title: The assessment of spirituality and religiousness in schizophrenia.
abstract: To assess religious coping in schizophrenia, we developed and tested a clinical grid, as no validated questionnaire exists for this population. One hundred fifteen outpatients were interviewed. Results obtained by 2 clinicians were compared. Religion was central in the lives of 45% of patients, 60% used religion extensively to cope with their illness. Religion is a multifaceted construct. Principal component analysis elicited 4 factors: subjective dimension, collective dimension, synergy with psychiatric treatment, and ease of talking about religion with psychiatrist. Different associations were found between these factors and psychopathology, substance abuse, and psychosocial adaptation. The high prevalence of spirituality and religious coping clearly indicates the necessity of addressing spirituality in patient care. Our clinical grid is suitable for this purpose. It proved its applicability to a broad diversity of religious beliefs, even pathological ones. Interjudge reliability and construct validity were high and specific training is not required.
authors.affiliation: Division of Adult Psychiatry, University Hospital of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Sylvia
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Mohr
authors.forename: Christiane
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Gillieron
authors.forename: Laurence
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Borras
authors.forename: Pierre-Yves
authors.initials: PY
authors.lastname: Brandt
authors.forename: Philippe
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Huguelet
mesh_terms: D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000328:Adult; D000553:Ambulatory Care; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010342:Patient Acceptance of Health Care; D015995:Prevalence; D025341:Principal Component Analysis; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011594:Psychometrics; D012067:Religion; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012107:Research Design; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000628:therapy; D012565:Schizophrenic Psychology; D012917:Social Adjustment; D029181:Spirituality; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires