Todd W. Hall

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.

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.

Attachment to God and Implicit Spirituality: Clarifying Correspondence and Compensation Models

This article empirically investigates two alternative, competing hypotheses regarding human attachment patterns and attachment patterns with respect to peoples spiritual experiences of relationship with God. The correspondence model posits that attachment patterns with humans correspond to, or are reflected in attachment patterns in individuals’ experiences of God. The compensation model, in contrast proposes that attachment patterns with humans do not correspond to God attachment patterns presumably because God functions as a substitute attachment figure for those with insecure human attachments. Overall, the evidence has been somewhat mixed, with some findings supporting correspondence and some supporting compensation. It is argued here that this is due to limitations of the conceptual models, more specifically, lack of clarity regarding the compensation model, and the limited way in which spirituality and religiousness has been conceptualized and measured. We propose a conceptual distinction between implicit spiritual functioning and explicit spiritual functioning, which reflect two separate ways of knowing and processing emotional information: explicit knowledge and implicit relational knowledge (Stern et al., 1998). Based on this distinction, we propose a conceptual model arguing that correspondence operates at implicit levels of spiritual experience, and that human attachment patterns are not associated with explicit spiritual functioning. Results overall provided strong support for this model.

The Personal Functioning of Pastors: A Review of Empirical Research with Implications for the Care of Pastors

The present article surveys the available empirical research on the personal (psychological/spiritual) functioning of pastors. The literature is divided into six major areas: emotional well-being, stress and coping, marital/divorce adjustment, family adjustment, burnout, and impairment. The research in each area is critically reviewed and summarized, and directions for future research are suggested. The primary conclusion is that interpersonal/relational deficits are associated with the vast majority of psychological problems faced by pastors, and thus need to be addressed, particularly at an early stage of the pastors career.

Assessment of religious dimensions in Christian clients: A review of selected instruments for research and clinical use.

Due to recent changes within the field of psychology, namely, the inclusion of religion as a human difference within the Ethical Principles of Psychologists and Code of Conduct, as well as the inclusion of “Religious or Spiritual Problem” as a V-code in the DSM-IV, the understanding and effective treatment of people of faith has been elevated as a clinical issue. Measures of religious dimensions and spirituality can be very helpful in working with religious clients. Numerous instruments measuring a variety of religious dimensions are available for research and clinical use. The authors offer a review of selected instruments which have been developed to measure a variety of religious variables, and to be used particularly with Christian clients. The instruments are evaluated for both psychometric soundness and clinical utility. Strengths and weaknesses are noted and suggestions for future research are provided.

The relationship of spiritual maturity to level of object relations development and God image

Several theoretical studies have suggested that spiritual maturity parallels psychological maturity from an object relations perspective in that both involve a relationality that is characterized by mature dependence (Shackelford, 1978; Pingleton, 1984). In addition, previous research has suggested that there is a positive relationship between level of object relations development and God image (Rizzuto, 1979; McDargh, 1983, 1986; Birky & Ball, 1988; Brokaw, 1991). In light of this, the present study theoretically and empirically explored the notion that both level of object relations development and God image are positively correlated with spiritual maturity. The results suggest initial support for the present hypotheses. Theoretical as well as clinical implications of the results are discussed.

An Item Response Theory Analysis of the Spiritual Assessment Inventory

Item response theory (IRT) was applied to evaluate the psychometric properties of the Spiritual Assessment Inventory (SAI; Hall & Edwards, 1996, 2002). The SAI is a 49-item self-report questionnaire designed to assess five aspects of spirituality: Awareness of God, Disappointment (with God), Grandiosity (excessive self-importance), Realistic Acceptance (of God), and Instability (in ones relationship to God). IRT analysis revealed that for several scales: (a) two or three items per scale carry the psychometric workload and (b) measurement precision is peaked for all five scales, such that one end of the scale, and not the other, is measured precisely. We considered how sample homogeneity and the possible quasi-continuous nature of the SAI constructs may have affected our results and, in light of this, made suggestions for SAI revisions, as well as for measuring spirituality, in general.

Integration in the Therapy Room: An Overview of the Literature

Clinical integration refers to the incorporation of religious or spiritual beliefs, values, and methods into the process of psychotherapy that results in a different way of being as a therapist, understanding the client, and/or doing therapy. Two goals are pursued in this article: (a) to provide an overview of what has been done in clinical integration over the past 25 years; and (b) to point the reader to resources in each of the areas addressed in this article. First, the foundations for clinical integration that have been laid over the years are outlined. These include pragmatic, ethical, empirical, and personal reasons for engaging in clinical integration. Following this, an overview of the spectrum of clinical integration is described. The incorporation of religious values and beliefs, religious content in traditional psychological frameworks, and spiritually-derived goals and techniques are discussed. Finally, some ethical considerations in pursuing clinical integration are outlined.