Getting the balance: assessing spirituality and well-being among children and youth

This paper provides a critique of available quantitative measures of spirituality and well-being that have been used with children and youth. These measures range in scope from single-item to complex multiple-item instruments. The four domain model of spiritual health and well-being has been used to classify each item in the spirituality measures to show how they address relationships with self (Personal Spiritual Well-being [SWB]), with others (Communal SWB), with the environment (Environmental SWB) and/or with a Transcendent Other (Transcendental SWB). Each instrument has been analysed to show how well it provides a balanced assessment of spiritual well-being, with the purpose of informing pastoral care.