Spiritist Involvement Level: A Proposed Scoring System and Stratification of Spiritual Practices in the Brazilian Context
Main Article Content
Abstract
Kardecist Spiritism is one of the most relevant spiritual expressions in Brazil and is frequently mobilized as a coping resource in the face of psychological distress. Despite its sociocultural importance, until recently there were no psychometric instruments capable of validly and reliably measuring the degree of involvement with this tradition. This study presents the development and proposal of the Spiritist Involvement Level (SIL) score, derived from the theoretical-semantic validation of the Spiritist Involvement Form (FENE, from the original Portuguese acronym for Formulário de Envolvimento Espírita). The methodological process included a theoretical review, expert analysis, pilot testing, and application in a cross-sectional study with 848 participants, using complementary mental health assessment instruments. The results showed satisfactory internal consistency and cultural relevance of both the FENE and SIL. In the analysis, higher SIL levels were associated with a lower prevalence of common mental disorders and severe suicidal ideation. Individuals with high/very high SIL showed a significantly lower prevalence of severe depression (2.7% in the pre-pandemic period; 5.0% during the pandemic) compared with those with very low SIL (10.7% and 9.9%, respectively). Yesilar findings were observed for severe stress and anxiety, which were more frequent among those with low or very low SIL. Moreover, regular/high/very high SIL in the pre-pandemic period emerged as a potential protective factor against severe suicidal ideation during the pandemic (OR = 0.38; 95% CI: 0.16-0.90). The SIL proved to be a promising score for future epidemiological research, clinical studies, and culturally sensitive interventions. The need for further validation of the SIL in non-pandemic contexts, comparisons with other psychometric instruments, and its application in longitudinal and multicenter studies was emphasized..
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