Psychometric testing of spirituality index of well-being for Chinese hospice volunteers

Although developed to measure spiritual well-being, the Spirituality Index of Well-Being (SIWB) has not been validated in Chinese hospice volunteers. This study evaluated the psychometric properties of SIWB in 218 hospice volunteers recruited from three hospice care providers in mainland China. Principal components analysis (PCA) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) were conducted to analyse the factor structure of SIWB. Cronbach’s alpha and the Average Variance Extracted (AVE) were calculated to evaluate the internal consistency and convergent validity of SIWB. This study confirmed the original two dimensions (i.e. self-efficacy and life scheme) of SIWB. The Cronbach’s alpha coefficients for the entire scale and the two subscales were greater than 0.92 indicating good internal consistency. The AVE values of 0.64 and 0.73 for the two subscales indicated an acceptable level of convergent validity. Overall, the Chinese SIWB demonstrates good reliability and validity among Chinese hospice volunteers.