Psychometric evaluation of the Religious and Spiritual Struggles Scale (RSS) in the Czech environment

Objectives. Spirituality is often positively associated with physical and mental health. However, recent research suggests also possible negative associations connected with so-called religious struggles. Therefore, the need of having valid instrument for measuring spiritual struggles is also increasing. The aim of this study was to psychometrically evaluate Religious and Spiritual Struggles Scale (RSS) in secular conditions of the Czech Republic. Sample and settings. A nationally representative sample of 1000 Czech respondents aged fifteen years and over (n=1000; 46.04 +/- 17.28 years; 48.6% men) participated in the survey. Religious and spiritual struggles and basic socioeconomic information were measured. Results. The non-parametric comparison of different sociodemographic groups showed a higher prevalence of religious and spiritual struggles among older people, people living alone and the unemployed. In order to assess the number of factors, Kaiser criterion, scree plot, Paralel analysis (PA) and Minimum average partial test (MAP) were used. All of these methods resulted into a three-factors solution. The original scale consists of six subscales, in Czech conditions, however, they tended to pair up. Therefore, besides presenting the full version, we also decided to reduce the scale and for common research we suggest the possibility of using only three subscales (Divine, Meaning and Interpersonal). The confirmatory factor analyses supports this model with chi(2) (74)=176.8; p<0.001, SRMR=0.035, CFI=0.998, TLI=0.998, RMSEA=0.037 (90% CI=0.030-0.044). Both versions of the scale have a high internal consistency: for the full version alpha=0.96 and omega(t) = 0.96, for the three-scale version alpha=0.92 and omega(t) =0.94. Study limitations. The main limitation of this study is a high proportion of respondents who reported that they have no experience of religious and spiritual struggle. This is probably connected with a low overall religiosity in the country, as shown in the representative sample.