Meaning, Purpose, and Religiosity in at-Risk Youth: The Relationship between Anxiety and Spirituality

Abstract

This study investigated the relationship between spiritual well-being and anxiety in at-risk adolescents. The State-Trait Anxiety Inventory, the Spiritual Well-Being Scale, a revised version of the Allport-Ross Religious Orientation Scale, and the Social Provisions Scale were administered to 45 male and female high school students who were considered to be at-risk. The research found that the higher the spiritual well-being, existential well-being, religious well-being and intrinsic religious orientation were among males, the lower the anxiety. Only lower existential well-being was associated with lower anxiety among females. Spiritual well-being and female gender were found to be the best predictors of anxiety from the variables studied.