State Mindfulness Scale (SMS): Development and initial validation

Assessment, 2004

Assessment of mindfulness is essential to understanding its relationships with psychological functioning. Currently, mindfulness is most often assessed with self-report questionnaires. Although additional work is required, mindfulness questionnaires have reasonable psychometric properties and are making important contributions to the understanding of mindfulness and its effects on health and wellbeing. For example, measurement of mindfulness as a multidimensional construct shows that present-moment awareness can be unhelpful unless accompanied by a nonjudgmental, nonreactive stance; moreover, nonjudgment and nonreactivity may be only weakly related to present-moment awareness in people with no meditation experience. Differences between psychological and Buddhist conceptions of mindfulness, though often a source of criticism of mindfulness questionnaires, are argued here to be inevitable and not necessarily problematic.

Current Opinion in Psychology

The development and implementation of psychometrically sound behavioral measures of mindfulness is important to advancing the science of mindfulness. To help organize, conceptualize, and guide the development of behavioral measures of mindfulness, we propose defining features, and a four-domain framework, of the behavioral assessment of mindfulness. The framework domains include measurement of (I) objects of mindful awareness, (II) time-course of mindful awareness, (III) sensitivity of mindful awareness, and (IV) attitudes towards present moment experience. We describe mindfulness processes in each domain, and review extant behavioral method(s) and specific behavioral measure(s) of mindfulness processes per domain. Four of the 12 reviewed measures demonstrate acceptable reliabilities and preliminary evidence of construct validity as measures of mindfulness processes. Highlights  Rigorous behavioral measures of mindfulness are critical to mindfulness science  We propose key defining features of behavioral measures of mindfulness  We propose four domains of behavioral assessment of mindfulness  We describe mindfulness processes, behavioral methods and measures per domain  Four behavioral mindfulness measures demonstrate acceptable psychometric properties

The development and implementation of psychometrically sound behavioral measures of mindfulness are important to advancing the science of mindfulness. To help organize, conceptualize, and guide the development of extant and emerging behavioral measures of mindfulness, we delineate the defining features of behavioral measures of mindfulness and propose a framework consisting of four domains of behavioral assessment of mindfulness. The domains include measurement of (I) objects of mindful awareness, (II) time-course of mindful awareness, (III) sensitivity of mindful awareness, and (IV) attitudes towards present moment experience. We describe the mindfulness process(es), behavioral methods, and review specific measures per domain. Four of the measures exhibit sound psychometric properties and evidence of construct validity as measures of mindfulness processes.

Assessment of mindfulness is essential to understanding its relationships with psychological functioning. Currently, mindfulness is most often assessed with self-report questionnaires. Although additional work is required, mindfulness questionnaires have reasonable psychometric properties and are making important contributions to the understanding of mindfulness and its effects on health and wellbeing. For example, measurement of mindfulness as a multidimensional construct shows that present-moment awareness can be unhelpful unless accompanied by a nonjudgmental, nonreactive stance; moreover, nonjudgment and nonreactivity may be only weakly related to present-moment awareness in people with no meditation experience. Differences between psychological and Buddhist conceptions of mindfulness, although often a source of criticism of mindfulness questionnaires, are argued here to be inevitable and not necessarily problematic.

Clinical Psychology: Science and Practice, 2006

There has been substantial interest in mindfulness as an approach to reduce cognitive vulnerability to stress and emotional distress in recent years. However, thus far mindfulness has not been defined operationally. This paper describes the results of recent meetings held to establish a consensus on mindfulness and to develop conjointly a testable operational definition. We propose a two-component model of mindfulness and specify each component in terms of specific behaviors, experiential manifestations, and implicated psychological processes.

Mindfulness, 2018

Because they provide data on responsiveness to experimental manipulation, clinical trials involving mindfulness-based interventions are a source of evidence for the construct validity of self-report measures of mindfulness. Within-group and betweengroup changes in mindfulness were examined from randomized clinical trials comparing mindfulness interventions to other bona fide treatment comparison conditions or waitlist control conditions. We also examined changes in clinical outcomes and the magnitude of these changes relative to changes in mindfulness. We included 69 published studies representing 55 unique samples (n = 4743). Self-report mindfulness measures showed relatively larger gains in mindfulness intervention conditions vis-à-vis waitlist comparison conditions at both post-treatment (effect size [ES] = 0.52, 95% CI [0.40, 0.64]) and follow-up (ES = 0.52 [0.20, 0.84]), although the effect at follow-up diminished to non-significance in a trim-and-fill analysis intended to account for publication bias (ES = 0.35 [− 0.03, 0.72]). Measures of mindfulness also showed relatively larger gains in mindfulness intervention conditions vis-à-vis bona fide comparison conditions, but only at post-treatment (ES = 0.25 [0.11, 0.38], 0.10 [− 0.08, 0.28], at post-treatment and follow-up, respectively). All three conditions (mindfulness, bona fide, waitlist) showed relatively larger improvements on measures of clinical outcomes than measures of mindfulness, with the exception of waitlist conditions for which this effect was no longer significant at follow-up. Taken together, findings provide partial support for the unique responsiveness of mindfulness self-report measures to interventions that include promotion of mindfulness meditation practice. Keywords Mindfulness. Self-report measures. Construct validity. Meta-analysis The construct of mindfulness is increasingly visible in psychology in recent decades. Mindfulness-based interventions, such as mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR; Kabat-Zinn 1990) and mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT; Segal, Williams, and Teasdale Segal et al. 2002), are being used to treat a wide variety of psychological and medical conditions (Goldberg et al. 2018; Goyal et al. 2014; Zoogman et al. 2015). In addition, dispositional mindfulness has been associated with a host of psychological characteristics including psychiatric symptoms, well-being (Baer et al. 2008), and personality traits (Giluk 2009), as well as with neurobiological and behavioral markers (Brown, Weinstein, and Creswell Brown et al. 2013; Creswell, Way, Eisenberger, and Lieberman Creswell et al. 2007; Garland, Boettiger, Gaylord, Chanon, and Howard Garland et al. 2011). As mindfulness is incorporated into the psychological canon, it becomes vital that reliable and valid measures of this construct are available (Lutz, Jha, Dunne, and Saron Lutz et al. 2015). To date, several self-report measures of mindfulness Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (

Journal of Clinical Psychology, 2006

In this study, the authors both developed and validated a self-report mindfulness measure, the Toronto Mindfulness Scale (TMS). In Study 1, participants were individuals with and without meditation experience. Results showed good internal consistency and two factors, Curiosity and Decentering. Most of the expected relationships with other constructs were as expected. The TMS scores increased with increasing mindfulness meditation experience. In Study 2, criterion and incremental validity of the TMS were investigated on a group of individuals participating in 8-week mindfulness-based stress reduction programs. Results showed that TMS scores increased following treatment, and Decentering scores predicted improvements in clinical outcome. Thus, the TMS is a promising measure of the mindfulness state with good psychometric properties and predictive of treatment outcome.

Assessment, 2006

The authors examine the facet structure of mindfulness using five recently developed mindfulness questionnaires. Two large samples of undergraduate students completed mindfulness questionnaires and measures of other constructs. Psychometric properties of the mindfulness questionnaires were examined, including internal consistency and convergent and discriminant relationships with other variables. Factor analyses of the combined pool of items from the mindfulness questionnaires suggested that collectively they contain five clear, interpretable facets of mindfulness. Hierarchical confirmatory factor analyses suggested that at least four of the identified factors are components of an overall mindfulness construct and that the factor structure of mindfulness may vary with meditation experience. Mindfulness facets were shown to be differentially correlated in expected ways with several other constructs and to have incremental validity in the prediction of psychological symptoms. Findings suggest that conceptualizing mindfulness as a multifaceted construct is helpful in understanding its components and its relationships with other variables.

Personality and individual differences, 2016

Mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs) include the application of meditation and mind-body practices used to promote mindful awareness in daily life. Operationalizing the construct of mindfulness is important in order to determine mechanisms of therapeutic change elicited by mindfulness practice. In addition to existing state and trait measures of mindfulness, process measures are needed to assess the ways in which individuals apply mindfulness in the context of their practice. This report details three independent studies (qualitative interview, N = 8; scale validation, N = 134; and replication study, N = 180) and the mixed qualitative-quantitative methodology used to develop and validate the Applied Mindfulness Process Scale (AMPS), a 15-item process measure designed to quantify how mindfulness practitioners actively use mindfulness to remediate psychological suffering in their daily lives. In Study 1, cognitive interviewing yielded a readily comprehensible and accessible scale of...

Clinical Psychology Review, 2011

Within the past few decades, there has been a surge of interest in the investigation of mindfulness as a psychological construct and as a form of clinical intervention. This article reviews the empirical literature on the effects of mindfulness on psychological health. We begin with a discussion of the construct of mindfulness, differences between Buddhist and Western psychological conceptualizations of mindfulness, and how mindfulness has been integrated into Western medicine and psychology, before reviewing three areas of empirical research: cross-sectional, correlational research on the associations between mindfulness and various indicators of psychological health; intervention research on the effects of mindfulness-oriented interventions on psychological health; and laboratory-based, experimental research on the immediate effects of mindfulness inductions on emotional and behavioral functioning. We conclude that mindfulness brings about various positive psychological effects, including increased subjective well-being, reduced psychological symptoms and emotional reactivity, and improved behavioral regulation. The review ends with a discussion on mechanisms of change of mindfulness interventions and suggested directions for future research.

Mindfulness, 2011

Given the recent proliferation of mindfulness and acceptance-based therapies, there is a growing need for clarification of the construct of mindfulness and how to evaluate its progression during these treatments. Although mindfulness has been conceptualized as a process, it has been primarily operationalized as an outcome; therefore, important aspects of this construct may be overlooked in current research. This two-part study presents a theoretical examination of mindfulness as a process, along with the preliminary development of a new, process-oriented mindfulness questionnaire (Mindfulness Process Questionnaire [MPQ]) to measure and further investigate this conceptualization of mindfulness. In Study 1, 410 participants from an urban university campus completed measures of mindfulness, emotional responding, and well-being. We examined the relationship between the MPQ and both the Mindful Attention Awareness Scale and the Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire, as well as the incremental ability of the new measure to predict outcomes of interest, including psychological symptoms, emotional processing, and well-being. Findings from Study 1 indicate that the MPQ captures a unique aspect of mindfulness, beyond what is already measured by existing mindfulness questionnaires. In Study 2, 18 participants were randomly assigned to an Acceptance-Based Behavioral Therapy condition for generalized anxiety disorder. We examined the ability of the changes in MPQ scores from pre-to posttreatment to predict changes in similar outcomes of interest, including psychological symptoms, emotional processing, and well-being. Consistent with findings from Study 1, results suggest a significant relationship between the MPQ and these outcome measures, indicating a need for further study.

Mindfulness, 2012

A growing literature supporting the efficacy and effectiveness of mindfulness and its application has developed over the past decade. Reliable and valid measurement of mindfulness is an essential component of this emerging area. Therefore, in this study, a confirmatory factor analysis was used to examine the factor structure of the Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire (FFMQ; Baer et al. (Assessment 13:27-45, 2006)) among a mixed sample of meditators and non-meditators. However, unlike the original FFMQ validation study in which item parceling was used, in this study individual items were used as indicators, providing an item-level test of the FFMQ model fit. Overall, the hierarchical FFMQ model using item-level indicators provided a good fit to the data. The reliability and validity of each of the five facets of the FFMQ (Observing, Describing, Acting with Awareness, Nonreactivity, Nonjudging) was also acceptable.

Psicologia: Ciência e Profissão

Operationalizing the concept of mindfulness has been a challenge for researches. In this article, we present and discuss the procedures for the assessment of the internal structure and validity of the criteria for Mindfulness Assessment (MAP), as well as the results obtained. The collection of factors was done by exploratory factor analysis (EFA), and item- selection by item response theory (IRT). This study counted with 788 Brazilians, with ages ranging from 17 to 65 years (M = 26.11; SD = 9.59); 79% of which were women. Four factors were extracted: Mindfulness (α = 0.88), Attention (α = 0.84), Acceptance (α = 0.74) and Novelty seeking (α = 0.62). 47 items were retained in the MAP. We also compared the scores between non-meditator (n = 653) and meditator (n = 112) respondents. Analyses by IRT showed the items to be adequately adjusted. Significant differences between scores of meditators and non-meditator respondents were revealed. These findings suggest that the MAP is a valid and...

International journal of yoga, 2014

Mindfulness forms an important component of meditation practice and has been increasingly popular around the world. There has been growing interest in studying the mindful component of various meditation techniques. One of the various forms of mindfulness is the practice of a unique technique called cyclic mediation (CM). We aimed at ascertaining the level of mindfulness in experienced practitioners of CM using a Mindfulness Attention Awareness Scale (MAAS). MAAS was administered anonymously in a classroom setup and two of the project coordinators were present to supervise the administration and to assist the participants where necessary. We executed a cross sectional design. One hundred and thirty-three (n = 133) healthy male volunteers (66 meditators and 67 non-meditators) with ages ranging from 25 to 35 years participated in the study. Meditators had a minimum 3 years experience of meditation. Data were analyzed using IBM SPSS 20. The data were checked for normality and an indepe...