The Polish adaptation of the Religious and Spiritual struggles scale: Factorial structure and psychometric properties

Abstract

The aim of the paper is to present the theoretical basis and factorial structure of the Polish adaptation of the Religious and Spiritual Struggles Scale – RSSS-PL. We present the results of two studies. Study 1 included an exploratory factor analysis, which showed that the Polish adaptation of the RSSS, like the original version, measures six domains of religious or spiritual struggle: divine (negative emotions centered on beliefs about God or perceived relationship with God), demonic (concern that the devil or evil spirits are attacking you or causing negative events), moral (wrestling with attempts to follow moral principles; worry or guilt about perceived offenses by the self), ultimate meaning (concern about not perceiving deep meaning in one’s life), interpersonal (concern about negative experiences with religious people or institutions; interpersonal conflict around religious issues), and doubt (feeling troubled by doubts or questions about one’s r/s beliefs). In Study 2, we confirmed the six-factor structure of the Polish adaptation of the RSSS using the confirmatory factor analysis. The RSSS-PL subscales had high reliability indices and high validity in relation to measures of religiousness and stress. This method has acceptable psychometric properties and may serve as a valuable tool in studies on religion as a source of struggles.