Psychometric Properties of the Five-Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire among Egyptian university students

Abstract

Purpose Mindfulness represents individuals' opinions, feelings, and objective observations. The present study aimed at examining the factor structure and reliability of the Five-Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire for the Egyptian culture and investigating the relationship between mindfulness and thought fusion beliefs. Methodology This descriptive, cross-sectional, and psychometric study was conducted on 507 university students (241 males, 266 females) from Assuit City, Egypt, by using the convenience sampling method. The Principal Axis Factoring Approach to Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA), the confirmatory factor analysis, concurrent validity and the relationship between mindfulness and depression were conducted to examine the validity of the Five-Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire. The criterion validity was verified using correlations on measurement scales like Beck Depression Inventory-II (BDI-II), Thought Fusion Scale (TFS), Cognitive Emotional Regulation Strategies Scale (CERSS), and (4) the Cognitive Self-Consciousness Scale (CSCS) to calculate the reliability and validity of the Five-Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire. Cronbach’s alpha and Composite reliability were also employed to quantify the results. Statistical analysis was performed with SPSS version 23 and LISREL 8.8. Findings The results of the EFA suggested five factors for this scale labelled as “observing” “describing” “acting with awareness” “non-judging of inner experience” and “non-reactivity to inner experience”. The reliability of this scale was good, and the correlation between mindfulness and depression was negative and significant in the following two facets: (acting with awareness, non-judging of inner experience). Implications for Research and Practice The results of the study also showed that the dimensions of observation and description were positively correlated with thought fusion beliefs, while the dimensions of non-judgment and acting with awareness were negatively associated with thought fusion beliefs.