Aspects of spirituality in adolescents

Abstract

This paper analyses which aspects of spirituality are valued by adolescents, and how they are interconnected with youths´ life satisfaction and `self-centeredness´. The participants were 254 adolescents (11 th grade) of four different high-schools from West-Germany. After re-validation of the 6-factorial student's version of the ASP questionnaire (ASP-S, Cronbach´s alpha = .90), we found that they appreciated most Conscious interactions, Compassion / Generosity and Aspiring for Beauty / Wisdom, while particularly Religious orientation Prayer (Trust in God), esoteric Transcendence conviction, or Quest orientation were of lower relevance. The importance of these aspects of spirituality is known to increase with higher age. The correlation pattern between aspects of spirituality and life satisfaction dimensions differed remarkably between female and male adolescents. In particular Conscious interactions correlated with future prospects in females, while in males it correlated much better with family life and school situation. It became obvious that the non-formal aspects of spirituality in terms of relational consciousness are still vital, particularly secular humanism (i.e., Conscious interactions, Compassion / Generosity). These findings may have implications for religious educational programs

Spiritual Needs of Patients with Chronic Diseases

“…Underwood and Teresi described spirituality as an individual and open approach in the search for meaning and purpose in life, as a search for `transcendental truth´, which may include a sense of connectedness with others, nature, and/or the divine [18]. Also in our definition of spirituality [19,20] we found the core motifs search and connection which may comprise aspects of formal religiosity and also unique and individual spiritual views which go beyond institutional religiosity. Religious patients may interpret their existential and spiritual needs in religious terms, while non-religious individuals would interpret the same needs as existential and humanistic.…”

Ausdrucksformen der Spiritualität bei Schülern und jungen Erwachsenen

“…Verbundenheit (sowohl in vertikaler als auch in horizontaler Ausrichtung) kann somit als wichtige Dimension der Spiritualität angenommen werden, die Haltungen wie bewusste Zuwendung und Empathie sowie Mitgefühl und Respekt impliziert. In einer Untersuchung mit (gesunden) 17-18 jährigen Schülern aus Deutschland zeigte sich, dass sich von den vielfältigen Ausdrucksformen der Spiritualität (gemessen mit dem ASP-Fragebogen) insbesondere säkulare und relatio nale Formen (bewusster Umgang mit sich, den anderen und der Umwelt, sowie Mitgefühl und Großzügigkeit, aber auch Ideale des Helfens) als bedeutsam erwiesen, während eine eher konventionell religiöse Orientierung oder existenziell geprägte Formen der Spiritualität von geringerer Bedeutung waren (Büssing et al 2010;Büssing et al 2012a). Diesen Befunden soll im Folgenden näher nachgegangen werden.…”

“…Nach weiteren Optimierungsschritten blieben 25 Items und 4 Hauptdimensionen (alpha zwischen .83 und .93) übrig, die an 17-jährigen Schülern getestet wurden (Büssing et al 2010). Im Vordergrund stehen beim ASP-Fragebogen spezifische Einstellungen und Überzeugungen, weniger die Handlungsebene.…”

“…Um unterschiedliche Aspekte der Spiritualität messbar zu machen, wurde die auf 25 Items reduzierte Version des ASP Fragebogens (Version 2.1) verwendet (Büssing et al 2010 (Items s37 and s40). Im Rahmen der konfirmatorischen Modellierung (SEM; mittels des Lavaan Packages der Software R) erwiesen sich einige der oben genannten Items als wenig relevant.…”

Spırıtual needs and practıces among famıly caregıvers of patıents wıth cancer

“…Such needs can be specifically religious, but even people who have no religious faith or are not members of an organized religion have belief systems that give their lives meaning and purpose". Other researchers (20,23,24) defined as spiritual needs "need for peace of mind", the "need of overcoming despair and guilt", and "to find meaning and purpose in life" as existential needs. Taylor stated (4,25) that the most important spiritual needs included being positive, loving others, finding meaning, and relating to God among patients with cancer and family caregivers.…”