Cross-cultural validity of the Five Facets Mindfulness Questionnaire: Adaptation and validation in a French-speaking sample

IntroductionRecent research has revealed that mindfulness training improves mental health and psychological functioning. Although several questionnaires have been developed to measure mindfulness, the Five Facets Mindfulness Questionnaire (FFMQ), [Baer et al., 2006. Using self-report assessment methods to explore facets of mindfulness. Assessment, 13, 27–45] is currently one of the most empirically-based scale assessing mindfulness.ObjectiveThe present study was designed to: (1) test the psychometric properties and (2) explore the structural validation of the French version of the FFMQ.MethodTwo hundred and fourteen participants were tested using the French version of the FFMQ.ResultsUsing confirmatory factor analysis, the results showed the French version of the FFMQ has good psychometric properties and a structural validity similar to the initial version.ConclusionThis adaptation constituted a validated mindfulness measure for French-speaking clinicians as well as researchers.     

Five Facets Mindfulness Questionnaire—Reliability and Factor Structure: A Swedish Version

Two studies were conducted to assess the Swedish version of the Five Facets Mindfulness Questionnaire (FFMQ), which was originally created by Baer et al. (2006). The aim of Study 1 was to examine the psychometric properties of the FFMQ using data from 495 individuals. Quantitative and qualitative analyses resulted in a reduction of the scale by 10 items. Psychometric properties, including internal consistency of the revised instrument, were examined. The Swedish FFMQ provides results comparable to those obtained by Baer. Cronbach's alphas were high for all the facets. The Swedish FFMQ appears to be a potentially useful tool in measuring mindfulness among Swedish participants. The aim of Study 2 was to test the suggested hierarchical five-factor solution and construct validity, using a confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). Similar to findings for the English version of the FFMQ, the CFA showed that the Observing facet was not a significant part of an overall self-reported mindfulness structure in a Swedish population with little meditation experience.     

Factor Analysis of the Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire in a Heterogeneous Clinical Sample

This study assesses the facet structure and psychometric properties of the Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire (FFMQ) with a heterogeneous clinical sample of individuals with mood and anxiety disorders. Various factor models of the FFMQ were submitted to confirmatory factor analyses (CFA). A four factor hierarchical solution, consisting of an overall mindfulness construct subsuming at least four factors, was adopted. Both internal consistency and convergent and discriminant validity were assessed. Along with demonstrating good internal consistency, the facets of the FFMQ were appropriately associated with other psychological constructs. Many mindfulness facets exhibited inverse relationships with emotion dysregulation, emotional avoidance, and psychological distress. The observe facet appeared to assume a role antagonistic to overall mindfulness within a clinical sample, as it exhibited a positive relationship with anxious arousal and no relationship with two other mindfulness facets. Findings support the notion of mindfulness as a multifaceted construct, the structure of which alters in the context of psychopathology.     

Psychometric properties of the Five Facets Mindfulness Questionnaire (FFMQ) in a meditating and a non-meditating sample

The factor structure, internal consistency, construct validity, and predictive validity of the Dutch version of the Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire (FFMQ-NL) were studied in a sample of meditators (n = 288) and nonmeditators (n = 451). A five-factor structure was demonstrated in both samples, and the FFMQ-NL and its subscales were shown to have good internal consistencies. Meditators scored higher on all facets of the FFMQ-NL than the participants in the nonmeditating sample. For both samples, expected negative correlations between most mindfulness facets (all except for the Observing facet) and the constructs of alexithymia, thought suppression, rumination, worry, and dissociation were found. The Observing facet of the FFMQ-NL showed an unexpected positive correlation with thought suppression in the nonmeditating sample. Furthermore, as expected, mindfulness facets were negatively related to psychological symptoms, and all mindfulness facets except for Observing and Describing significantly predicted psychological symptoms. Overall, the Dutch FFMQ demonstrated favorable psychometric properties, commensurate with its (original) English language version.     

Mind your words: positive and negative items create method effects on the Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire

Mindfulness, a construct that entails moment-to-moment effort to be aware of present experiences and positive attitudinal features, has become integrated into the sciences. The Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire (FFMQ), one popular measure of mindfulness, exhibits different responses to positively and negatively worded items in nonmeditating groups. The current study employed confirmatory factor analysis with a large undergraduate sample to examine the validity of a hierarchical mindfulness model and whether response patterns related to item wording arose from method effects. Results indicated that a correlated facets model better explained the data and that negative and positive wording constituted substantive method effects. This study suggests that the FFMQ measures components that may relate to, but do not seem to directly reflect, a latent variable of mindfulness. The authors recommend against the use of an FFMQ total score, favoring individual scale scores, and further examination of method effects in mindfulness scales.     

The mindful eye: Smooth pursuit and saccadic eye movements in meditators and non-meditators

BackgroundThis study examined the effects of cultivated (i.e. developed through training) and dispositional (trait) mindfulness on smooth pursuit (SPEM) and antisaccade (AS) tasks known to engage the fronto-parietal network implicated in attentional and motion detection processes, and the fronto-striatal network implicated in cognitive control, respectively.MethodsSixty healthy men (19–59 years), of whom 30 were experienced mindfulness practitioners and 30 meditation-naïve, underwent infrared oculographic assessment of SPEM and AS performance. Trait mindfulness was assessed using the self-report Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire (FFMQ).ResultsMeditators, relative to meditation-naïve individuals, made significantly fewer catch-up and anticipatory saccades during the SPEM task, and had significantly lower intra-individual variability in gain and spatial error during the AS task. No SPEM or AS measure correlated significantly with FFMQ scores in meditation-naïve individuals.ConclusionsCultivated, but not dispositional, mindfulness is associated with improved attention and sensorimotor control as indexed by SPEM and AS tasks.     

An Examination of Concurrent and Incremental Validity of Four Mindfulness Scales

General consensus among psychologists supports the beneficial effects of mindfulness in the treatment of a wide range of clinical conditions such as personality, mood, and anxiety disorders. Several scales used to assess this psychological construct, mainly rooted in Eastern traditions, are currently available to researchers and clinicians. However, the conceptualization and measurement of mindfulness has been considerably diverse. The present study examines the concurrent and incremental validity of four scales: the Philadelphia Mindfulness Scale (PHLMS), the Toronto Mindfulness Scale (TMS), the Five-Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire (FFMQ), and the Langer Mindfulness Scale (LMS). Two independent samples of 176 adults and 397 students, respectively, were recruited. With few exceptions, results were consistent across the two samples and indicated that measures based on an Eastern conceptualization of mindfulness (TMS, PHLMS, and FFMQ) show a different pattern of association with the chosen outcomes compared to the LMS, which is based on a Western conceptualization. Overall, the PHLMS showed the strongest predictive effects and the LMS the weakest in terms of both number of predicted criteria and average effect size. Implications for research and practice are discussed.     

Construct validity of the five facet mindfulness questionnaire in meditating and nonmeditating samples

Previous research on assessment of mindfulness by self-report suggests that it may include five component skills: observing, describing, acting with awareness, nonjudging of inner experience, and nonreactivity to inner experience. These elements of mindfulness can be measured with the Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire (FFMQ). The authors investigated several aspects of the construct validity of the FFMQ in experienced meditators and nonmeditating comparison groups. Consistent with predictions, most mindfulness facets were significantly related to meditation experience and to psychological symptoms and well-being. As expected, relationships between the observing facet and psychological adjustment varied with meditation experience. Regression and mediation analyses showed that several of the facets contributed independently to the prediction of well-being and significantly mediated the relationship between meditation experience and well-being. Findings support the construct validity of the FFMQ in a combination of samples not previously investigated.     

Mindfulness and Emotion Regulation: The Development and Initial Validation of the Cognitive and Affective Mindfulness Scale-Revised (CAMS-R)

As interest grows in mindfulness training as a psychosocial intervention, it is increasingly important to quantify this construct to facilitate empirical investigation. The goal of the present studies was to develop a brief self-report measure of mindfulness with items that cover the breadth of the construct and that are written in everyday language. The resulting 12-item measure demonstrated acceptable internal consistency and evidence of convergent and discriminant validity with concurrent measures of mindfulness, distress, well-being, emotion-regulation, and problem-solving approaches in three samples of university students. To address potential construct contamination in two items, data are also presented on an alternate 10-item version of the measure.

Measuring decentering as a unidimensional construct: The development and initial validation of the Decentering Scale for Sport

Decentering, the ability to observe one's thoughts and feelings from a detached view, has gained increased attention in recent years. With this renewed interest comes a need for a reliable and valid tool to measure decentering in sport contexts. Therefore, in this multi-study paper we report the development and initial validation of a sport-specific self-report measure of decentering, the Decentering Scale for Sport (DSS). Based on an initial pool of context-specific items with acceptable content validity, a unidimensional decentering construct was confirmed in four independent athletic samples (n = 1255). Satisfactory internal consistency reliability and partial measurement invariance across gender and sport type was demonstrated. Convergent and concurrent validity of the DSS was established by showing positive and medium to large associations with mindfulness, well-being, flow, vitality, enjoyment and positive affect, and negative and medium to large associations with cognitive fusion, experiential avoidance, anxiety and negative affect. Discriminant validity of decentering with mindfulness and self-compassion was also established. Findings suggest that the DSS is a reliable and valid measure of decentering in sport contexts, and can be applied in future research and applied practice to measure decentering.     

A French validation of the Child and Adolescent Mindfulness Measure (CAMM)

IntroductionA large number of studies have been devoted to the development of mindfulness questionnaires, a potential central mechanism in therapy. Although these questionnaires are well validated for adults, their accessibility to young populations are still in its infancy.ObjectiveThis study aims to validate a French version of the Child and Adolescent Mindfulness Measure (CAMM) to foster the use of mindfulness questionnaires in clinical studies on children and adolescents, and to fix limitations of a previous French-Canadian version.MethodA total of 545 youth aged from 10 to 17 were recruited in a Belgian and a French school in order to test the validity and reliability of the CAMM.ResultsThe results indicate a one-factor structure and suggest a good internal consistency. As expected, the CAMM was positively correlated to another mindfulness questionnaire and negatively correlated to depressive symptomatology and psychological inflexibility.ConclusionOverall, the French version of the CAMM presents good psychometric qualities and seems to remain faithful to its original scale. This measure could help to assess mindfulness in young French speakers.     

Brief Trust/Mistrust in God Scale: psychometric properties of the Farsi version in Muslims

In Iran, a Middle Eastern Islamic country, far too little attention has been paid to the validation and cultural adaptation of measures of religion/spirituality. This has limited the potential for research in this area. The objective of the paper is to assess the psychometric properties of the Farsi version of the Brief Trust/Mistrust in God Scale (BTMGS). After translation of the original English version of the measure into Farsi using a standard forward–backward method, the BTMGS along with the Duke University Religion Index (DUREL) and Hoge Intrinsic Religiosity (Hoge IR) Scale was administered to 720 medical students, physicians, and nurses at Tehran University of Medical Sciences and affiliated hospitals. Internal consistency (α), test–retest reliability, concurrent validity, and construct validity were determined for the BTMGS. The Farsi version of the BTMGS had high internal consistency (α = 0.90 and 0.92 for trust and mistrust subscales, respectively) and test–retest reliability (intraclass correlation coefficient = 0.89 and 0.95 for trust and mistrust subscales, respectively), and was adequately correlated with other established measures of religiosity (i.e., the DUREL [r = 0.64, p < 0.001] and Hoge IR [r = 0.54, p < 0.001]) indicating support for the concurrent validity of the measure. A confirmatory factor analysis indicated that the Farsi version has two factors (i.e., Trust in God and Mistrust in God) consistent with the original scale. These findings suggest that the Farsi version of BTMGS is a valid and reliable measure in Farsi-speaking populations that may be used to assess relationships with health and well-being.     

The Italian Validation of Singelis’s Self-Construal Scale (SCS): a Short 10-Item Version Shows Improved Psychometric Properties

This study validates an Italian version of Singelis’s Independent and Interdependent Self-Construal Scale (SCS; Singelis in Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 20, 580–591, 1994; Singelis et al. in Cross-Cultural Research, 29, 240–275, 1995), a scale intended to measure individuals' feelings of connectedness to and separateness from social situations. Results of the Italian validation, carried out through three studies involved a total of 803 Italian university students, has led to a short 10-item version, with two 5-item orthogonal factors respectively reflecting independent self-construal and interdependent self-construal. The new short version of Singelis’s scale, as examined through exploratory and confirmatory factorial analyses, shows a more stable factor structure than the original version, maintaining the same internal consistency and obtaining improved indexes of concurrent validity for the Interdependent Self-Construal Scale, as explored by investigating the relationships with self-esteem.     

Assessing Sexual Orientation–Related Obsessions and Compulsions in Italian Heterosexual Individuals: Development and Validation of the Sexual Orientation Obsessive-Compulsive Scale (SO-OCS)

Sexual Orientation–Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (SO-OCD) is characterized by intrusive thoughts, images, and urges related to one’s sexual orientation, and by consequent avoidance, reassurance seeking, and overt and covert compulsions. Currently there is no short self-report measure that assesses SO-OCD symptoms. The current article describes two studies that develop and evaluate the first version of the Sexual Orientation Obsessive-Compulsive Scale (SO-OCS), a 14-item Italian self-report measure targeted towards heterosexual individuals. In Study 1, the SO-OCS was developed and refined through item analysis and exploratory factor analysis from an initial pool of 33 items administered to 732 Italian nonclinical participants. The SO-OCS showed a unidimensional structure and an acceptable internal consistency. In Study 2, the factor structure, internal consistency, temporal stability, construct and criterion validity, and diagnostic sensitivity of the SO-OCS were investigated in three samples of Italian participants (294 from the general population, 52 OCD patients who reported sexual orientation-related symptoms or concerns as a primary complaint, and 51 OCD patients who did not report these symptoms as primary complaint). The SO-OCS was again found to have a unidimensional structure and good internal consistency, as well as to exhibit strong construct validity. Specifically, the SO-OCS showed an excellent criterion validity and diagnostic sensitivity, as it successfully discriminated between those with SO-OCD and all other groups of participants. Finally, evidence of temporal stability of the SO-OCS in a nonclinical subsample was found. The SO-OCS holds promise as a measure of SO-OCD symptoms in heterosexual individuals.     

Examination of the factor structure and concurrent validity of the Langer Mindfulness/Mindlessness Scale

Langer's theory of mindfulness proposes that a mindful person seeks out and produces novelty, is attentive to context, and is flexible in thought and behavior. In three independent studies, the factor structure of the Langer Mindfulness/Mindlessness Scale was examined. Confirmatory factor analysis failed to replicate the four-factor model and a subsequent exploratory factor analysis revealed the presence of a two-factor (mindfulness and mindlessness) solution. Study 2 demonstrated that the two factors assessed discrete constructs and were not merely products of acquiescence. Support was also found for a nine-item, one-factor model comprised solely of mindfulness items. On comparing models, Study 3 suggested the superiority of the one-factor mindfulness model. Finally, a preliminary investigation of the concurrent validity of the revised nine-item Langer Mindfulness/Mindlessness Scale is presented. The current article offers researchers a revised version of a mindfulness measure derived from a cognitive perspective.     

Swedish Acceptance and Action Questionnaire (SAAQ): a psychometric evaluation

Psychological inflexibility and experiential avoidance are equivalent (with somewhat different connotations) concepts and refer to an unwillingness to remain in contact with particular private events. This concept is most often measured by the Acceptance and Action Questionnaire (AAQ-II) and is strongly related to psychopathology and behavioral effectiveness. In this study, the preliminary psychometric properties of the Swedish version of the AAQ-II (Swedish Acceptance and Action Questionnaire—SAAQ) are presented. The study is done in two steps. In the first step, the 10-item version of the AAQ-II is investigated through principal component analysis (n = 147). Secondly, due to problems with the component structure, the instrument is reduced to a six-item version and its validity and internal consistency are investigated (n = 154). The six-item version shows good concurrent and convergent validity as well as satisfying internal consistency (α = .85). Furthermore, the Swedish six-item version of the AAQ-II showed one strong component. Test–retest reliability was satisfactory (r = .80; n = 228). In future research, predictive and external validity would be important to investigate in order to further ensure that the SAAQ is a useful measure for clinical research. In conclusion, the SAAQ has satisfactory psychometric properties, but more data need to be gathered to further explore the possibilities for the instruments in Swedish contexts.     

Assessing Facets of Mindfulness in the Context of Work: The Mindfulness@Work Scale as a Work-Specific,Multidimensional Measure of Mindfulness

The mindfulness at work literature lacks a multi-faceted measure of mindfulness that is applicable in the work context. Building on predominantly clinically oriented, multi-faceted mindfulness measures, we aimed to develop and validate such a measure and to provide first insights into differential validities of mindfulness subfacets for work outcomes. Data from seven work samples (overall n = 4,977) provided support that (a) a 4-factor structure representing the subfacets of Describing, Nonreactivity, Nonjudging, and Act with Awareness replicates across samples; (b) subfacets and overall scale have good internal consistency and retest reliability; (c) the measure demonstrates convergent and discriminant validity; (d) it demonstrates criterion-related validity for well-being, motivational, and interpersonal work outcomes; (e) the Mindfulness@Work Scale explains variance in outcome variables above a unidimensional measures of mindfulness supporting its incremental validity. Furthermore, relative weights and incremental validity analyses revealed differential validities of subfacets of the Mindfulness@Work Scale in relation to positive psychological states versus psychological distress. Overall, findings suggest that the Mindfulness@Work Scale has good psychometric properties and that a differentiation of subfacets provides novel insights into the role of mindfulness for work outcomes.     

Meditators and non-meditators on sustained and executive attentional performance

In order to gain a deeper understanding of the mindfulness construct and the mental health benefits associated with mindfulness-based programmes, the relation between mindfulness and its proposed core component attention was studied. Buddhist and Western mindfulness meditators were compared with non-meditators on tasks of sustained (SART) and executive (the Stroop Task) attention. Relations between self-reported mindfulness (FFMQ) and sustained and executive attention were also analysed. No significant differences were found between meditators and non-meditators either in sustained or executive attention. High scores on the FFMQ total scale and on Describe were related to fewer SART errors. High scores on Describe were also related to low Stroop interference. Mindfulness meditators may have an increased awareness of internal processes and the ability to quickly attend to them but this type of refined attentional ability does not seem to be related to performance on attention tests requiring responses to external targets.     

The Toronto Empathy Questionnaire: Scale Development and Initial Validation of a Factor-Analytic Solution to Multiple Empathy Measures

To formulate a parsimonious tool to assess empathy, we used factor analysis on a combination of self-report measures to examine consensus and developed a brief self-report measure of this common factor. The Toronto Empathy Questionnaire (TEQ) represents empathy as a primarily emotional process. In 3 studies, the TEQ demonstrated strong convergent validity, correlating positively with behavioral measures of social decoding, self-report measures of empathy, and negatively with a measure of Autism symptomatology. Moreover, it exhibited good internal consistency and high test–retest reliability. The TEQ is a brief, reliable, and valid instrument for the assessment of empathy.     

Psychometric properties and validation of the Swedish Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire in a clinical and non-clinical sample among meditators and non-meditators

Over a period of 15 years several attempts to conceptualize mindfulness have been presented and revised, but there is still no clear or agreed-upon definition. The use of mindfulness-based interventions has increased in clinical and research settings the last couple of years, including in Sweden. As a clinician it is crucial to know if a treatment works through the theoretically postulated mechanisms of change. Mindfulness is a concept that is difficult to measure. The overall aim of the current project was to examine the psychometric properties of the Swedish version of the Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire (FFMQ_SWE) using three different studies. To test the construct validity of the FFMQ_SWE a hierarchal confirmatory factor analysis was performed in a meditating non-clinical sample, to examine if all the five facets would load on an overall mindfulness construct. Psychometric properties of the instrument were examined in a non-clinical and a clinical sample, and discriminative relationships with other variables were analysed. The convergent validity was examined by analysing the correlations between FFMQ_SWE and Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, Sense of Coherence and Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale. Test-retest reliability was tested by distributing FFMQ_SWE at two occasions. The hierarchal confirmatory factor analysis showed good fit in a population of meditators. The FFMQ_SWE showed good convergent validity and test-retest reliability in both clinical and non-clinical populations. In sum, the Swedish version of the FFMQ showed good psychometric properties and can be a useful instrument as an evaluation of treatment effects in both health care settings and research settings.