There has been substantial interest in mindfulness as an approach to reduce cognitive vulnerability to stress and emotional distress in recent years. However, thus far mindfulness has not been defined operationally. This paper describes the results of recent meetings held to establish a consensus on mindfulness and to develop conjointly a testable operational definition. We propose a two-component model of mindfulness and specify each component in terms of specific behaviors, experiential manifestations, and implicated psychological processes.We then address issues regarding temporal stability and situational specificity and speculate on the conceptual and operational distinctiveness of mindfulness. We conclude this paper by discussing implications for instrument development and briefly describing our own approach to measurement.

In this study, the authors both developed and validated a self-report mindfulness measure, the Toronto Mindfulness Scale (TMS). In Study 1, participants were individuals with and without meditation experience. Results showed good internal consistency and two factors, Curiosity and Decentering. Most of the expected relationships with other constructs were as expected. The TMS scores increased with increasing mindfulness meditation experience. In Study 2, criterion and incremental validity of the TMS were investigated on a group of individuals participating in 8-week mindfulness-based stress reduction programs. Results showed that TMS scores increased following treatment, and Decentering scores predicted improvements in clinical outcome. Thus, the TMS is a promising measure of the mindfulness state with good psychometric properties and predictive of treatment outcome.

The emotional impact of the intrusiveness of illness and patients' reduced control over several aspects of life were examined in the context of end-stage renal disease. A sample of thirty-five hemodialysis, ten continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis (CAPD), and twenty-five posttransplant patients participated in a standardized interview in which a series of eight self-report measures of positive and negative mood, life happiness, self-esteem, depression, and somatic symptoms of distress were obtained. Attending staff also completed a depression rating scale for each participant. Data reduction via principal-components analysis yielded two factors, corresponding to negative and positive mood, and these were submitted to covariance analyses in which age, general nonrenal health, and defensiveness were controlled statistically. Patients' perceptions of increased intrusiveness, and their perception of limited control over eleven life dimensions, each correlated significantly and uniquely with increased negative and decreased positive mood, suggesting that each of these two factors contributes importantly and independently to patients' distress. An "objective" continuum of intrusiveness, constructed by ranking the various treatment modalities represented in the sample, also related significantly to positive (but not to negative) mood levels.

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