Preliminary exploration of the Measurement of Diverse Adolescent Spirituality (MDAS) among Mexican youth. Issue 4 (2nd October 2017)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: King, Pamela Ebstyne; Kim, Seong-Hyeon; Furrow, James L.; Clardy, Casey E.
• Is Part Of: Applied developmental science. Volume 21:Issue 4(2017)
• Page Start: 235
• Page End: 250
• Publication Date: 2017-10-02
• Subjects: Child development -- Periodicals; Developmental psychology -- Periodicals; 305.231
• DOI: 10.1080/10888691.2016.1203789
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1088-8691

Abstract

ABSTRACT: In the current article we propose and offer a preliminary test of an ecologically sensitive theoretical and methodological framework for understanding diverse adolescent spiritual development. The study summarizes the initial stages of development of the Measurement of Diverse Adolescent Spirituality (MDAS) that assesses three dimensions of spirituality: transcendence, fidelity, and contribution. We report our procedures and findings from an initial effort to contextualize the measure and validate the resulting scales with youth in Tijuana, Mexico. In the current study, 391 (211 females, M age = 13.78 years old) Mexican youth completed a self-report survey including the MDAS and measures of prosocial tendencies, daily spiritual experiences, and intrinsic religious motivation. Exploratory and confirmatory factor models, reliability, and structural analysis affirm the MDAS as a valid and reliable multidimensional measure of adolescent spirituality within the tested sample. Implications for further study of adolescent spiritual development and culturally valid research methods are discussed.