Development and Validation of the Single-Item Mindfulness Scale (SIMS)

Mindfulness is a focused attention to and acceptance of present experiences. Although several reliable and valid multi-item measures of trait mindfulness exist, researchers may sometimes want a short and quick measure of mindfulness. In this project, we developed and validated the Single-Item Mindfu...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of personality assessment 2023-11, Vol.105 (6), p.807-819
Main Authors: Meier, Brian P., Konrath, Sara, Fetterman, Adam K., Dillard, Amanda J., James, Carrie, Weinstein, Emily, Bushman, Brad J.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adolescent
Adult
Anxiety
Anxiety Disorders
Consciousness
Cross-Sectional Studies
Empathy
Focused attention
Humans
Measures
Mindfulness
Negative emotions
Neuroticism
Positive emotions
Prosocial behavior
Reliability
Reproducibility of Results
Self compassion
Sympathy
Wording
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Summary:Mindfulness is a focused attention to and acceptance of present experiences. Although several reliable and valid multi-item measures of trait mindfulness exist, researchers may sometimes want a short and quick measure of mindfulness. In this project, we developed and validated the Single-Item Mindfulness Scale (SIMS) to assess trait mindfulness. We conducted eight studies involving 3,125 adult and adolescent participants. The studies consisted of cross-sectional, short longitudinal, and daily diary designs. We first developed the wording of the SIMS in Studies 1 and 2 and then examined the validity and reliability in Studies 3-8. The SIMS was found to be reliable and valid. It correlated with several multi-item measures of mindfulness at effect sizes in the medium to large range. It also correlated in expected ways with variables known to be related to existing multi-item measures of mindfulness such as self-compassion, anxiety, negative affect, positive affect, depression, neuroticism, empathy, prosocial behavior, and self-consciousness. Furthermore, it correlated positively with daily reports of mindfulness in a two-week diary study. Although existing multi-item trait mindfulness scales should be used, when possible, the SIMS is recommended in situations when time, question quantity, or researcher focus is constrained.
ISSN:0022-3891
1532-7752
DOI:10.1080/00223891.2022.2152348