Psychometric validation of the REM Spirituality Index: Approach to a new typology of spirituality

Introduction: the present study aims to analyze the psychometric properties of the REM Spirituality Scale by evaluating four subscales: self-care, connections, assistance to others, and search for existential meaning and significance. Methods: An instrumental study was conducted to analyze the psychometric properties of a scale designed to assess spirituality, specifically in its self-care dimension. We worked with a purposive sample of 60 adults who were administered a self-administered questionnaire of 100 items corresponding to the self-care subscale of the REM Spirituality Index. A reliability analysis (Cronbach's alpha) and an Exploratory Factor Analysis were carried out to examine each subscale's internal consistency and underlying factor structure. Results: The results show adequate internal consistency in the four dimensions (α between 0.68 and 0.92) and differentiated factor structures that reflect the multidimensionality of spirituality. In particular, factors linked to self-care, meaningful social relationships, altruism, and the search for existential purpose were identified. Conclusions: The differentiation between internal spirituality (focused on self-care and personal reflection) and external spirituality (focused on social connections and altruistic helping) is proposed, which broadens the theoretical understanding of the construct of spirituality and its psychometric measurement.