Network analysis of mindfulness facets, affect, compassion, and distress.

Objectives: Mindfulness, positive affect, and compassion may protect against psychological distress but there is lack of understanding about the ways in which these factors are linked to mental health. Network analysis is a statistical method used to investigate complex associations among constructs in a single network and is particularly suitable for this purpose. The aim of this study was to explore how mindfulness facets, affect, and compassion were linked to psychological distress using network analysis. Methods: The sample (n = 400) included equal numbers from general and student populations who completed measures of five mindfulness facets, compassion, positive and negative affect, depression, anxiety, and stress. Network analysis was used to explore the direct associations between these variables. Results: Compassion was directly related to positive affect, which in turn was strongly and inversely related to depression and positively related to the observing and describing facets of mindfulness. The non-judgment facet of mindfulness was strongly and inversely related to negative affect, anxiety, and depression, while non-reactivity and acting with awareness were inversely associated with stress and anxiety, respectively. Strong associations were found between all distress variables. Conclusions: The present network analysis highlights the strong link between compassion and positive affect and suggests that observing and describing the world through the lens of compassion may enhance resilience to depression. Taking a non-judging and non-reacting stance toward internal experience while acting with awareness may protect against psychological distress. Applicability of these findings can be examined in experimental studies aiming to prevent distress and enhance psychological well-being

Improving precision of the Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire using a Rasch approach.

Mindfulness has emerged as an important contributor to health and well-being, although its accurate assessment represents an ongoing challenge. The 39-item Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire (FFMQ) is a widely used measure of trait mindfulness that includes five subscales: observing, describing, acting with awareness, non-judging, and non-reacting to inner experience. While the instrument has been shown to possess generally acceptable psychometric properties, no work so far has been conducted to increase the precision of the instrument and its subscales in discriminating between individual trait levels. The present study used Rasch analysis to assess the psychometric properties of the FFMQ using a sample of 296 participants, with the intention to improve the scale if necessary. The best fit to the Rasch model for all five FFMQ subscales and the total scale was achieved after minor modifications that involved combining locally dependent items into subtests and removing two items (24 and 32) that critically affected the goodness-of-fit indices. These findings support the psychometric properties and internal construct validity of the modified FFMQ, and ordinal-to-interval Rasch conversion tables are included here that can be used to increase the precision of measurement without requiring any modifications of the original FFMQ response format. These findings have implications for a wide range of areas where more accurate assessment of mindfulness and its facets is necessary

Assessing the psychometric properties of the comprehensive inventory of mindfulness experiences (CHIME) using rasch analysis

Mindfulness-based interventions are found beneficial to improving well-being and alleviating symptoms of psychological distress, although accurate measurement of the psychological construct of mindfulness remains a challenge. Theoretical work has highlighted characteristics of mindfulness, which can be assessed comprehensively by the recently developed eight-factor Comprehensive Inventory of Mindfulness Experiences (CHIME). While the instrument has demonstrated acceptable psychometric properties, its ability to discriminate precisely across individual mindfulness levels has not been rigorously investigated. The current study subjected responses of 443 participants to Rasch analysis to investigate and enhance the psychometric properties of the CHIME. The best fit to the Rasch model was achieved for every individual subscale with only minor modifications that involved combining some locally dependent items into a testlet. The total scale was then fitted to the Rasch model with individual subscales treated as testlets, and the best model fit was attained after two correlated subscales were treated as a single testlet, χ2(63) = 70.76, p = .23. Therefore, it was possible to generate ordinal-to-interval conversion tables for individual subscales and the total scale scores, which increase the instrument’s precision. The results support internal construct validity and enhance psychometric properties of the CHIME

What New Zealanders find important to their quality of life: comparisons with international WHOQOL data from 14 other countries

Abstract Objective: When the World Health Organization Quality of Life tools were developed by 15 collaborating centres in 14 countries, respondents rated how important they considered various facets of health‐related quality of life. The present study compared quality of life importance ratings from New Zealanders with the global data collected 17 years earlier. Possible differences by gender and age were also explored. Methods: A WHOQOL importance questionnaire was posted to a random sample of 2,000 New Zealanders. The ratings from the 585 questionnaires that were returned were ranked in order of importance and compared with the rankings from the original WHOQOL work. Results: The overall pattern of rankings of importance items was strikingly similar to that of the global data. Some of the few differences included comparatively lower importance ratings by New Zealanders of the facet to be able to work and higher ratings of feeling physically safe and secure. Other differences in importance ratings were also noted by gender and age group. Conclusions: The overall high similarities of importance rankings with the global dataset suggest that the cross‐cultural validity of the instrument may still be current. The few observed differences could reflect aspects unique to New Zealand or the presence of global trends during the 17 years since the original WHOQOL work, highlighting the utility of periodic investigations into the need to update the instrument

Rasch analysis of the Frost Multidimensional Perfectionism Scale

Objective The Frost Multidimensional Perfectionism Scale (FMPS) is widely used to measure the construct of perfectionism. Previous studies evaluating the factor structure of the FMPS have reported inconsistent findings. The study objective was to examine the psychometric properties of proposed four, five, and six factor solutions of the FMPS using Rasch analysis. Method Using the responses from a sample of New Zealand athletes and exercisers (n = 425) from a variety of sports, we subjected the dataset to Rasch analysis. The overall and individual item fit, unidimensionality, local independence, and person separation reliability were evaluated by treating factors of each model as subtests. Results After disordered thresholds were uniformly rescored, the factor Organisation displayed significant misfit to the model across all three solutions tested. Removal of Organisation and combining two parental facets into one resulted in adequate model fit and good item discrimination ability for all three solutions. The modified six‐factor model was the best in terms of reliability, with no differential item functioning and the highest person separation index. Conclusion The present results support the psychometric properties and internal structural validity of the rescored FMPS with the parental factors combined and without the Organisation facet. Psychometric properties of the instrument can be further enhanced by using the ordinal‐to‐interval conversion table presented here, which does not require modification of the original response format. These findings will be of interest in different areas where accurate assessment of the overall perfectionism trait is important and open new avenues for perfectionism research

The patient categorisation tool: psychometric evaluation of a tool to measure complexity of needs for rehabilitation in a large multicentre dataset from the United Kingdom

<p><b>Purpose:</b> This first psychometric evaluation of the Patient Categorisation Tool examined its properties as an instrument to measure complexity of needs in a mixed population of patients presenting for specialist neurorehabilitation.</p> <p><b>Materials/methods:</b> Analysis of a large multicentre cohort of patients (<i>n</i> = 5396) from the national clinical dataset representing 63 specialist rehabilitation services across England. Structural validity was examined using exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis. Concurrent and criterion-validity were tested through <i>a priori</i> hypothesized relationships with other validated measures of resource requirements and dependency.</p> <p><b>Results</b>: All but two items loaded strongly onto a single principal component with Cronbach’s alpha 0.88. A total score of ≥30 identified patients with complex (category A) needs with sensitivity 76% and specificity 75%. However, confirmatory factor analysis provided a better fit when the scale was split into two subscales – a 'Cognitive/psychosocial' and a 'Physical' sub-scale (alpha 0.83 and 0.84, respectively). Moderate convergent and discriminant correlations were consistent with hypothesized relationships.</p> <p><b>Conclusions:</b> The findings provide some overall support for the Patient Categorisation Tool as a unidimensional tool for measuring complexity of needs for neurorehabilitation, but the subscales may be more suitable for certain groups of patients. Further analysis is now required to evaluate its performance in different conditions.Implications for Rehabilitation</p><p>A psychometrically robust tool for measuring the complexity of rehabilitation needs has potential value, both at an individual level for treatment planning, and at a population level for planning and commissioning rehabilitation services.</p><p>The Patient Categorisation Tool now forms part of the United Kingdom national clinical dataset mandated by the National Health Service in England</p><p>This psychometric analysis from a large national multicentre cohort representing a diverse range of conditions, provides evidence for its validity as a means to identity patients with complex rehabilitation needs requiring specialist rehabilitation.</p><p></p> <p>A psychometrically robust tool for measuring the complexity of rehabilitation needs has potential value, both at an individual level for treatment planning, and at a population level for planning and commissioning rehabilitation services.</p> <p>The Patient Categorisation Tool now forms part of the United Kingdom national clinical dataset mandated by the National Health Service in England</p> <p>This psychometric analysis from a large national multicentre cohort representing a diverse range of conditions, provides evidence for its validity as a means to identity patients with complex rehabilitation needs requiring specialist rehabilitation.</p

Questionnaires to Measure Acceptability of Social Robots: A Critical Review

Understanding user perceptions is particularly important in developing social robots, which tend to have a high degree of interaction with humans. However, psychometric measures of robot acceptability have only recently started to become available. The present critical review outlines the psychometrically validated questionnaires to measure social acceptability factors related to social robots. Using an iterative search strategy, articles were identified that reported on the development of such questionnaires as well as information about their psychometric properties. Six questionnaires were identified that provide researchers with options varying in length, content, and factor structure. Two of these questionnaires inquire about attitudes and anxieties related to robots, while two others capture a larger range of attitudes that extends to positive and neutral aspects as well. One of the questionnaires reviewed here was specific to inquiring about ethical issues related to the use of social robots for therapy with children with autism, and the last one was designed to provide an assessment of expectations of participants prior to interacting with a robot. Overall, the use of robot acceptability measures is still relatively new, and further psychometric work is necessary to provide confidence in the validity and reliability of these scales