Including the spiritual dimension in the treatment of patients with affective disorders: validation of the spiritual distress and resources questionnaire (SDRQ)

Abstract Background There is a lack of valid instruments for assessing spiritual resources and distress in the context of psychiatry and psychotherapy. To fill this gap, the newly developed Spiritual Distress and Resources Questionnaire (SDRQ) was studied in patients with affective disorders. The pu...

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Main Authors: Gerhard Stutz, Florian Hotzy, Andrea Eisenhut, Franziska von Keyserlingk, Hanspeter Moergeli, Simon Peng-Keller, Michael Rufer
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: BMC 2025-02-01
Series:BMC Psychology
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Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1186/s40359-025-02438-0
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author Gerhard Stutz
Florian Hotzy
Andrea Eisenhut
Franziska von Keyserlingk
Hanspeter Moergeli
Simon Peng-Keller
Michael Rufer
author_facet Gerhard Stutz
Florian Hotzy
Andrea Eisenhut
Franziska von Keyserlingk
Hanspeter Moergeli
Simon Peng-Keller
Michael Rufer
author_sort Gerhard Stutz
collection DOAJ
description Abstract Background There is a lack of valid instruments for assessing spiritual resources and distress in the context of psychiatry and psychotherapy. To fill this gap, the newly developed Spiritual Distress and Resources Questionnaire (SDRQ) was studied in patients with affective disorders. The purpose of this study was to examine the psychometric properties of the SDRQ. Methods The SDRQ was administered to 177 patients with affective disorders. Measurement properties including reliability, structural validity and construct validity were analysed. In addition, a sub-sample of 41 participants completed the SDRQ a second time to assess test-retest reliability. Results Exploratory factor analysis confirmed that the 22 items of the SDRQ could be grouped into four subscales: spiritual distress, spiritual coping, immanence and transcendence. The spiritual distress, transcendence, immanence and spiritual coping subscales showed high internal consistency as indicated by Cronbach’s alpha coefficients (0.83–0.88). The construct validity of the SDRQ was supported by meaningful and significant correlations with established measures in the field. In particular, higher levels of spiritual distress were strongly associated with higher scores on the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale. Conclusion The results of this study suggest that the SDRQ is a reliable, valid and user-friendly screening tool for assessing spiritual distress, spiritual resources and spiritual coping in patients with affective disorders. The use of the SDRQ may be useful to adequately address and integrate spiritual aspects in a multimodal care approach.
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spelling doaj-art-cedfc973cecb49ed95568f0f02ca7c662025-08-20T02:48:16ZengBMCBMC Psychology2050-72832025-02-011311710.1186/s40359-025-02438-0Including the spiritual dimension in the treatment of patients with affective disorders: validation of the spiritual distress and resources questionnaire (SDRQ)Gerhard Stutz0Florian Hotzy1Andrea Eisenhut2Franziska von Keyserlingk3Hanspeter Moergeli4Simon Peng-Keller5Michael Rufer6Department of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy, and Psychosomatics, Psychiatric University Hospital ZurichDepartment of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy, and Psychosomatics, Psychiatric University Hospital ZurichDepartment of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy, and Psychosomatics, Psychiatric University Hospital ZurichDepartment of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy, and Psychosomatics, Psychiatric University Hospital ZurichDepartment of Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry and Psychosomatic Medicine, University of ZurichProfessorship of Spiritual Care, Faculty of Theology, University of ZurichDepartment of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy, and Psychosomatics, Psychiatric University Hospital ZurichAbstract Background There is a lack of valid instruments for assessing spiritual resources and distress in the context of psychiatry and psychotherapy. To fill this gap, the newly developed Spiritual Distress and Resources Questionnaire (SDRQ) was studied in patients with affective disorders. The purpose of this study was to examine the psychometric properties of the SDRQ. Methods The SDRQ was administered to 177 patients with affective disorders. Measurement properties including reliability, structural validity and construct validity were analysed. In addition, a sub-sample of 41 participants completed the SDRQ a second time to assess test-retest reliability. Results Exploratory factor analysis confirmed that the 22 items of the SDRQ could be grouped into four subscales: spiritual distress, spiritual coping, immanence and transcendence. The spiritual distress, transcendence, immanence and spiritual coping subscales showed high internal consistency as indicated by Cronbach’s alpha coefficients (0.83–0.88). The construct validity of the SDRQ was supported by meaningful and significant correlations with established measures in the field. In particular, higher levels of spiritual distress were strongly associated with higher scores on the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale. Conclusion The results of this study suggest that the SDRQ is a reliable, valid and user-friendly screening tool for assessing spiritual distress, spiritual resources and spiritual coping in patients with affective disorders. The use of the SDRQ may be useful to adequately address and integrate spiritual aspects in a multimodal care approach.https://doi.org/10.1186/s40359-025-02438-0Spiritual careQuestionnaireDepressionSpirituality and religiosity
spellingShingle Gerhard Stutz
Florian Hotzy
Andrea Eisenhut
Franziska von Keyserlingk
Hanspeter Moergeli
Simon Peng-Keller
Michael Rufer
Including the spiritual dimension in the treatment of patients with affective disorders: validation of the spiritual distress and resources questionnaire (SDRQ)
BMC Psychology
Spiritual care
Questionnaire
Depression
Spirituality and religiosity
title Including the spiritual dimension in the treatment of patients with affective disorders: validation of the spiritual distress and resources questionnaire (SDRQ)
title_full Including the spiritual dimension in the treatment of patients with affective disorders: validation of the spiritual distress and resources questionnaire (SDRQ)
title_fullStr Including the spiritual dimension in the treatment of patients with affective disorders: validation of the spiritual distress and resources questionnaire (SDRQ)
title_full_unstemmed Including the spiritual dimension in the treatment of patients with affective disorders: validation of the spiritual distress and resources questionnaire (SDRQ)
title_short Including the spiritual dimension in the treatment of patients with affective disorders: validation of the spiritual distress and resources questionnaire (SDRQ)
title_sort including the spiritual dimension in the treatment of patients with affective disorders validation of the spiritual distress and resources questionnaire sdrq
topic Spiritual care
Questionnaire
Depression
Spirituality and religiosity
url https://doi.org/10.1186/s40359-025-02438-0
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