J Relig Health. 2026 Jul 20. doi: 10.1007/s10943-026-02734-y. Online ahead of print.
ABSTRACT
Spiritual abuse is a form of harm in religious communities that disrupts positive social connections and causes negative health impacts. Without objective assessment methods, religious groups that are spiritually abusive can be difficult to identify. This study introduces spiritual safety-the ability to practice one’s spirituality without coercion, manipulation, or emotional abuse-as a measure for the risk of spiritual abuse in a faith-based organization. Sixty items were developed based on themes from the literature on spiritual abuse and psychological safety. The items were refined through content validity index and psychometrically validated across two separate studies with primarily North American Christian participants. In Study 1 (n = 331), exploratory factor analysis identified three underlying factors which were named psychological safety, leadership, and culture. Study 2 (n = 491) confirmed the three-factor structure using confirmatory factor analysis and validated a final 20-item version of the scale. The Spiritual Safety Scale (S-SAFE) demonstrated excellent reliability (α = 0.97), a strong correlation with individual psychological safety (r = 0.82), a strong negative correlation with PTSD symptomatology (r = – 0.56), and a moderate negative correlation with negative religious coping (r = – 0.43). Fit indices demonstrated good model fit (CFI = 0.95, TLI = 0.94, RMSEA = 0.07). ANOVA supported the statistical significance of scoring groups for healthy, unhealthy, and unsafe categories. The S-SAFE therefore offers a practical tool for assessing spiritual safety and risk of spiritual abuse in North American Christian communities.
PMID:42474978 | DOI:10.1007/s10943-026-02734-y
