Searching for religion and spirituality: Content analysis of pediatric psychology journals

Abstract

Objectives: A bibliometric content analysis of articles published in Clinical Practice in Pediatric Psychology and Journal of Pediatric Psychology from 2018 to 2023 seeks to determine the ubiquity, variety, balance, and disparity of articles that address religion and spirituality. Method: Thirty-five key terms related to religion and spirituality were selected and articles were sourced and screened in both journals via “full text” searches for all key terms. Each relevant article was downloaded as a full-text PDF and organized by key terms. Utilizing Adobe Acrobat's advanced search, we conducted a “Whole Word” search using each key term separately across all PDF files. Search results were imported into Microsoft Excel via.csv files, where the “Countif” function determined term frequencies within articles. Articles were double coding to ensure reliability and consistency in the results. Results: Of 1,570 articles identified between 2018 and 2023 (Journal of Pediatric Psychology, n = 1,318; Clinical Practice in Pediatric Psychology, n = 252), 60 (4%) included at least one of 35 key terms focused on religion and spirituality. The most common terms were spiritual (f = 145), religious coping (f = 134), religion (f = 63), spiritual coping (f = 62), and spirituality (f = 36). The average number of articles that primarily focused on religion and spirituality was 4.72 ± 4.15. Conclusions: The limited coverage of religion and spirituality in pediatric psychology flagship journals revealed by this content analysis signals an important call for increased publication of work that focused on diverse aspects of identity.

Publication Title

Clinical Practice in Pediatric Psychology

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