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Performance of the Duke Religion Index and the Spiritual Well-Being Scale in Online Samples of Men Who Have Sex with Men

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Abstract

Religiosity is associated with behaviors that reduce the risk of HIV/STI infection among general-population and heterosexual-specific samples. Whether this association is similar to homosexual persons is unknown. Measures of religiosity have not been evaluated psychometrically among men who have sex with men (MSM), a population who, because of stigma, experience religiosity differently than heterosexual persons. We assessed the duke religion index and the spiritual well-being in two samples of MSM. Neither instrument produced adequate model fit. To study the association between religiosity and HIV/STI risk behaviors among MSM, scales are needed that measure the religious and spiritual experiences of MSM.

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Acknowledgments

The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism funded the Structural Factors to Lower Alcohol-Related HIV Risk Project, Grant number R01AA016270-01A1. The National Institute of Mental Health Center for Mental Health Research on AIDS funded the Sexually Explicit Media (SEM) Study, Grant number R01MH087231. All research was carried out with the approval of the University of Minnesota Institutional Review Board.

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  1. Division of Epidemiology and Community Health, School of Public Health, University of Minnesota, 1300 S. 2nd Street, Suite 300, Minneapolis, MN, 55454, USA

    J. Michael Wilkerson, Derek J. Smolensk, Sonya S. Brady & B. R. Simon Rosser

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  1. J. Michael Wilkerson
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Correspondence to J. Michael Wilkerson.

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Wilkerson, J.M., Smolensk, D.J., Brady, S.S. et al. Performance of the Duke Religion Index and the Spiritual Well-Being Scale in Online Samples of Men Who Have Sex with Men. J Relig Health 52, 610–621 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10943-012-9594-9

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