Date of Award
6-21-1996
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Psychology (PsyD)
Department
Graduate Department of Clinical Psychology
Abstract
Recent attention has focused on the need for effective mental health services to minority populations in the United States. The Hispanic community is the second largest minority in the U.S. and continues to grow rapidly. Mental health services may be facilitated by translation and validation of assessment instruments which are psychometrically sound and easy to administer.
Measures of subjective well-being were developed in the United States in the 1970s. An interest in spiritual well-being, as related to one's general sense of health and well-being, led to development of the Spiritual Well-Being Scale (SWBS) by Paloutzian & Ellison (1982). Since that time, the SWBS has become the most extensively researched measure of spiritual well-being, and therefore a logical choice for translation and use among Hispanic people to measure spiritual well-being.
The SWBS was translated into Spanish and pilot tested by Bruce and Stagner (1994). The present study provides preliminary validation of the translated measure. A convenience sample of 111 people (62 males, 48 females) from six religious groups of Spanish-speaking people in the Pacific Northwest was administered the Spanish SWBS. One subsample (£=22) was retested after 24 hours to provide an estimate of test-retest reliability. A second subsample of bilingual subjects (£=36) was administered the English SWBS and Spanish SWBS to measure consistency across test forms.
The Spanish SWBS was demonstrated to be a fairly reliable instrument, with estimates of internal consistency ranging between .83 and .91 on the full scale. Test-retest estimates were adequate (.70). Correlation between the English SWBS and the Spanish SWBS in the bilingual administration was excellent at .92. Future usefulness of the Spanish SWBS may include availability as a research measurement, as a measure of therapy outcome, and as a tool to facilitate discussion of spiritual issues in churches and counseling settings. Further studies with larger sample sizes, more diversity of spiritual backgrounds, and incorporating strengthened methods of test orientation, may provide increased psychometric support for the Spanish SWBS and allow for greater usefulness.
Recommended Citation
Bruce, Kay Colleen, "A Spanish Translation of the Spiritual Well-Being Scale: Preliminary Validation" (1996). Doctor of Psychology (PsyD). 291.
https://digitalcommons.georgefox.edu/psyd/291