Scale-Description

The Spiritual Health Locus of Control Scales (SHLOCS-14) are a psychometric tool designed to assess how individuals perceive the control of their health through spiritual beliefs and practices. The SHLOCS-14 is a shorter version of the original scales, maintaining reliability and validity for more efficient use in research and clinical applications.
The key dimensions measured by the SHLOCS-14 include:
Spiritual Internal Control: Refers to the belief that an individual’s health depends on their own spiritual practices and decisions.
Spiritual External Control: Pertains to the perception that external spiritual factors, such as gods or spirits, control an individual’s health.
Spiritual Fate Control: Reflects the belief that health is determined by fate or destiny, regardless of the individual’s spiritual practices.

Data Analysis and Use

The analysis of data collected through the SHLOCS-14 includes:
Descriptive Statistics: Calculating means, standard deviations, and frequencies for the different dimensions of spiritual control.
Reliability and Validity: Assessing internal consistency (Cronbach’s α) and structural validity through factor analysis.
Correlation with Other Variables: Exploring the relationship between spiritual control and other psychological factors such as quality of life, anxiety, and psychological well-being.
Diagnostic Use: Identifying individuals with specific spiritual beliefs that may influence their health and their perception of health management.
The use of this data can support healthcare professionals, psychologists, and social workers in developing programs that take into account individuals’ spiritual beliefs to improve their psychological and physical health.

Purpose

The main objectives of the SHLOCS-14 are:
Assessment of Spiritual Health Control: Providing a detailed understanding of the spiritual beliefs that influence individuals’ perceptions of health and control over it.
Informing Interventions: Providing data that can be used to develop support programs that incorporate spiritual practices to enhance health.
Research Support: Supporting research initiatives that examine the role of spiritual control in individuals’ health and well-being.

Scoring

The norming of the SHLOCS-14 involves creating normative values based on extensive and representative samples from various social groups, religions, and cultures. The norming process includes:
Data Collection from a Representative Sample: Gathering responses from diverse groups of individuals to ensure the representativeness of the normative values.
Creation of Normally Distributed Values: Calculating means and standard deviations for each dimension of spiritual control.
Establishment of Evaluation Criteria: Defining cutoff points to identify high and low levels of spiritual control.
Continuous Revision: Updating the normative values based on new research and changing data in the social and spiritual fields.
Norming allows for the comparative analysis of individuals relative to the general sample and helps identify individuals who may benefit from specific interventions targeting their spiritual beliefs.

Bibliography

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Pargament, K. I., & Mahoney, A. (2005). Sacred Matters: Sanctification as a vital topic for the psychology of religion. The International Journal for the Psychology of Religion, 15(3), 175-197.
Emmons, R. A. (2005). Striving for the sacred: Personal goals, life meaning, and religion. Journal of Social Issues, 61(4), 731-745.
Jowett, S., & O’Driscoll, M. (2002). Spirituality and sport. Sport, Spirituality and Social Theory, 3(1), 45-61.
Taylor, S. E., & Chatters, L. M. (1988). Religion, spirituality, and health: A conceptual analysis. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, 27(4), 483-501.