title: Development of a spiritual self-care practice scale.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Development of a valid, reliable instrument to measure spiritual self-care practices of patients with heart failure.
  
  
  METHODS
  African American patients (N = 142) with heart failure participated in the study. Spiritual advisors from several religious groups reviewed the Spiritual Self-Care Practices Scale (SSCPS) for content validity. Construct validity was determined using a principal components factor analysis. Reliability was established using Cronbach's alpha coefficients.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Religious advisors provided suggestions to improve content validity. Four factors consistent with spiritual practices (personal spiritual practices, spiritual practices, physical spiritual practices, and interpersonal spiritual practices) emerged from the factor analysis. The alpha coefficient was moderate at 0.64.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Results indicated the SSCPS was reliable and valid for measuring spiritual self-care practices among African Americans with heart failure. Additional testing is needed to confirm results in other patient groups with chronic illnesses.
authors.forename: Mary L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: White
authors.forename: Stephanie Myers
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Schim
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001741:Black or African American; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D005260:Female; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006333:Heart Failure / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015146:Midwestern United States; D010865:Pilot Projects; D011594:Psychometrics / Q000295:instrumentation*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012648:Self Care / Q000523:psychology*; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D029181:Spirituality; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055815:Young Adult