Spirituality

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Citation Tirrell, J. M., Geldhof, G. J., King, P. E., Dowling, E., Sim, A., Williams, K., Iraheta, G., Lerner, J. V., & Lerner, R. M. (2018). Measuring spirituality, hope, and thriving among Salvadoran youth: Initial findings from the Compassion International Study of Positive Youth Development. Child & Youth Care Forum, 48(2), 241-268. Abstract Background The more than one billion children living in poverty worldwide are often marginalized from the resources needed for health and well-being, a situation that may create feelings of hopelessness and diminish chances for thriving. Compassion International (CI), a faith-based child-sponsorship organization committed to alleviating child poverty...

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Citation King, P. E., Abo-Zena, M., & Weber, J. (2017). Varieties of social experience: The religious cultural context of diverse spiritual exemplars. British Journal of Developmental Psychology, 35 (1), 127-141. Abstract From cultural developmental and relational developmental systems perspectives, the current study employed an exemplar research design along with qualitative content analysis to gain deeper understanding of how adolescents perceived the social influences on their religious and spiritual development (RSD) among religiously and culturally diverse youth. The sample included interviews of 28 highly spiritual youth aged 12–21 years (M = 17.73 years) from six countries and eight different religious traditions....

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Citation Richert, R. A., Boyatzis, C. J. & King, P. E. (2017). Introduction to the British Journal of Developmental Psychology special issue on religion, culture and development. British Journal of Developmental Psychology Special Issue: Religion, Culture and Development, 35 (1), 1-3. Abstract An introduction is presented in which the editor discusses articles in the issue on topics including peer-reviewed research and theory on children and religion, the influence of religion as a cultural context, and the processes and mechanisms of religious and spiritual development. Copyright Holder: The British Psychological Society Year: 2024 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/bjdp.12179…

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Citation King, P. E., Kim, S., Furrow, J. F., & Clardy, C. E. (2017). Preliminary exploration of the Measurement of Diverse Adolescent Spirituality (MDAS) among Mexican youth. Applied Developmental Science, 21(4), 235-250. 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…

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Citation King, P. E. & Boyatzis C. (2015). Religious and spiritual development. In M. E. Lamb & C. G. Coll (Eds.), Social and Emotional Issues (Vol. 3) of the Handbook of Child Psychology and Developmental Science (7th ed.). Editor-in-chief: R. M. Lerner. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley, p. 975-1021. Abstract Although religion and spirituality have long been an integral part of being human, this is the first empirical chapter to be included in the Handbook of Child Psychology. We examine major theoretical perspectives but emphasize the recent explosion of empirical findings on religion and spirituality in childhood and adolescence. Recognizing the centrality...

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Citation King, P.E. & Whitney, W. (2015). “What’s the ‘positive’ in positive psychology: Teleological considerations based on creation and imago doctrines,” Journal of Psychology and Theology 43(1), 47-59. Abstract While positive psychology has considered a social science perspective of optimal development and living, a pressing question for the integration of psychology and theology is to consider what Christian theology suggests is essential for humans to thrive. Recognizing that God’s purposeful action in creation has a telos, that is, a goal or purpose for humankind, propels Christian psychologists to investigate a theology of thriving in order to more fully grasp what...

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Longitudinal study by Sarah Schnitker to explore spirituality and virtue formation in physicians. An Exploration of the Role of Religion and Spirituality on Virtue Formation in Physicians.

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Citation Carr, D. R. & King, P. E., Meier, A. M. (2014). Purpose and spirituality: Exploring the role of fidelity in diverse adolescents. Journal of Youth Development, 9(2), 5-15. Abstract Purpose is understood to reflect young people’s stable and generalized commitments to accomplish meaningful activity and contribute productively to society. Religion has been linked with purpose; however, the nature of this relationship is not well understood. Given that purpose and religion involve beliefs and devotion, the current study examined fidelity as a means of understanding this relationship in a group of religiously and culturally diverse youth from around the world....

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Citation Whitney, W., & King, P. E. (2014). Religious Congregations and Communities. In C. N. Barry & M. M. Abo-Zena (Eds.), Emerging adults’ religiousness and spirituality: Meaning-making in an age of transition. New York: Oxford University Press. Abstract Although most American children are raised in a faith tradition, by the time they reach their early twenties their outward religious expression declines significantly, with many leaving the faith in which they were raised in favor of another faith or none at all, though many still claim that religion and spirituality are important. Reasons for this change in religious behavior include adolescents’...

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Citation King, P. E., Clardy, C. E., & Ramos, J. S. (2013). Adolescent spiritual exemplars: Exploring spirituality in the lives of diverse youth. Journal of Adolescent Research, 29(2), 186-212. Abstract This qualitative study aimed to develop theory about psychological constructs relevant to spiritual development in diverse adolescents. Exemplar and Consensual Qualitative Research methods were used to explore 30 interviews of adolescents aged 12 to 21 years (M = 17.73 years) representing eight religions and six countries from around the world. Participants were nominated for living with profound spirituality within their own culture and completed semistructured interviews in their country of...

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Citation Quagliana, H. L., King, P. E., Quagliana, D. P., & Wagener, L. M. (2013). Spiritually oriented interventions in developmental context. In D. F. Walker & W. L. Hathaway (Eds.), Spiritual interventions in child and adolescent psychotherapy (pp. 89–110). American Psychological Association. Abstract Developmental theory offers a context for understanding children’s and adolescents’ functioning across several domains or areas, including, but not limited to, the psychosocial, cognitive, and spiritual. In this chapter, we suggest that an understanding of developmental theory should guide treatment in a psychotherapeutic context, including those interventions that are spiritually oriented. We also argue that effective clinical...

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Citation King, P. E., Ramos, J. S., & Clardy, C. E. (2013). Searching for the sacred: Religion, spirituality, and adolescent development. In K. I. Pargament, J. J. Exline, & J. W. Jones (Eds.), APA handbook of psychology, religion, and spirituality (Vol. 1): Context, theory, and research (pp. 513–528). American Psychological Association. Abstract This chapter provides an overview of the nature and function of religion and spirituality in the lives of diverse adolescents. The chapter addresses religion and spirituality from two perspectives. First, religious and spiritual development (RSD) are described as unique domains of human development; we explore how young people...