Abstract
Objectives
There is burgeoning interest in studying the effectiveness of mindfulness-based and traditional contemplative practices, and brief yet suitably and comprehensive measures of mindfulness are needed to assess related changes. There is preliminary evidence that pilgrimage may share some aspects with contemplative practices. This study examined the psychometric properties of the Spanish version of the 15-item Five Facets Mindfulness Questionnaire (FFMQ-15) in a large sample of pilgrims and explored the effects of pilgrimage on mindfulness.
Methods
The FFMQ-15 along with distress and wellbeing measures were administered via online to a large sample of participants undertaking a pilgrimage (i.e., the Way of Saint James) in Spain (baseline: n = 800; pre-post analyses: n = 314). Confirmatory factor analyses were computed to find the best-fitting model of the FFMQ-15; reliability and construct validity analyses were also performed.
Results
The four-facet bifactor structure (mindfulness plus four specific facets, excluding observing) was the best-fitting model for the FFMQ-15 (CFI = .956; TLI = .931; RMSEA = .058 [.048–.068]; SRMR = .046). Overall, we found satisfactory reliability (Cronbach’s α ranged from .56 to .85) and small to moderate correlations with distress and wellbeing measures.
Conclusions
The FFMQ-15 showed a four-facet bifactor structure and an overall satisfactory internal consistency and construct validity despite its shortness. We observed that mindfulness can be cultivated by pilgrimage, but further studies including long-term assessments and control groups are warranted before firm conclusions can be drawn.
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Acknowledgments
The authors want to acknowledge the altruistic help of the pilgrims, “Xunta de Galicia,” “Agrupación de Asociaciones de Amigos del Camino del Norte,” and “Fundación Eroski”.
Funding
The corresponding author (JVL) has a Miguel Servet contract awarded by the Institute of Health Carlos III (ISCIII; CPII19/00003). JMM is supported by the WellcomeTrust Grant (104908/Z/14/Z/).
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AF-S: designed and executed the study, computed most data analyses, and wrote the first draft of the paper. AP-A: collaborated with the writing of the study. JVL: computed some data analyses and wrote part of the results. MD: collaborated with the design and writing of the study. MM: collaborated in the writing and editing of the final manuscript. JS: collaborated with the design and writing of the study. WVG: collaborated with the writing of the study. JG-C: collaborated with the design and writing of the study. JM-M: assisted with the data analyses. All authors approved the final version of the manuscript for submission. AF-S and AP-A contributed equally to this manuscript and should be considered as co-first authors. JG-C and JMM share senior authorship.
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Ethics approval was given by the Ethics Committee at the Sant Joan de Déu Foundation (PIC-141-19). The study was performed in accordance with the ethical standards laid down in the 1964 Declaration of Helsinki and its following updates.
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Feliu-Soler, A., Pérez-Aranda, A., Luciano, J.V. et al. Psychometric Properties of the 15-Item Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire in a Large Sample of Spanish Pilgrims. Mindfulness 12, 852–862 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12671-020-01549-6
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12671-020-01549-6