Abstract
Spiritual experience can represent an important aspect of mental health. The purpose of the current study was to validate the Italian version of the Daily Spiritual Experience Scale (DSES-IT) in a population of patients with different psychiatric disorders. It involved 209 patients enrolled in four facilities within the network of IRCCS Centro San Giovanni di Dio Fatebenefratelli Research Institute in Italy. The exploratory factor analysis (EFA) indicated two domains. Internal consistency was very good (Cronbach’s Alpha = .93). Scale stability across time assessed by test-retest reliability showed a good performance (Pearson’s correlation r > 0.9 for all items). Convergent reliability was assessed by Pearson’s correlation between the DSES-IT and the WHOQOL-SRPB scales (r = − .63, p = 0.001). Diagnostic group comparison revealed a statistically significant difference among the patient groups (ANOVA test p = 0.01). The results confirm good psychometric properties of the Italian version of the DSES scale.
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Acknowledgements
The authors thank G. Cervellera, L. Alaimo, M. Scartabellati, S. Marcolin, E. Cunegatti, M. Leporatti, S. Berlanda, P. Zanotti, V. Spinelli, L. Zeni, M. Rocco, A. Piaggi, L. Zorzella, M. Fabello, P. Rosaria, P. Basso, R. Bindoni, C. Riccardi, M. Cassamali, A. Sala, G. Giobbio, F. De Dominicis, for their assistance with data collection. A sincere thanks to Dr. Lynn Underwood for the authorization to use the Daily Spiritual Experiences Scale (DSES).
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The study was supported by "Ricerca Corrente" funds by Italian Ministry of Health.
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Yepes Martinez, M.V., Rossi, R., Ciani, M. et al. Validation of the Italian Version of the Daily Spiritual Experience Scale Among Psychiatric Patients. J Relig Health 62, 2181–2195 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10943-022-01672-9
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10943-022-01672-9