Refinement and Validation of the Balanced Inventory of Mindfulness-related Skills (BIMS)

Abstract

Objectives: The goal of the current study was to refine and validate a revision of the Five FacetMindfulness Questionnaire (FFMQ), with the goal of retaining its useful features and mitigatingthose features that have been identified to be problematic.Methods: A 30-item pilot version of the Balanced Inventory of Mindfulness-related Skills(BIMS) was developed by implementing the structured alternative item format (presenting bothpositive and negative aspects of each item) and revising the wording of items. Herein, wecollected data from a convenience sample of n=1,014 individuals, reduced to n=757 after datacleaning. We conducted exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and confirmatory factor analyses(CFA) on randomly separated subsets of the sample and explored response patterns andcorrelations with relevant measures (including a short-form of the FFMQ).Results: Parallel analysis and EFA indicated a five-factor, correlated structure across a final 27items (omitting 3 items due to poor fit), confirmed by CFA. A full sample CFA using anasymptotically distribution free fit function indicated excellent model fit (CFI/TLI > 0.99,RMSEA < 0.05, SRMR < 0.05). The BIMS scales exhibited strong correlations with the FFMQsubscales and related scales. The scale did not, however, reduce correlations with socialdesirability, which has been shown to be associated with method effects.Conclusions: The BIMS represents a psychometrically sound revision of the FFMQ that retainsthe five-factor structure of the original scale while eliminating method effects. It is stronglycorrelated with the original scale and exhibits comparable correlations with attentional control,emotion regulation, and personality characteristics. Critically, the BIMS represents a measure ofmindfulness-related skills, shifting the focus to clinically relevant constructs that may interactbut do not necessarily sum to a unitary trait.

Dispositional mindfulness and its relationship to preoperative anxiety and postoperative pain in adults undergoing hysterectomy

“…The Balanced Inventory of Mindfulness-Related Skills (BIMS) is a 27-item 5-factor revision of the FFMQ, published in 2021 and developed with the purpose of addressing specific weaknesses of the original scale (Padmanabham et al, 2021). The authors of this study revised the FFMQ using the item response theory as guidance with the goal of reducing the effects of some psychometric weaknesses (e.g., inconsistency of observe subscale--as well as concerns about response bias and item formatting).…”