Five Factor Mindfulness Questionnaire Research Articles

Boredom proneness as a predictor of depression, anxiety and stress: The moderating effects of dispositional mindfulness

Boredom is an aversive feeling of weariness, restlessness and constraint, related to both unstimulating environments and individual characteristics such as inattention. The trait of boredom proneness, an individual's propensity to become bored, is associated with negative clinical and life outcomes. This study evaluated dispositional mindfulness, a personality characteristic relating to nonjudgmental attentiveness to thoughts and feelings in the moment, as a moderator of the relationship between boredom proneness and negative emotional symptoms. Participants were 186 adult Chinese residents of Hong Kong (60.8% female, 18 to 83 years of age), who completed the Five-Factor Mindfulness Questionnaire (FFMQ), Short Boredom Proneness Scale and Depression Anxiety Stress Scale -21 (DASS-21). Pairwise correlational analyses replicated published research in North America. Moderation and conditional analyses showed that of the five FFMQ mindfulness domains, two, FFMQ Acting with Awareness and Describing, moderated the relationship between boredom proneness and DASS-21 scores. Boredom proneness predicted negative emotional symptoms only at low levels of dispositional mindfulness. Average or greater dispositional mindfulness was associated with an uncoupling of the relationship between boredom proneness and negative affect. Additional research is recommended to explore the possibility that cultivation of mindfulness may reduce the negative outcomes associated with characterological boredom proneness.

Mindfulness is positively related to socioeconomic job status and income and independently predicts mental distress in a long-term perspective: Danish validation studies of the Five-Factor Mindfulness Questionnaire.

The Five Factor Mindfulness Questionnaire (FFMQ) measures 5 factor-analytically derived mindfulness aspects (Observe, Describe, Non-Judgment, Non-Reactivity, and Acting with Awareness) and is commonly used as an indicator of mindfulness in population surveys and studies of mindfulness-based interventions (MBI). Outside MBI, FFMQ scores are hypothesized to reflect relatively stable human dispositions of importance to psychological health. However, the long-term test-retest reliability of FFMQ scores is virtually untested and it remains unknown whether FFMQ scores predict psychological health after controlling for standardized socioeconomic status classifications. First, we focused on psychometric validation of the FFMQ translated to Danish in a randomly invited healthy and nonmeditating adult community sample (N = 490). Confirmatory factor analyses primarily supported a four-factor construct excluding the Observe facet. The four-factor model showed adequate composite reliability, convergent validity and satisfactory-excellent internal consistency, Cronbach αs = .72-.91. Structural equation modeling revealed that FFMQ Total scores were positively related to income and socioeconomic status but independently predicted psychological distress and mental health scores, respectively, after controlling for age, gender, body mass index, socioeconomic job classification, stressful life events, and social desirability, β = -.24-.29, ps < .001. Second, FFMQ scores showed adequate short-term (two weeks) test-retest reliability among 99 healthy university students, Spearman's ρs ≥ .82. Finally, all FFMQ mean scores showed satisfactory test-retest reliability across a long-term (six months) interval (N = 407), intraclass correlation coefficients ≥.74. We recommend the Danish FFMQ for further use. The Observe facet should be interpreted with caution. Remaining FFMQ facet scores comprise an internally consistent four-dimensional construct reflecting long-term-reliable human dispositions of independent significance for predicting mental health. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2018 APA, all rights reserved).

Supplemental Material for Mindfulness Is Positively Related to Socioeconomic Job Status and Income and Independently Predicts Mental Distress in a Long-Term Perspective: Danish Validation Studies of the Five-Factor Mindfulness Questionnaire

Supplemental Material for Mindfulness Is Positively Related to Socioeconomic Job Status and Income and Independently Predicts Mental Distress in a Long-Term Perspective: Danish Validation Studies of the Five-Factor Mindfulness Questionnaire

Effect of Mindfulness on Value Incongruence: a Pilot Study

The inclusion of Buddhist mindfulness perspectives in second-generation mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs) offers an opportunity to explore the cultivation of ethical action in MBIs and address concerns about the purported absence of ethics in MBIs. This pilot study examined the relationship between mindfulness and value incongruence following a second-generation MBI, mindfulness-based symptom management (MBSM) that incorporates the Five Skillful Habits (5SH), a value-congruence practice. Sixty-one participants (65.6% female, Mage = 44.5; 34.4% male, Mage = 54.3) attended an 8-week program whose curriculum included the commitment to and practices of ethical and compassionate behaviors that reflected participants’ personal values. The impact of MBSM on mindfulness (Five-Factor Mindfulness Questionnaire (FFMQ)), congruence between ideal values and their lived experience of those values (Spiritual Well-Being Questionnaire (SWBQ)), and relationships between mindfulness and value incongruence were examined. Results indicated that increases in all of the FFMQ factors occurred: Observe (p .10; d = − .21). Change scores for several factors of the FFMQ were significantly correlated with changes in the SWBQ measures. These preliminary results suggested that MBSM was related to shifts in value incongruence. Exploring the relationship between mindfulness and the practice of value-congruent behaviors may clarify the pathway between cultivating awareness and ethical/compassionate action.

To What Extent is Mindfulness as Presented in Commonly Used Mindfulness Questionnaires Different from How it is Conceptualized by Senior Ordained Buddhists?

The current study responded to the need for more empirical investigations into differences in the conceptualization of mindfulness between Buddhism and Western psychology. Five senior clergy from three branches of Buddhism were interviewed for their opinion on the Mindfulness Attention and Awareness Scale (MAAS), Kentucky Inventory of Mindfulness Skills (KIMS), Five Factor Mindfulness Questionnaire (FFMQ), and Freiburg Mindfulness Inventory-30 (FMI-30). The interviewees also rated the questionnaire items for an ideal Buddhist in their tradition, in order to provide a stimulus for discussion and to collect quantitative data along with the qualitative data. Eight themes in relation to the elements and features of Buddhist mindfulness emerged from thematic analysis. The themes indicated that there are considerable differences between Buddhist mindfulness and mindfulness as presented by items in the questionnaires. While mindfulness in psychology is frequently conceptualized as non-judgmental, present-centered awareness, Buddhist mindfulness contains elements of attentional flexibility, skillfulness, purposefulness, wisdom, and ethics. Buddhist mindfulness not only involves awareness of the present but also the past and future. It not only focuses on self but also on others. The quantitative results revealed that the MAAS and the FMI-30 appeared less incongruent with Buddhist mindfulness than the KIMS and the FFMQ. Any conceptual differences highlighted in the present study provide avenues for future research as aspects unique to Buddhist mindfulness practice may be linked to psychological benefits also in secular contexts, thus assisting efforts to investigate to what extent secularization of mindfulness practice may have resulted in loss of some potentially beneficial characteristics.

A Pilot Study of the Effects of Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction on Post-traumatic Stress Disorder Symptoms and Brain Response to Traumatic Reminders of Combat in Operation Enduring Freedom/Operation Iraqi Freedom Combat Veterans with Post-traumatic Stress Disorder.

Brain imaging studies in patients with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) have implicated a circuitry of brain regions including the medial prefrontal cortex, amygdala, hippocampus, parietal cortex, and insula. Pharmacological treatment studies have shown a reversal of medial prefrontal deficits in response to traumatic reminders. Mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) is a promising non-pharmacologic approach to the treatment of anxiety and pain disorders. The purpose of this study was to assess the effects of MBSR on PTSD symptoms and brain response to traumatic reminders measured with positron-emission tomography (PET) in Operation Enduring Freedom/Operation Iraqi Freedom (OEF/OIF) combat veterans with PTSD. We hypothesized that MBSR would show increased prefrontal response to stress and improved PTSD symptoms in veterans with PTSD. Twenty-six OEF/OIF combat veterans with PTSD who had recently returned from a combat zone were block randomized to receive eight sessions of MBSR or present-centered group therapy (PCGT). PTSD patients underwent assessment of PTSD symptoms with the Clinician-Administered PTSD Scale (CAPS), mindfulness with the Five Factor Mindfulness Questionnaire (FFMQ) and brain imaging using PET in conjunction with exposure to neutral and Iraq combat-related slides and sound before and after treatment. Nine patients in the MBSR group and 8 in the PCGT group completed all study procedures. Post-traumatic stress disorder patients treated with MBSR (but not PCGT) had an improvement in PTSD symptoms measured with the CAPS that persisted for 6 months after treatment. MBSR also resulted in an increase in mindfulness measured with the FFMQ. MBSR-treated patients had increased anterior cingulate and inferior parietal lobule and decreased insula and precuneus function in response to traumatic reminders compared to the PCGT group. This study shows that MBSR is a safe and effective treatment for PTSD. Furthermore, MBSR treatment is associated with changes in brain regions that have been implicated in PTSD and are involved in extinction of fear responses to traumatic memories as well as regulation of the stress response.

Mindfulness and Psychological Health Outcomes: A Latent Profile Analysis among Military Personnel and College Students.

Previous research on trait mindfulness facets using person-centered analyses (e.g., latent profile analysis [LPA]) has identified four distinct mindfulness profiles among college students: a high mindfulness group (high on all facets of the Five-Factor Mindfulness Questionnaire [FFMQ]), a judgmentally observing group (highest on observing, but low on non-judging of inner experience and acting with awareness), a non-judgmentally aware group (high on non-judging of inner experience and acting with awareness, but very low on observing), and a low mindfulness group (low on all facets of the FFMQ). In the present study, we used LPA to identify distinct mindfulness profiles in a community based sample of U.S. military personnel (majority veterans; n = 407) and non-military college students (n = 310) and compare these profiles on symptoms of psychological health outcomes (e.g., suicidality, PTSD, anxiety, rumination) and percentage of participants exceeding clinically significant cut-offs for depressive symptoms, substance use, and alcohol use. In the subsample of college students, we replicated previous research and found four distinct mindfulness profiles; however, in the military subsample we found three distinct mindfulness profiles (a combined low mindfulness/judgmentally observing class). In both subsamples, we found that the most adaptive profile was the "high mindfulness" profile (i.e., demonstrated the lowest scores on all psychological symptoms and the lowest probability of exceeding clinical cut-offs). Based on these findings, we purport that the comprehensive examination of an individual's mindfulness profile could help clinicians tailor interventions/treatments that capitalize on individual's specific strengths and work to address their specific deficits.

Role of mindfulness training on psychological capital of Isfahan University of Medical Sciences students

Introduction: Given the novel and applied nature of mindfulness techniques and due to the importance of psychological capital on the lives of students, this study aims to investigate the role of mindfulness education on psychological capital of students of Isfahan University of Medical Sciences. Methods: This study uses semi-empirical method with pretest and posttest to study two groups of students of Isfahan University of Medical Sciences with the help of five-factor mindfulness questionnaire and psychological capital questionnaire with acceptable validity and reliability in eight sessions. The results were gathered after three months and analyzed using student's t-test. Result: The results of comparison between the average posttest score of test and control groups showed no significant difference between the two groups. Conclusions: Given the fact that the effectiveness of these types of interventions has been confirmed by various studies, by controlling executive limitations before educational interventions, it is possible to achieve better results.

(160) Are mindfulness and pain catastrophizing unique constructs?

Cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) and mindfulness-based therapies (MBT) are often implemented for pain management. Key psychological constructs targeted by these treatments are catastrophizing (CBT) and mindfulness (MBT). Psychometric measures for these constructs are thought to assess two different aspects of the psychological sequelae of living with pain. However, the measurement of these constructs in relation to each other has received scarce research attention. The present research investigated the association of the Pain Catastrophizing Scale (PCS) with the Five-Factor Mindfulness Questionnaire (FFMQ).

The Five Factor Mindfulness Questionnaire in Norway

The aim of this study was to adapt the Five Factor Mindfulness Questionnaire (FFMQ) for use in Norway. Three studies involving three different samples of university students (mean age 22years, total N=792) were conducted. Confirmatory factor analyses showed that a five factor structure provided an acceptable fit to the data. All five factors loaded significantly on the overall mindfulness factor. As expected, correlations between the FFMQ total scores and subscales were positive and significant, ranging from 0.45 to 0.65. Correlations between FFMQ total/subscales and Mindful Attention Awareness Scale (MAAS) were significant and negative (since low scores on the MAAS indicate high mindfulness), ranging from r=-0.17 to -0.69. The Norwegian FFMQ total score was inversely correlated with all indicators of psychological health: neuroticism (r=-0.61), ruminative tendencies (r=-0.41), self-related negative thinking (r=-0.40), emotion regulation difficulties (r=-0.66) and depression (r=-0.46 to r=-0.65). In contrast to the other FFMQ subscales, the FFMQ Observe subscale did not have a positive relation to psychological health in our mostly non-meditating sample. However, being able to non-judgmentally observe one's inner life and environment is a part of the mindfulness construct that might emerge more clearly with more mindfulness training. We conclude that the Norwegian FFMQ has acceptable psychometric properties and can be recommended for use in Norway, especially in studies seeking to differentiate between different aspects of mindfulness and how these may change over time.

The relationship between dispositional mindfulness, attachment security and emotion regulation

Mindfulness may be conceptualised as a dispositional trait which differs across individuals. Previous research has independently identified both attachment security and emotion regulation abilities as correlates of dispositional attachment. We investigated the relationship between the three concepts in a sample of 192 participants who had previously had no mindfulness training. Participants completed the Five Factor Mindfulness Questionnaire (FFMQ), the Experiences in Close Relationships Scale-Revised (ECR-R) and the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale (DERS) online. Exploratory factor analysis revealed a 2-factor solution accounting for 52% of the variance across scores on these measures. The first factor accounted for 36% of the variance and loaded highly on emotion regulation and mindfulness subscales. The second factor accounted for 16% of the variance and loaded highly on emotion regulation, attachment and mindfulness subscales. We called the first factor ‘conscious awareness of emotional states’ and the second factor ‘metacognition of emotional states’. The results confirmed that both emotional regulation abilities and attachment security were related to dispositional mindfulness.

Two sessions of sleep-focused mind–body bridging improve self-reported symptoms of sleep and PTSD in veterans: A pilot randomized controlled trial

Objective Sleep disturbance is highly prevalent among veterans. As an alternative to sleep medications with their undesirable side effects, nonpharmacological mind–body interventions may be beneficial for sleep management in primary care. The aim of this pilot study was to investigate whether a novel mind–body intervention, mind–body bridging (MBB), focusing on sleep, could improve self-reported sleep disturbance and comorbid symptoms in veterans. Methods This pilot study was a randomized controlled trial at the Veterans Affairs Salt Lake City Health Care System in which 63 veterans with self-reported sleep disturbance received MBB or an active sleep education control. Both interventions were conducted in two sessions, once per week. Patient-reported outcomes included the following: primary—Medical Outcomes Study (MOS) Sleep Survey, MOS Short Form-36V; secondary—Center for Epidemiological Studies–Depression, PTSD Check List–Military, Five-Factor Mindfulness Questionnaire. Results At both Week 1 (1 week after the first session) and post-intervention assessments, while sleep disturbance decreased in both groups, MBB performed significantly better than did the control group. Furthermore, self-reported PTSD symptoms improved in MBB, while they remained unchanged in the control. Overall mindfulness increased in MBB, while it remained unchanged in the control. Conclusions This study provides preliminary evidence that a brief sleep-focused MBB could be a promising intervention for sleep and potentially other comorbid symptoms (e.g., PTSD). MBB could help patients develop awareness skills to deal with sleep-related symptoms. Integration of MBB into primary care settings may enhance care of patients with sleep disturbance and co-morbid symptoms.

Mindfulness and Health Behaviors: Is Paying Attention Good for You?

Objective: The investigators examined relations between mindfulness and health behaviors in college students, as well as the role of stress in mediating these effects. Participants: Participants were 553 undergraduates (385 females; mean age = 18.8 years, SD = 2.1) recruited from a university in the northeastern United States. Methods: Participants completed questionnaires assessing mindfulness, perceived health, health behaviors, health-related activity restriction, and stress. Data were collected from September 2007 through December 2007. Results: Overall perceived health and health-related activity restriction, as well as some health behaviors (eg, binge eating, sleep quality, and physical activity) were related to the Five-Factor Mindfulness Questionnaire and were partially mediated by stress. Conclusions: These results suggest that mindfulness is related to decreased stress, which in turn contributes to increased positive health perceptions and health behaviors. The findings support the utility of mindfulness in promoting physical and psychological health in college students.

Low mindfulness predicts pain catastrophizing in a fear-avoidance model of chronic pain

The relationship between persistent pain and self-directed, non-reactive awareness of present-moment experience (i.e., mindfulness) was explored in one of the dominant psychological theories of chronic pain – the fear-avoidance model [53]. A heterogeneous sample of 104 chronic pain outpatients at a multidisciplinary pain clinic in Australia completed psychometrically sound self-report measures of major variables in this model: Pain intensity, negative affect, pain catastrophizing, pain-related fear, pain hypervigilance, and functional disability. Two measures of mindfulness were also used, the Mindful Attention Awareness Scale [4] and the Five-Factor Mindfulness Questionnaire [1]. Results showed that mindfulness significantly negatively predicts each of these variables, accounting for 17–41% of their variance. Hierarchical multiple regression analysis showed that mindfulness uniquely predicts pain catastrophizing when other variables are controlled, and moderates the relationship between pain intensity and pain catastrophizing. This is the first clear evidence substantiating the strong link between mindfulness and pain catastrophizing, and suggests mindfulness might be added to the fear-avoidance model. Implications for the clinical use of mindfulness in screening and intervention are discussed.

Sexual body esteem and mindfulness in college women

Literature suggests that many young women hold negative perceptions of their sexual bodies and facial features. This may be related to deficits in mindfulness, manifested by rigid and automatic thoughts, feelings, and behavior about one's sexual body. The present study examined the relationships between the five factors of mindfulness measured by the Five Factor Mindfulness Questionnaire (FFMQ) and sexual body esteem, measured by the Sexual Attractiveness subscale of the Body Esteem Scale (BES) in 79 college women. A multiple regression was performed to examine the relationship between sexual body esteem and the factors of mindfulness. The Observing and Describing subscales were significantly and positively predictive of sexual body esteem while Non-reactivity to Inner Experience was significantly and negatively predictive of sexual body esteem. This relationship may have implications for future research and clinical practice.