Digital Distractions, Mindfulness, and Academic Performance With Undergraduate College Students

This study examined the relationship between digital distractions, mindfulness, and academic performance with undergraduate college students. A total of 199 students completed surveys that examined digital distractions and the Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire (Baer et al., 2006). The results indicated that 96.5% of participants had a digital device near them when studying, and 94.0% used a digital device to help them study. The major purpose for using a digital device in the classroom was to check the time on their phone (91.0%) and text someone (88.9%). Some reasons for using a digital device for non-classroom purposes included to fight boredom (39.2%) and to stay connected with others (25.1%). Participants who had fewer digital distractions tended to be more mindful and a significant positive relationship (r = .192, p <; .05) was obtained between overall mindfulness and academic performance.

Measuring Mindfulness: Assessing the Utility of the FFMQ in the Older Veterans With Dementia and Their Caregivers

Mindfulness is increasingly popular as a low cost, convenient, and accessible way to address mental health and chronic health conditions. Despite its popularity, best practices in measuring mindfulness in clinical settings and intervention research are still being defined. The Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire (FFMQ-15) measures mindfulness traits; however, its use has been limited in older adults, those with dementia, and caregivers. Method: Caregivers (N=82) and veterans with dementia (N=62) enrolled in a randomized pilot intervention study completed the 15-item FFMQ at baseline, 6-month, and 12-month assessments. Veterans were mostly male (98%), White/Caucasian (65%), and living with a partner/spouse (79%). Caregivers (M=65 years old) were mostly female (89%) and White/Caucasian (66%). FFMQ response options were simplified to a 3-point Likert-scale for individuals with dementia (0=rarely true to 2=often true). Results Internal consistency statistics (Cronbach’s alphas) at the scale-level were acceptable among caregivers at baseline and 6-months (.71-.75) but questionably reliable at 12-months (.59, N=46). For individuals with dementia, the simplified version of the FFMQ (with 3 response options) achieved questionable reliability at baseline (.57, N=56) and 6-months (.67, N=32), but improved to acceptable at 12-month assessments (.75, N=15), after significant attrition. Conclusion Researchers should apply caution when using the FFMQ total score with caregivers and those with cognitive impairments. Though simplified response options eased administration, utility of the tool may be limited in those who are more impaired. Before mindfulness measures can be used meaningfully, reliability of available tools like the FFMQ-15 need to be examined in more diverse samples.

Relationship between Mindfulness and Psychological Distress in Patients with Hepatocellular Carcinoma: The Mediation Effect of Self-regulation

Objectives: In this study, we examine the relationship among mindfulness, psychological distress, and self-regulation, to determine whether self-regulation plays a mediating role in the relationship between mindfulness and psychological distress among patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Methods:Participants completed questionnaires including the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS), the Five-facet Mindfulness Questionnaire (FFMQ), and the Self-regulation Scale (SRS). We used structural equation modeling to analyze the relationships among psychological distress, mindfulness, and self-regulation, with self-regulation as a mediator. Results:We found that psychological distress is negatively associated with both mindfulness (r = -0.687, p < .001) and self-regulation (r = -0.629, p < .001), and mindfulness is positively associated with self-regulation (r = 0.534, p < .001). The model indicates that mindfulness has direct impact on self-regulation (β = 0.570, p < .001) and psychological distress (β = -0.685, p < .001). Self-regulation asserts a certain mediation effect on the relationship between mindfulness and psychological distress. A bootstrap test suggests perceived stress has a mediation effect on mindfulness and psychological distress (95% CI: -0.299, -0.134, p < .001), accounting for 23.6% of total effect. Conclusions: Psychological distress is common in HCC patients. The mediation effect of self-regulation provides a reference for discussing possible correlations between mindfulness and psychological distress.

Psychometric Validation and Demographic Differences in Two Recently Developed Trait Mindfulness Measures

<p>Although in recent years an increasingly large body of mindfulness research has accrued, there continues to be a lack of information about how to measure trait mindfulness, as well as whether it varies across demographic variables such as age and gender. Four hundred and six participants from across New Zealand completed a battery of self-report measures in order to examine demographic differences in mindfulness, as well as to look at how mindfulness predicts outcome variables such as happiness and depression. Additionally, psychometric validation was undertaken on two new trait measures of mindfulness: the Toronto Mindfulness Scale, which did not demonstrate good psychometric validity, and the Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire, which did demonstrate good psychometric validity. This study found that females reported higher levels of mindfulness than males, though males demonstrated a stronger mediating relationship between mindfulness and happiness. In addition, higher levels of mindfulness were reported by older individuals; however, young adults manifested the strongest negative relationship between mindfulness and depression across the lifespan. These findings are then discussed in the context of clinical utility and future research.</p>

Psychometric Validation and Demographic Differences in Two Recently Developed Trait Mindfulness Measures

<p>Although in recent years an increasingly large body of mindfulness research has accrued, there continues to be a lack of information about how to measure trait mindfulness, as well as whether it varies across demographic variables such as age and gender. Four hundred and six participants from across New Zealand completed a battery of self-report measures in order to examine demographic differences in mindfulness, as well as to look at how mindfulness predicts outcome variables such as happiness and depression. Additionally, psychometric validation was undertaken on two new trait measures of mindfulness: the Toronto Mindfulness Scale, which did not demonstrate good psychometric validity, and the Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire, which did demonstrate good psychometric validity. This study found that females reported higher levels of mindfulness than males, though males demonstrated a stronger mediating relationship between mindfulness and happiness. In addition, higher levels of mindfulness were reported by older individuals; however, young adults manifested the strongest negative relationship between mindfulness and depression across the lifespan. These findings are then discussed in the context of clinical utility and future research.</p>

RANCANGAN KUESIONER LIMA ASPEK MINDFULNESS BAHASA INDONESIA

The Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire (FFMQ) is one of the most widely used mindfulness measurement instruments due to the ability of the instrument to assess not only how the individual is at present, but also provides accurate conclusions about the impact of each mindfulness practice that has been practiced before. Unfortunately, the Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire (FFMQ) is not available in Indonesian. The study was conducted to redesign the Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire (FFMQ) developed by Baer et al. (2006) in English which consisted of 39 items representing 5 aspects, namely acting with awareness, non-assessing experiences, observing, non-reactivity of inner experiences, and describing in words. The questionnaire redesign in Indonesian version and developed into 40 items consisting of 8 items representing acting with awareness, 9 items representing non-judging of experience, 8 items representing observing, 7 items representing non-reactivity of inner experiences, and 8 items represent describing with words. The questionnaire was arranged in a submitted rating scale format with choices that had been arranged in semantic differential format where response options are presented on a bipolar scale. Kuesioner lima aspek mindfulness atau yang lebih dikenal Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire (FFMQ) adalah salah satu instrumen pengukuran mindfulness yang paling banyak digunakan disebabkan oleh kemampuan instrumen ini menilai bukan hanya bagaimana individu pada saat ini, namun juga memberikan penilaian yang akurat tentang dampak dari setiap praktik mindful yang telah dipraktekkan sebelumnya. Sayangnya saat ini instrumen Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire (FFMQ) belum tersedia dalam bahasa Indonesia. Penelitian dilakukan untuk membuat rancangan kuesioner lima aspek mindfulness atau Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire (FFMQ) yang telah dikembangkan oleh Baer et al. (2006) menggunakan bahasa Inggris yang terdiri dari terdiri dari 39 butir yang mewakili 5 aspek yaitu acting with awareness, non-judging of experience, observing, non-reactivity of inner experience, dan describing with words. Kuesioner tersebut yang dirancang kembali dalam bahasa Indonesia dan berkembang menjadi 40 butir yang terdiri dari 8 butir pernyataan mewakili aspek acting with awareness, 9 butir pernyataan mewakili aspek non-judging of experience, 8 butir pernyataan mewakili aspek observing, 7 butir pernyataan mewakili aspek non-reactivity of inner experience dan 8 butir pernyataan mewakili aspek describing with words. Kuesioner disusun dalam format submitted rating scale dengan pilihan respon disusun dalam format semantic differential dimana pilihan respon disajikan dalam skala bipolar.

The Effect of Mindfulness and Religious Coping on Elderly Mental Health

The elderly population continues to increase not only in the world, but also in Indonesia. One of the cities that contribute to increasing the number of elderly people in Indonesia is Depok, West Java. Elderly is a stage that has experienced many changes and faced various challenges in life. The elderly tend to experience a decline in various aspects. They experience changes in physical, psychological, and social aspects. The changes that occur and all the challenges that must be faced can have an impact on the physical, mental and functioning of life. This study aims to examine whether mindfulness and religious coping have an effect on the mental health of the elderly in Depok city. The sample used were 282 elderly people who were taken using a non-probability sampling technique, namely purposive sampling. The instruments used in this study are adaptations and modifications of the Mental Health Continuum-Long Form (MHC-LF), Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire (FFMQ) and Brief RCOPE instruments. The results showed that at 36.5%, there was a significant effect of mindfulness and religious coping together on the mental health of the elderly. In detail, the results of the minor hypothesis prove that there is a significant effect of three dimensions of mindfulness (observe, describe, and act with awareness) and one dimension of religious coping (positive religious coping) on the mental health of the elderly.

Documentation of two unsuccessful attempts to developing objective measurements of non-attachment and non-reactivity for the study of mindfulness

Mindfulness has received increasing interest in the scientific community due to its proved benefits within clinical settings and in increasing well-being. One challenge for mindfulness researchers is how to measure the construct without relying on self-report instruments, which are prone to biases. Here we tested two different computer-based tasks that aimed to get an objective measure of non-attachment (the Behavioral Attachment Task, BAT) and non-reactivity (the Non-Reactivity Assessment Task, NORAT). The BAT leverages the endowment effect, a concept from behavioral economics describing the attachment developed over time towards something we own, to measure increased reactions times to decisions to sell an object gifted to participants. We correlated changes in these reaction times after participants had owned these objects over a delay period with a Non-Attachment Scale commonly used in mindfulness studies using several versions of the test. However, the BAT failed to replicate the original endowment effect, and no significant correlations with mindfulness scores were found. The NORAT investigated the effect of non-task related emotional stimuli (Negative and Positive pictures) on response times to a two-alternative forced choice task, and correlated the degree of emotional interference with the non-reactivity subscale from the Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire. While negative pictures significantly increased reaction times, we did not find a correlation between this change and non-reactivity. In conclusion, the BAT and NORAT were not successful as objective measures of trait mindfulness, and further research is needed to explore novel ways of measuring these constructs.