A Psychometric Study of the Religious Distress Task in a University and Community-Based Sample

The triggers that induce scrupulosity-related distress can vary, depending on an individual’s religious/moral worldview. Accounting for cultural context surrounding one’s obsessions could improve the sensitivity of tests for scrupulosity. With cultural context in mind, we designed the Religious Distress Task (RDT) to elicit negative emotions in members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS) with scrupulosity. This study evaluated the factor structure, test-retest reliability, and internal consistency of the RDT in three samples of LDS individuals (N1 = 392, N2 = 607, and N3 = 40 scrupulous and 34 control). Across samples, between 59% and 68% of participants identified as female, while 90% to 100% identified as white, and 88% to 93% identified as non-Hispanic or Latino. An EFA was performed in sample 1 and a CFA in sample 2. The EFA revealed a two-factor structure (factor 1: l = .59 - .77; factor 2: l = .54 - .91). The CFA supported these findings (factor 1: l = .53 - .86; factor 2: l = .74 - .88). All samples demonstrated adequate test-retest reliability and internal consistency (r = .77 - .90; a = .86 - .96). Accounting for cultural and religious background when designing measures of scrupulosity may improve their psychometric properties.