Development of a Scale to Measure Religiosity Anxiety in Puerto Rico.

This article focuses on the development and validation of the Religiosity Anxiety Scale, an instrument designed to measure symptoms of religious anxiety—including physical and cognitive manifestations—based on DSM-5-TR criteria, within a Puerto Rican adult sample. The scale, refined through exploratory factor analysis, demonstrated a reliable two-factor structure (physical and cognitive symptoms) with strong internal consistency (α = .95; ω = .95) and showed moderate correlations with generalized anxiety and religious/spiritual struggles, supporting its convergent validity. The study highlights the scale's potential clinical utility in culturally sensitive assessment and treatment planning for anxiety related to religiosity in Puerto Rico, a predominantly Christian society where religious beliefs significantly influence daily life. Limitations include a convenience sample with gender imbalance and the need for further validation in diverse cultural contexts and with additional related constructs such as depression.