Validation of the Spanish Version of the Child and Adolescent Mindfulness Measure (CAMM) with Samples of Spanish and Chilean Children and Adolescents

Abstract

Interest in mindfulness practices aimed at children and adolescents in school and clinical contexts has increased. However, little research on the benefits of mindfulness in these age groups has been conducted. In Spanish-speaking countries, this lack of research may be due to the scarcity of reliable and valid instruments for assessing mindfulness in young people. The present study examined the psychometric properties of the Child and Adolescent Mindfulness Measure (CAMM) in native Spanish-speaking children and adolescents. Two thousand one hundred thirteen children and adolescents from Spain (N = 490 children; N = 629 adolescents) and Chile (N = 307 children; N = 687 adolescents) were assessed. Factor structure, internal consistency, convergent validity, and measure invariance between countries were examined. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) validated a unidimensional structure (10 items) that fitted the data better than the bidimensional structure both for children and adolescents in both countries. However, the factor loadings of some items were very low in all samples. After eliminating these items, a new, 7-item version of the CAMM proved to be more valid and reliable. The new version correlated negatively with several mental health measures, thereby supporting its construct validity. Also, the measurement invariance test showed that it is comparable between Spain and Chile, which makes transcultural research possible. This study shows that the Spanish version of the CAMM adequately assesses mindfulness in children and adolescents. The CAMM is the first mindfulness evaluation measure for children in Spanish.