This paper provides an analyses and descriptions of the ''connectedness'' aspect of the spiritual health of over 18,000 adolescents in Canada. Four areas of connectedness are addressed: connections with (1) oneself; (2) with others; (3) with the natural world; and (4) with a ''transcendent other.'' These four areas are sometimes referred to as the relational domains of spirituality.
This study is based on data from the Canadian Health Behaviour in School-aged Children Study (HBSC) as of June 2014 and addresses the concern of near epidemic levels of mental health symptoms in young people in Canada. The HBSC included a series of eight questions concerning child spiritual health and connectedness that were adapted from Fisher's Spiritual Wellbeing Scale for adults
Results indicated that the importance students place on spiritual health decreased as they got older and that girls rated spiritual health more importantly than boys. Most of the participants recognized connections to self and connections to others as important; and in these two areas, there was only a minimal decline by age. There was a significant decline by age, however, in the percentages of participants who felt that connections to nature were important. This was true for both male and female students. In connectedness to the transcendent, there was a consistent but small distinction between genders, with girls rating this domain higher than boys. The importance of this domain also declined with age.
Findings also indicated a strong connection between children's spiritual health and overall well-being and life satisfaction. Both girls and boys with high levels of spiritual health were 2.5 times less likely to suffer negative psychosomatic symptoms. They were also more likely to report a high level of life satisfaction. The relationship between spirituality and these outcomes was stronger for girls than boys. Based on these findings, the authors recommend fostering children's spiritual health by promoting all four areas of connectedness -- to self, others, nature, and the transcendent. For connections to nature, they recommend providing opportunities for young people to not only care for the natural world, but also to learn to know and love it.
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