A review and application of social scientific measures of religiosity and spirituality: assessing a missing component in health communication research.

Social and behavioral scientists in fields such as psychology, sociology, anthropology, nursing, and medicine have been investigating the relation between religious or spiritual variables and health outcomes for several decades. This article reviews a sample of the major empirical instruments used in this research, including extrinsic and intrinsic religiosity, spiritual well-being, and religious coping. The review encompasses suggestions for application of these scales to health communication theory and research associated with identity, self-efficacy, social support, and media use. Cautionary advice regarding ethical issues together with guidelines for use is advanced.