MEASUREMENT OF MATERIALISM AND SPIRITUALISM IN SUBSTANCE-ABUSE RESEARCH

Objective: A modified version of an instrument called the Mathew Mater ialism-Spiritualism Scale (MMSS), originally developed in India, was e valuated for possible use in substance abuse research in the U.S. Meth od: The scale was administered to 62 individuals recovering from subst ance use, 20 clergy people and 61 general controls. Results: Test-rete st reliability far the MMSS was verified by administering it to 18 con trol subjects on two separate occasions, 7 days apart. The Pearson cor relation for the MMSS total scores was 0.83 (P <.0001). Internal consi stency was examined with Cronbach's alpha in the entire sample of 143 subjects; the result for the total score was .93. Factor analysis show ed a factor structure compatible with the subscales proposed by the de veloper. Women, in general, obtained higher spirituality scores. Membe rs of the recovering group obtained significantly higher scores on ''c haracter'' and ''mysticism'' than the general controls. When general c ontrols were divided into MAST positive and MAST negative individuals, the MAST positive group obtained lower scores than the recovering gro up for ''God,'' ''mysticism'' and ''character.'' MAST negative individ uals had lower scores on ''mysticism'' than the recovering group. Chri stians had higher scores on ''God'' and ''religion'' subscales than di d nonChristians and agnostics. Conclusions: The results of this study need confirmation using an improved methodology and larger sample size s. However, they suggest that the scale may be useful for the study of spirituality in the U.S.