title: A validational study of the Ironson-Woods Spirituality/Religiousness Index in Nigerian adolescents.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The mental health impact of spirituality/religiousness is widely recognised and studied in Western countries, but less so in developing nations, partly because of lack of valid instruments for such studies.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  The objective of the study was to determine the convergent validity of the Ironson-Woods Spirituality/Religiousness Index (IWSRI) in school attending Nigerian adolescents, and any relationship between spirituality/religiousness and mental health status.
  
  
  METHODS
  The 25-item IWSRI, the "Age Universal" Religious Orientation Scale (ROS) and the 28-item General Health Questionnaire (GHQ) were administered to 300 randomly selected final year senior secondary students, aged 16 to 19 years, in Benin City. Responses were analysed using SPSS version 16 to determine the internal consistency for reliability, and correlation scores for convergent validity, of the IWSRI.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Cronbach's alpha for the total IWSRI scale was 0.91; and for each of the two spirituality and two religiousness subscales of the IWSRI, these were quite high as well. The correlation of IWSRI with ROS intrinsic (r=0.47, p=0.00) and extrinsic personal religiosity (r=0.22, p=0.00) were significant. There was a significant difference in the IWSRI mean scores of GHQ cases and non-cases (t=4.30, p=0.00).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  IWSRI has acceptable psychometric properties, and therefore applicable in measuring spirituality and religiousness in Nigerian adolescents.
authors.affiliation: a Department of Mental Health , University Of Benin Teaching Hospital , Benin City , Edo State , Nigeria.
authors.forename: Alex N
authors.initials: AN
authors.lastname: Otakpor
authors.affiliation: b Forensic unit, Federal Neuro-Psychiatric Hospital , Uselu , Benin City , Edo State , Nigeria.
authors.forename: Oluyemi O
authors.initials: OO
authors.lastname: Akanni
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009549:Nigeria; D012067:Religion; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D029181:Spirituality; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055815:Young Adult