Developing and Validating a Questionnaire to Measure Spirituality: A Psychometric Process

Abstract

The purpose of the paper is to describe the processes undertaken to evaluate the psychometric properties of a questionnaire developed to measure spirituality and examine the relationship between spirituality and coping in young adults with diabetes. The specific validation processes used were: content and face validity, construct validity using factor analysis, reliability and internal consistency using test-retest reliability and Cronbach’s alpha correlation coefficient. The exploratory factor analysis revealed four factors: self-awareness, the importance of spiritual beliefs, spiritual practices, and spiritual needs. The items on the Spirituality Questionnaire (SQ) revealed factor loading ? 0.5. Reliability processes indicated that the SQ is reliable: Cronbach’s alpha 0.94 for the global SQ and between 0.80-0.91 for the four subscales. Test-retest statistic examination revealed stability of the responses at two time points 10 weeks apart. The final questionnaire consists of 29 items and the psychometrics indicated that it is valid and reliable.