Lisa M Lewis1. 1. Family and Community Health Department, School of Nursing, University of Pennsylvania, 420 Guardian Drive, Philadelphia, PA 19104-6096, USA. lisaml@nursing.upenn.edu
Abstract
BACKGROUND: A number of instruments have been developed for investigating relationships between spirituality and health, and have been used to assess spirituality in African-Americans. Yet, the cultural appropriateness for African-Americans of these instruments has not been investigated to date. OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the construct validity and reliability of spirituality measures used in health research from 1982 to 2005. METHOD: Systematic review of the literature. RESULTS: Thirty five studies and five measures of spirituality met the inclusion criteria. Most of the spirituality measures were developed in primarily Caucasian-American samples. African-Americans were represented in 71% of the studies (n = 25) using spirituality measures in health research. Distinct cultural attributes of African-American spirituality were omitted in most of the spirituality measures. Two studies were retrieved in which psychometric evaluation was conducted in entirely African-American samples. DISCUSSION: Spirituality is a significant cultural experience and belief that influences the health behaviors of African-Americans. The lack of a culturally appropriate measure of African-American spirituality is a major limitation of studies investigating spirituality and health in this population. Development of a culturally appropriate and sensitive measure of spirituality in African-Americans is suggested to strengthen the quality of research in this area.
BACKGROUND: A number of instruments have been developed for investigating relationships between spirituality and health, and have been used to assess spirituality in African-Americans. Yet, the cultural appropriateness for African-Americans of these instruments has not been investigated to date. OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the construct validity and reliability of spirituality measures used in health research from 1982 to 2005. METHOD: Systematic review of the literature. RESULTS: Thirty five studies and five measures of spirituality met the inclusion criteria. Most of the spirituality measures were developed in primarily Caucasian-American samples. African-Americans were represented in 71% of the studies (n = 25) using spirituality measures in health research. Distinct cultural attributes of African-American spirituality were omitted in most of the spirituality measures. Two studies were retrieved in which psychometric evaluation was conducted in entirely African-American samples. DISCUSSION: Spirituality is a significant cultural experience and belief that influences the health behaviors of African-Americans. The lack of a culturally appropriate measure of African-American spirituality is a major limitation of studies investigating spirituality and health in this population. Development of a culturally appropriate and sensitive measure of spirituality in African-Americans is suggested to strengthen the quality of research in this area.
Authors: K Resnicow; D C Wallace; A Jackson; A Digirolamo; E Odom; T Wang; W N Dudley; M Davis; D Mitchell; T Baranowski Journal: J Cancer Educ Date: 2000 Impact factor: 2.037