with its unidimensional version. Moving forward, our analysis establishes the structural validity and internal consistency of this adapted brief spiritual health instrument to be used in surveys of adolescents.