Gender, Age, and Time Invariance of the Child and Adolescent Mindfulness Measure (CAMM) and Psychometric Properties in Three Greek-Speaking Youth Samples

• Published in: Mindfulness 2020-05, Vol.11 (5), p.1298-1307
• Main Authors: Theofanous, Artemis, Ioannou, Myria, Zacharia, Marianna, Georgiou, Stelios N., Karekla, Maria
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Age; Behavioral Science and Psychology; Child and School Psychology; Children & youth; Cognitive Psychology; Females; Gender differences; Intervention; Mindfulness; Original Paper; Pediatrics; Psychology; Public Health; Quantitative psychology; Questionnaires; Response rates; Self compassion; Social Sciences; Students; Teenagers; Young adults
• ISSN: 1868-8527; 1868-8535
• DOI: 10.1007/s12671-020-01350-5

Objectives Mindfulness interventions for youth are exponentially increasing in recent years, yet assessment of this construct is still in its infancy. The present study aims to examine for the first time the psychometric properties of the Greek version of Child and Adolescent Mindfulness Measure (CAMM) and additionally investigate gender and age differences in mindfulness levels. Methods Three samples of 1034 Greek-speaking adolescents and young adults were used for the purposes of the current study. Exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis were conducted in order to extract and confirm the factorial structure of the Greek version of CAMM (G-CAMM). Results A single factor solution was extracted with good internal consistency (Cronbach’s α  = 0.86). Furthermore, good construct and discriminant validity were concluded, through correlations with other measures of mindfulness, cognitive fusion, and moral disengagement. Analyses of invariance supported that the CFA model of the CAMM was invariant with regard to time, age, and gender. Measurement invariance was achieved, and the conducted latent means comparison showed significant differences, as females had lower mindfulness levels compared with males and adolescents had lower levels compared with young adults. Conclusions The findings implicate the need to develop developmentally sensitive programs to train mindfulness, emphasizing on distinct components for males and females. Overall, G-CAMM is a reliable and valid measure for examining mindfulness in Greek-speaking youth.