A comparison of decentering across demographic groups and meditation experience: Support for the measurement invariance of the Experiences Questionnaire.

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The hypothesized single-factor structure of the EQ fit the data well in each sample after removing the error covariance for items 3 and 5.

“This single factor model fit the data well in each sample (see Table 2).”

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In the student sample, racial/ethnic minority participants scored higher on decentering than White participants (d = .14, p < .001); the clinical (d = .11, p = .420) and community (d = .15, p = .083) samples showed no significant difference.

“participants who identified as a racial/ethnic minority had higher decentering than whites in the student sample (Cohen’s d = .14, p < .001), but there was not a significant difference in latent means in the clinical (d = .11, p = .420) or community samples (d = .15, p = .083).”

• Also stated in: § Discussion · hedged

  “Last, there was a very small effect across samples suggesting that racial or ethnic minority individuals may score higher in decentering than white individuals, though it only reached significance in the large student sample.”

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The error covariance between items 3 and 5 was not significant in the clinical and community samples and was small in the student sample (r = .11, p < .001).

“However, the error covariance for items 3 and 5 was non-significant in the clinical and community samples, and had a small effect size in the student sample (r = .11, p < .001).”

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People with 6 months or less meditation experience had lower decentering than those with more than 6 months in the clinical (d = −.53, p < .001) and student (d = −.26, p = .001) samples; the community sample showed no association (d = −.13, p = .188).

“individuals with 6 months or less mediation experience had lower decentering in the clinical (d = −.53, p < .001) and student (d = −.26, p = .001) samples. However, meditation experience was not associated with decentering in the community sample (d = −.13, p = .188).”

• Also stated in: § Discussion · hedged

  “Results were largely consistent with hypotheses, as individuals with more meditation experience had higher latent levels of decentering than individuals with less than six months experience (or none) (see also Ireland et al., 2018).”

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In the community sample, middle-aged (d = .22, p = .039) and older adults (d = .58, p < .001) scored higher on decentering than young adults, and older adults scored higher than middle-aged adults (d = .34, p = .003).

“there was a significant difference in latent means in the community sample, where both middle (d = .22, p = .039) and older adults (d = .58, p < .001) had higher levels of decentering than young adults, and older adults had higher levels of decentering than middle aged adults (d = .34, p = .003).”

• Also stated in: § Discussion · plain

  “As expected, older adults had higher levels of decentering than younger adults in the community sample, with a positive linear association across the three age groups.”

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Age showed metric invariance in the community and clinical samples; scalar invariance was full in the clinical sample but partial in the community sample after freeing intercepts for items 3, 4, and 11.

“The configural model was a good fit to the data in both the community and clinical samples, and metric invariance was supported in both samples. There was evidence of full scalar invariance in the clinical sample, whereas in the community sample there were differences in indicator intercepts across groups (ΔCFI = −.012, ΔRMSEA = .003, ΔSRMR = .007). After freely estimating indicator intercepts for”

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Females scored lower on decentering than males in the student (d = −.42, p < .001) and community (d = −.18, p = .045) samples; the clinical sample showed no significant gender difference (d = −.22, p = .151).

“Latent means indicated that females had lower levels of decentering in the student (d = −.42, p < .001) and community samples (d = −.18, p = .045), but there was not a significant gender difference in the latent means for the clinical sample (d = −.22, p = .151).”

• Also stated in: § Discussion · hedged

  “In more exploratory analyses, females consistently had lower levels of decentering than males, as indicated by small effect sizes (though the difference was not significant in the clinical sample).”

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The clinical sample was fairly small for invariance testing, so it may have lacked power to detect minor non-invariance.

“The size of the clinical sample was relatively small to conduct measurement invariance analyses, and therefore these analyses may not have had adequate power to detect minor non-invariance in this sample.”

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Initial evidence suggests that responses to mindfulness-related scales differ systematically by group, and that meditation experience affects how some items are interpreted.

“there is initial support for systematic group differences when responding to mindfulness-related scales, as the interpretation of some mindfulness items appears to be dependent upon one’s meditation experience (e.g., Goh, Marais, & Ireland, 2015; Gu et al., 2016)”

• cites Goh, Marais, & Ireland, 2015Not checked yet

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• cites Gu et al., 2016Not checked yet

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These findings should not be extended to other measures or grouping variables, and other samples might yield different results.

“these findings should not be generalized to other measures or grouping variables, and results may differ in other samples.”

May combine two claims.

Most analyses achieved full scalar invariance; three cases (gender in students and clinical participants, and age in community participants) reached only partial scalar invariance after allowing one to three item intercepts to vary by group.

“Full scalar invariance was also met for most analyses, whereas partial scalar invariance was established in the three remaining cases (e.g., for gender in students and clinical participants, and for age in community participants) by allowing one to three item intercepts to differ across groups.”

Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S3 (load-bearing). May combine two claims.

In adulthood, decentering and mindfulness show a positive association with age.

“numerous studies found that decentering and mindfulness are positively associated with age in adulthood (e.g., Prakash, Hussain, & Schirda, 2015; Shook et al., 2017).”

• cites Prakash et al., 2015Not checked yet

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• cites Shook et al., 2017Not checked yet

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Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S3 (load-bearing). May combine two claims.

Meditation experience was measured with only one self-report item about years of practice, which cannot capture nuanced differences in practice or skill.

“our assessment of meditation experience was limited to one self-reported item asking about years of meditation experience, which does not allow for a nuanced characterization of meditation practice and skill.”

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Before this study, the only measurement invariance test in decentering research used the Toronto Mindfulness Scale's decentering subscale; it found partial or full invariance across meditation experience groups, and more experienced meditators had higher latent decentering means.

“the sole analysis of measurement invariance in the decentering literature was conducted on the decentering subscale of the Toronto Mindfulness Scale. Analyses supported partial or full measurement invariance across meditation experience groups, and participants with more meditation experience had higher latent mean levels of decentering (Ireland, Day, & Clough, 2018).”

• cites Ireland, Day, & Clough, 2018Not checked yet

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Metric invariance was full for every grouping variable and sample, which suggests that the EQ items relate to latent decentering in the same way across people with diverse characteristics.

“It is notable that full metric invariance was demonstrated across all grouping variables and samples, suggesting that the EQ items are similarly related to latent decentering across people with a variety of characteristics; that is, the meaning of the items is comparable.”

Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S3 (load-bearing).

People who have practiced meditation more extensively generally score higher on decentering and similar constructs compared with those who have practiced little or not at all.

“individuals with more meditation experience tend to report higher levels of decentering and related constructs, relative to those with little or no meditation experience (e.g., Franquesa et al., 2017; Isbel & Mahar, 2015).”

• cites Franquesa et al., 2017Not checked yet

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• cites Isbel & Mahar, 2015Not checked yet

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This gender difference aligns with women's greater tendency to ruminate or perseverate on negative thoughts compared with men, since such perseverative thinking conflicts with a decentered stance.

“This is consistent with the tendency of women to ruminate or perseverate on negative thoughts to a greater degree than men (Johnson & Whisman, 2013), as negative perseverative thought is incompatible with a decentered stance.”

• cites Johnson & Whisman, 2013Not checked yet

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Because the samples were not chosen for meditation experience, they probably contained few expert meditators, and the meditator group's average proficiency was likely low.

“the samples were not selected based upon meditation experience, so there were likely few expert meditators and the mean proficiency of the meditator group was probably not high.”

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This study increases confidence in the EQ as a broadly applicable decentering measure and offers an initial picture of how decentering levels vary with demographic features and meditation experience.

“the current study bolsters confidence in the EQ as a widely-applicable measure of decentering, and provide an initial characterization of how decentering levels differ across demographic features and meditation experience.”

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The EQ has shown good internal consistency (alpha = .83) and the expected convergent and discriminant relationships with related measures.

“The EQ has demonstrated good internal consistency (alpha = .83) and showed expected patterns of convergent and discriminant associations with related constructs (Fresco et al., 2007).”

• cites Fresco et al., 2007Not checked yet

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