Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

The Daily Spiritual Experiences Scale and Well-Being: Demographic Comparisons and Scale Validation with Older Jewish Adults and a Diverse Internet Sample

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Journal of Religion and Health Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

A substantive literature connects spirituality to positive physical, social, and mental health. In this study, the Daily Spiritual Experiences Scale (DSES) was administered to 410 subjects who participated in a community study and to 87 residents at the Hebrew Home for the Aged at Riverdale (HHAR), the latter sample consisting primarily of older Jewish respondents. Internal consistency of the DSES in both samples was high and exploratory factor analyses revealed one dominant factor and a second factor, which included 14 and 2 items, respectively, consistent with the scale’s original validation (Underwood and Teresi 2002). Demographic subgroup comparison among religious groups revealed significantly fewer daily spiritual experiences among Jews, and lowest scores among those respondents endorsing no religious affiliation. Women exhibited more frequent daily experience than men, and attainment of higher levels of education was associated with less frequent daily spiritual experience. All but one of the outcome measures of physical and psychologic well-being were found to be positively associated with the DSES so that more frequent daily spiritual experience correlated with less psychopathology, more close friendships, and better self-rated health. Directions for future research, study interpretation and limitations, and clinical implications for use of the DSES are discussed.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Athan, A., & Miller, L. (2005). Spiritual awakening through the motherhood journey. Journal of the Association for Research on Mothering, 7(1), 17–31.

    Google Scholar 

  • Benson, H., Dusek, J. A., Sherwood, J. B., Lam, P., Bethea, C. F., Carpenter, W., et al. (2006). Study of the Therapeutic Effects of Intercessory Prayer (STEP) in cardiac bypass patients: A multicenter randomized trial of uncertainty and certainty of receiving intercessory prayer. American Heart Journal, 151(4), 934–942. doi:10.1016/j.ahj.2005.05.028.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Bosworth, H. B., Park, K., McQuoid, D. R., Hays, J. C., & Steffens, D. C. (2003). The impact of religious practice and religious coping on geriatric depression. International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, 18, 905–914. doi:10.1002/gps.945.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Cornoni-Huntley, J., Brock, D. B., Ostfeld, A. M., Taylor, J. O., and Wallace, R. B. (Eds.) (1986). Established populations for epidemiological studies of the elderly: Resource data book (NIH Publication No. 86-2443). Washington, DC: US Public Health Service.

  • Delaney, H. D., Miller, W. R., & Bisono, A. M. (2007). Religiosity and spirituality among psychologists: A survey of clinician members of the American Psychological Association. Professional Psychology, Research and Practice, 38(5), 538–546. doi:10.1037/0735-7028.38.5.538.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fetzer Institute. National Institute on Aging Working Group: Multidimensional Measurement of Religiousness, Spirituality for Use in Health Research. (1999) A Report of a National Working Group Supported by the Fetzer Institute in Collaboration with the National Institute on Aging. Kalamazoo, MI: Fetzer Institute.

  • Frankl, V. (1959). Man’s search for meaning. New York: Simon and Schuster.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gallup, G., Jr. (1995). Religion in America: Will the vitality of churches be the surprise of the next century? The Public Perspective, 6, 1–8.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gosling, S. D., Vazire, S., Srivastava, S., & John, O. P. (2004). Should we trust web-based studies? The American Psychologist, 59(2), 93–104. doi:10.1037/0003-066X.59.2.93.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Higher Education Research Institute. (2004). Spirituality in higher education: A national study of college students search for meaning and purpose—A summary of initial findings. California: Author.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hill, J. (2000). A rationale for the integration of spirituality into community psychology. Journal of Community Psychology, 28(2), 139–149. doi:10.1002/(SICI)1520-6629(200003)28:2<139::AID-JCOP3>3.0.CO;2-X.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hill, P. C., & Pargament, K. I. (2003). Advances in the conceptualization and measurement of religion and spirituality. The American Psychologist, 58(1), 64–74. doi:10.1037/0003-066X.58.1.64.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Hodges, S. (2002). Mental health, depression, and dimensions of spirituality and religion. Journal of Adult Development, 9(2), 109–115. doi:10.1023/A:1015733329006.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Idler, E. L., & Kasl, S. V. (1997). Religion among disabled and non-disabled elderly persons II: Attendance at religious services as a predictor of the course of disability. Journal of Gerontology: Social Sciences, 52B(6), S304–S316.

    Google Scholar 

  • Idler, E. L., Musick, M. A., Ellison, C. G., George, L. K., Krause, N., Ory, M. G., et al. (2003). Measuring multiple dimensions of religion and spirituality for health research. Research on Aging, 25(4), 327–365. doi:10.1177/0164027503025004001.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kalkstein, S. (2007). The Daily Spiritual Experiences Scale and psychological and physical well-being: Demographic comparisons, scale validation and outcome measures. Dissertation Abstracts International: Section B: The Sciences and Engineering, 67(10-B), 6061.

  • Keefe, F. J., Affleck, G., Lefebvre, J., Underwood, L., Caldwell, D. S., Drew, J., et al. (2001). Living with rheumatoid arthritis: the role of daily spirituality and daily religious and spiritual coping. Journal of Pain, 2(2), 101–110. doi:10.1054/jpai.2001.19296.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Koenig, H. G., Cohen, H. J., Blazer, D. G., Pieper, C., Meador, K. G., Shelp, F., et al. (1992). Religious coping and depression among elderly, hospitalized medically ill men. The American Journal of Psychiatry, 149(12), 1693–1700.

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Koenig, H. G., George, L. K., & Titus, P. (2004). Religion, spirituality, and health in medically ill hospitalized older patients. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, 52, 554–562. doi:10.1111/j.1532-5415.2004.52161.x.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Koenig, H. G., McCullough, M. E., & Larson, D. B. (2001). Handbook of religion and health. New York: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Larson, D. B., & Larson, S. S. (2003). Spirituality’s potential relevance to physical and emotional health: A brief review of quantitative research. Journal of Psychology and Theology, 31(1), 37–51.

    Google Scholar 

  • Larson, E. J., & Witham, L. (1998). Leading scientists still reject God. Nature, 394, 313. doi:10.1038/28478.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Levin, J. S. (1996). How religion influences morbidity and health: Reflections on natural history, salutogenesis and host resistance. Social Science and Medicine, 43, 849–864. doi:10.1016/0277-9536(96)00150-5.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Lorenz, K. A., Hays, R. D., Shapiro, M. F., Cleary, P. D., Asch, S. M., & Wenger, N. S. (2005). Religiousness and spirituality among HIV-infected Americans. Journal of Palliative Medicine, 8(4), 774–781. doi:10.1089/jpm.2005.8.774.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Maton, K. I. (2001). Spirituality, religion, and community psychology: Historical perspective, positive potential, and challenges. Journal of Community Psychology, 29(5), 605–613. doi:10.1002/jcop. 1039.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McCullough, M. E., Hoyt, W. T., Larson, D. B., Koenig, H. G., & Thoresen, C. (2000). Religious involvement and mortality: A meta-analytic review. Health Psychology, 19(3), 211–222.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Moadel, A., Morgan, C., Fatone, A., Grennan, J., Carter, J., Laruffa, G., et al. (1999). Seeking meaning and hope: Self-reported spiritual and existential needs among an ethnically-diverse cancer patient population. Psycho-Oncology, 8, 378–385. doi:10.1002/(SICI)1099-1611(199909/10)8:5<378::AID-PON406>3.0.CO;2-A.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Mulsant, B. H., & Ganguli, M. (1999). Epidemiology and diagnosis of depression in late life. The Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, 60(Suppl 20), 9–15.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Ochs, C. (1983). Women and spirituality. Totowa, NJ: Rowman and Allanheld.

    Google Scholar 

  • Potts, R. G. (1996). Spirituality and the experience of cancer in an African-American community: Implications for psychosocial oncology. Journal of Psychosocial Oncology, 14(1), 1–19. doi:10.1300/J077V14N01_01.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Powell, L. H., Shahabi, L., & Thoresen, C. E. (2003). Religion and spirituality: Linkages to physical health. The American Psychologist, 58(1), 36–52. doi:10.1037/0003-066X.58.1.36.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Radloff, L. S. (1977). The CES-D scale: A self-report depression scale for research in the general population. Applied Psychological Measurement, 1, 385–401. doi:10.1177/014662167700100306.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sax, L. J. (2002). America’s Jewish freshmen: Current characteristics and recent trends among students entering college. Los Angeles: Higher Education Research Institute, UCLA.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sloan, R. P., Bagiella, E., & Powell, T. (1999). Religion, spirituality and medicine. Lancet, 353, 664–667. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(98)07376-0.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Smith, T. B., McCullough, M. E., & Poll, J. (2003). Religiousness and depression: Evidence for a main effect and the moderating influence of stressful life events. Psychological Bulletin, 129(4), 614–636. doi:10.1037/0033-2909.129.4.614.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Thoresen, C. E., & Harris, A. H. S. (2002). Spirituality and health: What’s the evidence and what’s needed? Annals of Behavioral Medicine, 24(1), 3–13. doi:10.1207/S15324796ABM2401_02.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Underwood, L. G. (2005). Interviews with Trappist Monks as a contribution to research methodology in the investigation of compassionate love. Journal for the Theory of Social Behaviour, 35, 3. doi:10.1111/j.1468-5914.2005.00280.x.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Underwood, L. G. (2006). Ordinary spiritual experience: Qualitative research, interpretive guidelines, and population distribution for the Daily Spiritual Experiences Scale. Archive for the Psychology of Religion/Archiv fur Religionpsychologie, 28(1), 181–218.

  • Underwood, L. G., & Teresi, J. A. (2002). The Daily Spiritual Experiences Scale: Development, theoretical description, reliability, exploratory factor analysis, and preliminary construct validity using health-related data. Annals of Behavioral Medicine, 24(1), 22–33. doi:10.1207/S15324796ABM2401_04.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Waern, M., Rubenowitz, E., & Wilhelmson, K. (2003). Predictors of suicide in the old elderly. Gerontology, 49, 328–334. doi:10.1159/000071715.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Welch, J. L., & Austin, J. K. (1999). Quality of life in black hemodialysis patients. Advances in Renal Replacement Therapy, 6(4), 351–357.

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Zemore, S. E., & Kaskutas, L. A. (2004). Helping, spirituality and alcoholics anonymous in recovery. Journal of Studies on Alcohol, 65(3), 383–391.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Counseling and Clinical Psychology, Teachers College, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA

    Solomon Kalkstein & Roni Beth Tower

  2. Department of Psychology, Yeshiva College, Yeshiva University, New York, NY, USA

    Solomon Kalkstein

  3. 36 Guenther Place, Passaic, NJ, 07055, USA

    Solomon Kalkstein

Authors
  1. Solomon Kalkstein
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Roni Beth Tower
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Solomon Kalkstein.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Kalkstein, S., Tower, R.B. The Daily Spiritual Experiences Scale and Well-Being: Demographic Comparisons and Scale Validation with Older Jewish Adults and a Diverse Internet Sample. J Relig Health 48, 402–417 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10943-008-9203-0

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10943-008-9203-0

Keywords

Search

Navigation