Keith J. Edwards

The Spiritual Assessment Inventory: A Theistic Model and Measure for Assessing Spiritual Development

The Spiritual Assessment Inventory (SAI) is a relationally-based measure designed to assess two dimensions of spiritual development: Awareness of God and Quality of Relationship with God. The present article reports the results of two studies: exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses of a revised SAI, which replicated five factors, and a factor analysis of a revised SAI with a new Impression Management (IM) subscale. Results supported the factor structure of the SAI and the homogeneity of the IM scale. Correlations of the SAI subscales with the Spiritual Well-Being Scale, the Intrinsic/Extrinsic-Revised, the Bell Object Relations Inventory, the Defense Styles Questionnaire, and the Narcissistic Personality Inventory also supported the construct validity of the SAI. Two-step multiple regressions supported the incremental validity of the SAI. Suggestions for future research and implications for clinical use of the instrument are discussed.

The Initial Development and Factor Analysis of the Spiritual Assessment Inventory

The present article reports the development and factor analyses of a new, theoretically-based measure of spiritual maturity viewed from a Judeo-Christian perspective and designed for clinical use by pastoral counselors and psychotherapists, as well as researchers. The Spiritual Assessment Inventory (SAI) is based on a model of spiritual maturity that integrates relational maturity from an object relations perspective and experiential God-awareness based on New Testament teaching and contemplative spirituality principles. A pool of items was developed to measure two hypothesized dimensions of spiritual maturity: awareness of God and quality of relationship with God. Two factor analytic construct validity studies were conducted. Based on the first study, the SAI was revised and expanded. In the second study, five factors were identified: Awareness, Instability, Grandiosity, Realistic Acceptance, and Defensiveness/Disappointment. The results of the factor analyses and correlations of the factors with the Bell Object Relations Inventory support the underlying theory and validity of the SAI and its potential usefulness for clinical assessment and research.

Measuring religion and spirituality: where are we and where are we going?.

While the measurement of religion and spirituality has made significant progress in the past few decades, we have seen increasing criticism of the dominant paradigm in the psychology of religion–intrinsic and extrinsic religiousness. A variety of new measures have been developed, notwithstanding Gorsuchs (1984) admonition to the contrary. Religion and its post-modern offspring (spirituality) has become intensely personal, and the direction of the new measures in the field reflect this shift. Furthermore, several complexities of measuring this domain remain unresolved, such as the lack of precision in definitions, illusory spiritual health, ceiling effects, social desirability, and bias. This article discusses these complexities, provides a critical review of two widely used instruments, and reviews four newer instruments with promising theoretical perspectives and psychometric properties.

The relationship of God image to level of object relations development.

This study empirically tested the relationship of God image to level of object relations development in a Christian sample. Ninety-two undergraduate students from a religiously homogeneous population were tested with three measures of God image and three measures of object relations development. It was hypothesized that level of object relations development would show a significant positive correlation with images of God as loving and benevolent and a significant negative correlation with images of God as wrathful, controlling, and irrelevant. Scores on each of the God image instruments were correlated with scores on each of the measures of object relations development. The objective measure of object relations, the Ego Function Assessment Questionnaire-Revised (EFAQ-R), correlated significantly with all three measures of God image in the directions hypothesized. The two projective measures of object relations, the Rorschach and the Comprehensive Object Relations Profile (CORP), showed only a few significant correlations with God image scales. The strongest finding of this study was the consistent, positive correlation of multiple measures of loving God images with level of object relations development on the EFAQ-R.

A Comparison of Secular and Religious Versions of Cognitive Therapy with Depressed Christian College Students

This study was designed to answer two related questions: (a) Could Becks cognitive-behavioral treatment of depression be efficaciously employed in a religious population, and (b) would the efficacy of Becks cognitive-behavioral treatment of depression be enhanced if it was integrated with the subjects’ religious beliefs? A multiple cutoff procedure was utilized in the selection of subjects for a secular cognitive behavior modification group, a religious cognitive behavior modification group, and a waiting list control group. The results indicated that the secular and the religious cognitive behavior modification groups were significantly more effective than the waiting list control group in alleviating depression. No significant differences were found between secular and the religious cognitive behavior modification groups. The reductions in depression were maintained at a one-month follow-up. The results relevant to Becks cognitive-behavioral therapy of depression and to the treatment of religious patients are discussed.

Impact of Treatment on God Image and Personal Adjustment, and Correlations of God Image to Personal Adjustment and Object Relations Development

This study examined the effectiveness of a religiously-based, object relations oriented psychotherapy treatment program. Effectiveness was measured by changes in personal adjustment and God image for a group of religious patients. An inpatient sample (N = 99), with the predominant diagnosis of major depression, was followed over the course of inpatient treatment and a year of outpatient treatment following hospitalization. Measures were administered at admission and discharge (N = 99), six months after discharge (n = 67), and 12 months after discharge (n = 30). The correlation of God image to object relations development was also examined. Inpatient treatment was found to have a significant positive impact on personal adjustment and God image. Improvement was maintained over the course of outpatient treatment but no significant further improvement was noted. Significant correlations were found among the measures at all four time points. Implications of these findings and suggestions for future research are discussed.

An empirical exploration of psychoanalysis and religion : Spiritual maturity and Object Relations Development

The present study builds on the emerging body of empirical literature examining religion from a contemporary psychoanalytic perspective that is particularly informed by object relations theory. Such a perspective leads to the hypothesis of a positive relationship between spiritual maturity defined relationally, and level of object relations development. In other words, it is proposed that the developmental maturity of ones faith and relationship with God is associated with the developmental maturity of ones relationships with others. Spiritual maturity was measured by the Spiritual Assessment Inventory and the Religious Status Inventory. Level of object relations development was measured by the Bell Object Relations Inventory. Results revealed 19 out of 20 significant correlations in the predicted direction between both measures of spiritual maturity and the measure of level of object relations development. Research and clinical implications are discussed.

Religious Values and their Effect on the Perception of a Therapist in a Psychotherapy Analogue

The purpose of the study was, first, to determine whether labeling a taped therapist in terms of the therapists religious value orientation (Christian/non-Christian) and interpersonal style (warm/cold) would change religious subjects’ perceptions of the relationship. Second, it was to determine whether the strength of attraction of the religious value orientation was greater than the interpersonal style. Seventy-one Christian evangelical undergraduates were randomly assigned to five groups. Four groups were given different information with regard to a therapists warmth and Christianity. The fifth group acted as a control. Following structuring, all subjects listened to the same tape of a simulated therapy session. At the conclusion, the subjects rated the tape using scales to measure the dependent variables of attraction, receptivity, persuasibility, and willingness to meet. A two by two and one by five analysis of covariance and analysis of variance were computed. The only significant results found were that the control group evidenced more persuasibility than the Christian/cold and non-Christian/cold groups. Examination of group means showed a trend in the direction hypothesized for attraction and receptivity. A Pearson correlation was computed to determine the relationship between perception of the therapists religious orientation and the dependent variables and perception of the therapists interpersonal style and the dependent variables. There was a positive correlation between rating the therapist as Christian and the dependent variables of attraction and receptivity, p<.05. There was also a positive correlation between rating the therapist as warm and attraction and receptivity, p<.05.

Religious Orientation in Three Central European Environments: Quest, Intrinsic, and Extrinsic Dimensions

The concepts of intrinsic, extrinsic, and quest religiosity, as operationalized by tested instruments (Batson & Schoenrade, 1991a, 1991b, Gorsuch & McPherson, 1989) were analyzed, tested, and validated in three different cultural settings in central Europe (among Bosnian Muslims, the Serbian Orthodox, and Slovenian Catholics). The study was carried out in spring 2005 on undergraduate university students. The study indicated that the intrinsic and extrinsic dimensions functioned in line with expectations (intrinsic being consistent; extrinsic bifurcating into a social and a psychological component) in all samples. Quest religious orientation functioned in line with Edwards, Hall, and Slater (2002) in the two Christian settings, being decomposed into three entities. In the Muslim setting, quest behaved differently both as to decomposition and as to relationship to the other orientations, indicating a clear opposition to the latter, when correlations are considered.

The role of spiritual and psychological development in the cross-cultural adjustment of missionaries

The present study investigated the relationship between spiritual development, and both psychological development and cross-cultural adjustment in a group of missionaries. It was hypothesized that spiritual development would be positively related to psychological development as viewed from a relational psychodynamic perspective. It was also hypothesized that spiritual development would be positively related to psychological and sociocultural cross-cultural adjustment, and that it would contribute to the variance of adjustment above and beyond the contributions made by psychological development. One hundred and eighty-one missionaries living in 46 countries completed a questionnaire assessing these variables. Results supported the main hypotheses, and revealed a significant interaction between psychological development and spiritual development in predicting psychological adjustment. Implications for the study of psychological and spiritual development, as well as for the spiritual care of missionaries, are discussed.