Measuring Mindfulness in Insight Meditation ( Vipassana ) and Meditation-Based Psychotherapy : The Development of the Freiburg Mindfulness Inventory ( FMI ) by

Abstract

Mindfulness meditation research has in recent years become a burgeoning field of investigation, particularly related to treatment of health-related disorders. Nevertheless, the construct of mindfulness has not yet been subjected to scientific validation. The aim of this study has been the empirical analysis of the Buddhist concept of mindfulness and the construction of a measurement scale that operationalizes the construct. The stages of development of a self-evaluative mindfulness inventory are presented in three phases: 1. construction of a pool of items, 2. expert assessment of items, and 3. validation by means of a study in which a preliminary form of a questionnaire was given to four samples of individuals participating in insight meditation retreats; a pre-retreat (n=100), post-retreat (n=93) design was employed. Cronbach alpha reliability coefficients of the 30-item final questionnaire were 0.91 before the course and 0.94 after. For each time of inventory completion, a four-factor solution was found using principal components factor analysis. Factor structure was only moderately stable over time. The four factors primarily reflected the theoretical and conceptual characteristics of mindfulness. Our data indicates one-dimensionality of the construct and the presence of a general factor. The mindfulness inventory provides an economic, valid, homogeneous and reliable instrument, which could be optimized and employed in further research studies.