Measuring mindfulness

Mindfulness-based treatments produce clinically meaningful improvements for depression, anxiety, pain, and stress, but the mechanisms driving these benefits remain unclear. Central questions include whether mindfulness training increases the general tendency to respond mindfully to daily life and whether such changes explain mental health improvements. Answering these questions requires reliable assessment tools. Several mindfulness questionnaires are now available, and early evidence indicates they are useful despite shortcomings needing further work. This paper summarizes the rationale for these questionnaires, their construction methods, and research findings on their utility, while discussing challenges in maintaining consistency with Buddhist conceptions of mindfulness when applying psychological research methods.

Study at a glance

Abstract

The commitment to evidence-based practice in clinical psychology requires scientific investigation of the effects of treatment and mechanisms of change. Empirical evidence suggests that mindfulness-based treatments provide clinically meaningful improvement for people suffering from many important problems, including depression, anxiety, pain, and stress. However, the processes of change that produce these beneficial outcomes are not entirely clear. Central questions include whether mindfulness training leads to increases in the general tendency to respond mindfully to the experiences of daily life, and if so, whether these changes are responsible for the improvements in mental health that are often observed. Answering these questions requires methods for assessing mindfulness. Several tools for this purpose are now available and early evidence suggests that they are useful and informative, despite shortcomings that require additional work. This paper summarizes the rationale for mindfulness questionnaires, the methods used to construct them, and research findings on their utility. Challenges related to maintaining consistency with Buddhist conceptions of mindfulness while applying psychological research methods to the study of its assessment are discussed.