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Spiritual Integration Predicts Self-Reported Mental and Physical Health

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Abstract

Data from 167 participants were used to establish the psychometric properties of the Reidhead spiritual integration scale, 31-item version (SI-31). Structural equation modeling was used to empirically evaluate influences on perceived health functioning, while accounting for possible confounds. The analyses showed that SI-31 predicted perceived mental and physical health while controlling for life satisfaction, religious variables, mood patterns, depression symptoms, and demographics. The importance of SI as a predictor of health-related outcomes is supported, as is the usefulness of the SI-31 in predicting these outcomes.

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Acknowledgments

This work has been supported in part by grants from the John E. Fetzer Institute (projects 1204.1, 1204.2), the University of Texas–Pan American Graduate School, and the UTPA College of Social and Behavioral Sciences Summer Writing Institute Grants (SWIG) program. The authors wish to thank Margo-Lea Hurwicz for her role in designing the free lists and consensus analysis that underly the SI scale development; Michelle Varón for her assistance with data management and the literature review; and the nuns and monks of Mt. St. Scholastica Monastery, St. Vincent Archabbey, and Gethsemani Abbey—especially Frances Watson, OSB (PhD), Judith Sutera, OSB, Demetrius Dumm, OSB (SD), Donald Raila, OSB, Vernon Holtz, OSB (PhD), Joseph Martinez, OCSO (MD), and the late Rafael Prendergast, OCSO.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology and Anthropology, University of Texas - Pan American, 1201 West University Drive, Edinburg, TX, 78539-2999, USA

    Darrin L. Rogers & Gary T. Montgomery

  2. Department of Educational Leadership and Counseling, Sam Houston State University, Huntsville, TX, USA

    Susan Troncoso Skidmore

  3. Department of Humanities, Florida Institute of Technology, Melbourne, FL, USA

    Mary Ann Reidhead

  4. Office of Academic Affairs, East Stroudsburg University, East Stroudsburg, PA, USA

    Van A. Reidhead

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  1. Darrin L. Rogers
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  2. Susan Troncoso Skidmore
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  4. Mary Ann Reidhead
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  5. Van A. Reidhead
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Correspondence to Darrin L. Rogers.

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Rogers, D.L., Skidmore, S.T., Montgomery, G.T. et al. Spiritual Integration Predicts Self-Reported Mental and Physical Health. J Relig Health 51, 1188–1201 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10943-010-9425-9

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