Validation of a Short-Form Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire Instrument in China.

Yong Meng,Kaixian Mao,Chaoping Li

doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2019.03031

Abstract

The Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire (FFMQ) developed by Baer and colleagues has been widely used owing to its satisfactory psychometric properties. Because there was not yet a short-form version of the FFMQ (SF-FFMQ) that could be utilized in work settings available in China, we developed a Chinese SF-FFMQ. Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) supported a five-factor structure of our Chinese SF-FFMQ in two Chinese samples (Sample 1, N = 535; Sample 2, N = 391). The internal consistencies of the facets and the whole scale were acceptable. The predictive validity of this questionnaire was affirmed. Overall, the mindfulness facets correlated with related constructs including depression symptoms, anxiety symptoms, employee life well-being, employee workplace well-being, and employee psychological well-being. In sample 2, which consisted of participants employed by local companies, we found that mindfulness mediated a positive relationship between servant leadership and employees' satisfaction with work-family balance. In conclusion, our Chinese SF-FFMQ was found to be a valid and reliable measurement tool and our results support its use in both research and practice in clinical and work settings in China.

Highlights

Mindfulness, which has ancient roots in Buddhism and may be unfamiliar or even a somewhat mysterious concept to many Westerners, refers most to the state of concentrating fully on what is happening in the present and being aware of one’s current experiences without reactivity or judgment (Brown and Ryan, 2003; Baer et al, 2006; Eby et al, 2019)
The present examination of the psychometric properties and factorial structure of the Chinese SF-Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire (FFMQ), in Aim 1, yielded acceptable internal consistencies of the instrument as a whole and of its five facets. Both Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) results supported a five-factor structure of our Chinese short-form version of the FFMQ (SF-FFMQ) in two Chinese samples. We validated this structure in working adults, helping to expand the scope of the FFMQ’s utility
Mindfulness facets correlated with related constructs, including the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale (CES-D), Self-rating Anxiety Scale (SAS), and three employee well-being outcomes

Summary

Introduction

Mindfulness, which has ancient roots in Buddhism and may be unfamiliar or even a somewhat mysterious concept to many Westerners, refers most to the state of concentrating fully on what is happening in the present and being aware of one’s current experiences without reactivity or judgment (Brown and Ryan, 2003; Baer et al, 2006; Eby et al, 2019). Mindfulness practices have been shown to help reduce anxiety symptoms, depression symptoms, and sadness, and to be useful for modulating one’s motivations and behaviors in a broad sense (Kabat-Zinn, 1982, 1994; Brown and Ryan, 2003; Creswell and Lindsay, 2014; Papies et al, 2015). Owing to these benefits, mindfulness-based interventions have emerged in medical settings and such interventions have yielded positive effects on physical and mental health (Creswell, 2017; Wielgosz et al, 2019). There has been a growth in interest in the possibility that management science could develop mindfulness training to enable managers to improve organizations (Dane, 2011; Glomb et al, 2011; Good et al, 2016; Yu and Zellmer-Bruhn, 2018).

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