Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

The Impact of the Core Transformation Process on Spirituality, Symptom Experience, and Psychological Maturity in a Mixed Age Sample in India: A Pilot Study

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Journal of Religion and Health Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Research indicates that spiritual and religious constructs have the potential to influence a broad range of outcomes such as health, well-being, and meaning, both positively and negatively. This study looked at the effect of an under studied psycho-spiritual approach, Core Transformation (CT), in reducing symptoms and promoting well-being. This study also examined whether the impact of CT would be moderated by age, with older participants evidencing better outcomes. Participants from an Indian convenience sample (N = 189) ranging in age from 18 to 65 (M = 34) received group training in CT and completed a battery of measures pretest and 4 weeks post-training, which included personality, spirituality, and psychosocial outcomes scales. Repeated-measures MANOVAs indicated significant improvements over time for both spirituality and symptom experience. Partial correlation analyses, controlling for the predictive effects of personality, reaffirmed the incremental validity of Spiritual Transcendence and religious variables in predicting symptom change and outcome ratings. CT did not appear to effect participants levels of psychological maturity. Age was not found to mediate any of these relationships, indicating the age universality of CT’s therapeutic effects.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Andreas, C., & Andreas, T. (1994). Core transformation: Reaching the wellspring within. Boulder: Real People Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Blanton, P. G. (2011). The other mindfulness practice: Centering prayer and psychotherapy. Pastoral Psychology, 60, 133–147. doi:10.1007/s11089-010-0292-9.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Boyatzis, C. J. (2013). Spiritual development during childhood and adolescence. In L. Miller (Ed.), The oxford handbook of psychology and spirituality (pp. 151–164). New York: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brown, I. T., Chen, T., Gehlert, N. C., & Piedmont, R. L. (2013). Age and gender effects on the Assessment of Spirituality and Religious Sentiments (ASPIRES) Scale: A cross-sectional analysis. Psychology of Religion and Spirituality, 5, 90–98. doi:10.1037/a0030137.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cashwell, C. S., Bentley, P. B., & Yarborough, J. P. (2007). The only way out is through: The peril of spiritual bypass. Counseling and Values, 51, 139–148.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chenowith, K. (2001). Me and my shadow. Retrieved from http://coretransformation.org/articles_shadow.htm

  • Clarke, P. B., Giordano, A. L., Cashwell, G. S., & Lewis, T. F. (2013). The straight path to healing: Using motivational interviewing to address spiritual bypass. Journal of Counseling & Development, 91, 87–94.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Crumbaugh, J. (1968). Purpose-in-Life Test. Journal of Individual Psychology, 24, 74–81.

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Csarny, R. J. (1998). The incremental validity of religious constructs in predicting quality of life, racism, and sexual attitudes. (ProQuest Information & Learning). Dissertation Abstracts International: Section B: The Sciences and Engineering, 59(3). (1998-95018-063).

  • Derogatis, L. R. (2001). Brief symptom inventory 18: Administration, scoring, and procedures manual. Bloomington: Pearson.

    Google Scholar 

  • Edara, I. R. (2012). Role of culture and ethnicity in spirituality’s influence on subjective well-being and forgiveness over and above personality: Comparison of European Americans, Asian Indian Americans, and Chinese Americans. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Loyola University Maryland, Columbia, MD

  • Exline, J. J., & Rose, E. (2005). Religious and spiritual struggles. In R. Paloutzian & C. Park (Eds.), Handbook of the psychology of religion and spirituality (pp. 315–330). New York: The Guilford Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ferguson, J. K., Willemsen, E. W., & Castañeto, M. V. (2010). Centering prayer as a healing response to everyday stress: A psychological and spiritual process. Pastoral Psychology, 59, 305–329. doi:10.1007/s11089-009-0225-7.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Frankl, V. F. (1966). Self-transcendence as a human phenomenon. Journal of Humanistic Psychology, 6, 97–106. doi:10.1177/002216786600600201.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Golden, J., Piedmont, R. L., Ciarrocchi, J. W., & Rodgerson, T. (2004). Spirituality and burnout: An incremental validity study. Journal of Psychology and Theology, 32, 115–125.

    Google Scholar 

  • Haber, R. J., Koenig, L. B., & Jacob, T. (2011). Alcoholism, personality and religion/spirituality: An integrative review. Current Drug Abuse Reviews., 4, 250–260.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Hill, P. C., & Pargament, K. I. (2008). Advances in the conceptualization and measurement of religion and spirituality: Implications for physical and mental health research. Psychology of Religion and Spirituality,. doi:10.1037/1941-1022.S.1.3.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hughes, D., & Peake, T. (2002). Investigating the value of spiritual well-being and psychosocial development in mitigating senior adulthood depression. Activities, Adaptation & Aging, 26, 15–35.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jones, A., & Crandall, R. (1986). Validation of a short index of self-actualization. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 12, 63–73. doi:10.1177/0146167286121007.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jong, H. (2013). Mindfulness and spirituality as predictors of personal maturity beyond the influence of personality traits. Mental Health, Religion & Culture, 16, 38–57.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Labbe, E., & Fobes, A. (2010). Evaluating the interplay between spirituality, personality, and stress. Applied Psychophysiology and Biofeedback, 35, 141–146.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Löckenhoff, C. E., Ironson, G. H., O’Cleirigh, C., & Costa, P. T, Jr. (2009). Five-factor model personality traits, spirituality/religiousness, and mental health among people living with HIV. Journal of Personality, 77, 1411–1436. doi:10.1111/j.1467-6494.2009.00587.x.

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Mahoney, M. J., & Graci, G. M. (1999). The meaning and correlates of spirituality: Suggestions from an exploratory survey of experts. Death Studies, 23, 512–528.

    Google Scholar 

  • McCrae, R. R., & Costa, P. T, Jr. (2010). NEO Inventories, professional manual. Lutz: Psychological Assessment Resources.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mihaljević, S., Aukst-Margetić, B., Vuksan-Ćusa, B., Karničnik, S., & Jakovljević, M. (2014). Spirituality and its relationship with personality in depressed people: Preliminary findings. Journal of Religion and Health, 1–12. doi:10.1007/s10943-014-9913-4

  • Miller, T. R. (1991). The psychotherapeutic utility of the five-factor model of personality: A clinician’s experience. Journal of Personality Assessment, 57, 415–433.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Minodora, M. M., Herta, D. C., & Cozman, D. M. C. (2013). 1951 - The role of self-transcendence in personality and its impact on quality of life. European Psychiatry, 28(Suppl 1), 1.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pargament, K. I. (1997). The psychology of religion and coping. New York: Guilford Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pargament, K. I. (2002). The bitter and the sweet: An evaluation of the costs and benefits of religiousness. Psychological Inquiry, 13, 168–181.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pargament, K. I., Magyar-Russell, G. M., & Murray-Swank, N. A. (2005a). The sacred and the search for significance: Religion as a unique process. Journal of Social Issues, 61, 665–687.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pargament, K. I., Murray-Swank, N. A., & Tarakeshwar, N. (2005b). An empirically-based rationale of a spiritually-integrated psychotherapy. Mental Health, Religion & Culture, 8, 155–165.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Piedmont, R. L. (1999). Does spirituality represent the sixth factor of personality? Spiritual transcendence and the five-factor model. Journal of Personality, 67, 985–1013.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Piedmont, R. L. (2004). Spiritual transcendence as a predictor of psychosocial outcome from an outpatient substance abuse program. Psychology of Addictive Behavior, 18, 213–222. doi:10.1037/0893-164X.18.3.213.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Piedmont, R. L. (2010). Assessment of spirituality and religious sentiments: Technical manual (2nd ed.). Timonium: Published by author.

    Google Scholar 

  • Piedmont, R. L. (2013). Overview and development of a trait-based measure of numinous constructs: The Assessment of Spirituality and Religious Sentiments (ASPIRES) scale. In L. Miller (Ed.), The oxford handbook of psychology and spirituality (pp. 104–122). New York: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Piedmont, R. L., Ciarrocchi, J. W., Dy-Liacco, G. S., & Williams, J. E. G. (2009). The empirical and conceptual value of the spiritual transcendence and religious involvement scales for personality research. Psychology of Religion and Spirituality, 1, 162–179. doi:10.1037/a0015883.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Piedmont, R. L., Hassinger, C. J., Rhorer, J., Sherman, M. F., Sherman, N. C., & Williams, J. E. G. (2007). The relations among spirituality and religiosity and Axis II functioning in two college samples. Research in the Social Scientific Study of Religion, 18, 53–73.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rodgerson, T. E., & Piedmont, R. L. (1998). Assessing the incremental validity of the religious problem-solving scale in the prediction of clergy burnout. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, 37(3), 517–527. doi:10.2307/1388058.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rosenthal, J. Z., Grosswald, S., Ross, R., & Rosenthal, N. (2011). Effects of transcendental meditation in veterans of operation enduring freedom and operation Iraqi freedom with posttraumatic stress disorder: A pilot study. Military Medicine, 176, 626–630.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Schachterle, S. (2001). Core transformation: Doorway to self-acceptance. Retrieved from http://coretransformation.org/articles_doorway.htm

  • Steffen, P. R. (2012). Approaching religiosity/spirituality and health from the eudaimonic perspective. Social and Personality Compass, 6, 70–82.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Trenholm, P., Trent, J., & Compton, W. C. (1998). Negative religious conflict as a predictor of panic disorder. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 54, 59–65.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Wachholtz, A. B., & Pargament, K. I. (2005). Is spirituality a critical ingredient of meditation? Comparing the effects of spiritual meditation, secular meditation, and relaxation on spiritual, psychological, cardiac, and pain outcomes. Journal of Behavioral Medicine, 4, 369–384.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yunesian, M., Aslani, A., Vash, J. H., & Yazdi, A. B. (2008). Effects of transcendental meditation on mental health: A before-after study. Clinical Practice and Epidemiology in Mental Health, 4, 25. doi:10.1186/1745-0179-4-25.

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Zinnbauer, B. J., Pargament, K. I., Cole, B., Rye, M. S., Butfer, E. M., Belavich, T. G., & Kadar, J. L. (1997). Religion and spirituality: Unfuzzying the fuzzy. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, 36, 549–564.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zinnbauer, B. J., Pargament, K. I., & Scott, A. B. (1999). The emerging meanings of religiousness and spirituality: Problems and prospects. Journal of Personality, 67, 889–919.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Loyola University Maryland, Baltimore, MD, USA

    Dinesh Braganza & Ralph L. Piedmont

Authors
  1. Dinesh Braganza
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Ralph L. Piedmont
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Ralph L. Piedmont.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Braganza, D., Piedmont, R.L. The Impact of the Core Transformation Process on Spirituality, Symptom Experience, and Psychological Maturity in a Mixed Age Sample in India: A Pilot Study. J Relig Health 54, 888–902 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10943-015-0049-y

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10943-015-0049-y

Keywords

Search

Navigation