Abstract
There are several recommendations that assessing childrens’ or adolescents’ spiritual needs is important, while there are no studies available, however, that have systematically assessed adolescents’ spiritual needs with a validated instrument. Therefore, the adolescent version of the SpNQ (SpNQ-Ad) was applied in a group of 200 adolescents with either somatic diseases or psychosomatic/psychiatric conditions that required treatment. Among these adolescents, Attention/Positive Confirmation needs scored highest, followed by Inner Peace needs and Existential/Giving needs, while Religious needs were of lowest relevance. Here, female adolescents had significantly higher Attention/Positive Confirmation needs and Existential/Giving needs than male persons. Religious/Praying needs were predicted best by frequency of private praying and belief in God, while Attention/Positive Confirmation needs were predicted best by affections of daily life through disease-related symptom. Existential/Generativity needs and also Inner Peace needs were predicted best by reflecting on meaning in life. Thus, also adolescents with chronic conditions or long-lasting treatments from a secular society have unmet spiritual needs that are important to them. These have to be care-fully addressed and supported.
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We are grateful to all those who have helped to recruit the adolescents who have filled the questionnaire, particularly Laura Sieber and Charlotte Roch.
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Büssing, A., Hussong, J., Große-Onnebrink, J., von Gontard, A. (2021). Spiritual Needs of Adolescents with Chronic Diseases. In: Büssing, A. (eds) Spiritual Needs in Research and Practice. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-70139-0_22
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