Cited by 159Mindfulness and Compassion InterventionsPsychometric Methodologies and TestingFibromyalgia and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Research

Psychometric properties of the Dutch Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire (FFMQ) in patients with fibromyalgia

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Veehof, Martine M., ten Klooster, Peter M., Taal, Erik, Westerhof, Gerben J., Bohlmeijer, Ernst T.·2011·Clinical Rheumatology

Abstract

Mindfulness-based interventions are increasingly being used in clinical populations to reduce psychological distress and improve functioning. The Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire (FFMQ) is a questionnaire that measures five facets of mindfulness: observe, describe, actaware, nonjudge and nonreact. The goal of this study was to examine the psychometric properties of the FFMQ in a clinical population of fibromyalgia patients. A total of 141 patients completed an online questionnaire on mindfulness (FFMQ) and theoretically related (e.g. acceptance, openness, alexithymia) and unrelated (physical health) constructs. Thirty-eight patients filled in the FFMQ twice. A confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was conducted to test the five-factor structure of the FFMQ. Internal consistency and test-retest reliability were respectively assessed with Cronbach's α and intraclass correlation coefficients. Construct validity was examined by correlating FFMQ facets with theoretically related and unrelated constructs. Incremental validity in predicting mental health and psychological symptoms was examined with regression analyses. CFA confirmed the correlated five-factor structure of the FFMQ. Internal consistency of the five facets was satisfactory and test-retest reliability was good to excellent. Construct validity was excellent, as shown by the moderate to large correlations with related constructs (except observe facet) and weak correlation with a theoretically unrelated construct. Two of the five facets (actaware and nonjudge) had incremental validity over the others in predicting mental health and psychological symptoms. After controlling for related constructs, the actaware facet remained a significant predictor. This study showed satisfactory psychometric properties of the Dutch FFMQ in fibromyalgia patients. The observe facet, however, should be used with caution given its deviant relationship with theoretically related constructs.

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  • Among non-meditators, empirical research repeatedly showed that Observe fits only insufficiently into the hierarchical factor structure of the FFMQ, or is even unrelated to overall mindfulness.

    “Even though conceptualized to represent a hierarchical factor structure, with mindfulness on top of the five facets, empirical research among non-meditators repeatedly showed that Observe fits only insufficiently into this structure, or is even unrelated to overall mindfulness [14], [19], [20], [22]–[24].”

    From The serenity of the meditating mind: A cross-cultural psychometric study on a two-factor higher order structure of mindfulness, its effects, and mechanisms related to mental health among experienced meditators (2014) · cites this paper as [19]

    The Results (Factor structure; page not provided) show that Observe loaded less strongly on overall mindfulness (0.35) than the other four facets, supporting the claim of a weaker fit in the hierarchy. The Discussion cautions that Observe behaves differently in non-meditating samples, but the authors did not assess participants’ meditation experience. Their own results therefore cannot establish that the sample consisted of non-meditators; nor do they show Observe was unrelated to overall mindfulness. (LLM, conf=0.84)

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  • Validation studies of the FFMQ have shown that its mindfulness facets correlate to a medium-to-large magnitude with specific measures of decentering and acceptance.

    “Validation studies of the FFMQ, for instance, have shown that its mindfulness facets correlate to a medium-to-large magnitude with specific measures of decentering (e.g., EQ) and acceptance (e.g., the Accpetance and Action Questionnaire, AAQ; Soler et al., 2014; Veehof et al., 2011), suggesting that these aspects may be operationally challenging to disentangle from each other.”

    From Mediators of acceptance and mindfulness-based therapies for anxiety and depression: A systematic review and meta-analysis (2022) · cites this paper as Veehof et al., 2011

    The Results (Construct validity; page unavailable) report moderate-to-large correlations between acceptance and the FFMQ facets other than observe; the Methods (Measures; page unavailable) identify the acceptance measure as the AAQ-II. The source does not report correlations with a decentering measure such as the EQ, and its observe facet did not show the claimed magnitude of correlation with acceptance. (LLM, conf=0.86)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured
  • Validation studies of the FFMQ have shown that various mindfulness facets measured by the FFMQ correlate to a medium-to-large magnitude with specific measures of decentering and acceptance.

    “As validation studies of the FFMQ have shown that the various mindfulness facets measured by the FFMQ correlate to a medium-to-large magnitude with specific measures of decentering (e.g., EQ) and acceptance (e.g., the Accpetance and Action Questionnaire, AAQ) (Soler et al., 2014; Veehof et al., 2011)”
  • These findings correspond to earlier research (e.g., Baer et al., 2006; Veehof et al., 2011).

    “These findings correspond to earlier research (e.g., Baer et al., 2006; Veehof et al., 2011).”

    From Further evaluation of the psychometric properties of the acceptance and action questionnaire-II (2012) · cites this paper as Veehof et al., 2011

    The Discussion (page unavailable) says several of Veehof et al.’s findings accord with Baer et al. (2006). But the citing sentence does not identify what “these findings” are, so our copy cannot establish whether the citing authors’ particular findings correspond to Veehof et al.’s results. (LLM, conf=0.72)

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Authors
Veehof, M. M., ten Klooster, P. M., Taal, E., Westerhof, G. J., & Bohlmeijer, E. T.
Affiliations
University of Twente (NL)
Corresponding author
Veehof, Martine M.
Venue
Clinical Rheumatology
Published
2011-02-25
Volume
30
Issue
8
Pages
1045-1054
ISSN
  • 0770-3198 (ISSN-L)
  • 1434-9949
OpenAlex
W2102457727
Cited by
158
References
46
Citations by year
2026: 6 · 2025: 5 · 2024: 8 · 2023: 7 · 2022: 19 · 2021: 7 · 2020: 9 · 2019: 16 · 2018: 14 · 2017: 10 · 2016: 16 · 2015: 9 · 2014: 15 · 2013: 10 · 2012: 3
FWCI
10.68
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
cc-by-nc
Locations
  • Clinical Rheumatology (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • University of Twente Research Information (publishedVersion)
  • University of Twente Research Information (submittedVersion, other-oa)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Mindfulness and Compassion Interventions
  • Social Sciences › Decision Sciences › Management Science and Operations Research › Psychometric Methodologies and Testing
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Psychiatry and Mental health › Fibromyalgia and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Research
Keywords
Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire, fibromyalgia, mindfulness, psychometric properties, incremental validity, construct validity, test-retest reliability, acceptance, alexithymia, mental health, psychological symptoms
MeSH terms
Adult, Mental Disorders, Female, Fibromyalgia, Humans, Male, Psychometrics, Surveys and Questionnaires, Self-Assessment, Stress, Psychological, Reproducibility of Results, Mind-Body Relations, Metaphysical, Mind-Body Therapies

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