Development and Validation of the Japanese Version of the Freiburg Mindfulness Inventory-Short Form

The 14-item Freiburg Mindfulness Inventory-short form assesses mindfulness, and enhanced mindfulness is beneficial for reducing anxiety and depressive symptoms. This study aims to develop a Japanese version of the measure (J-FMI) and examine its reliability and validity in a clinical population.

The exploratory factor analysis revealed that the J-FMI had two factors, with five items in the presence factor and nine in the acceptance factor. Internal consistency and reliability were high for the overall scale (α = .90, ω = .92), J-FMI presence (α = .80, ω = .80), and acceptance (α = .89, ω = .90) factors. In the correlation analyses, each J-FMI factor was significantly correlated with the five facets of trait mindfulness (r = .11 to .65) and anxiety and depressive symptoms (r =  − .22 to − .61). There were no significant correlations between J-FMI presence and anxiety and depressive symptoms after acceptance was controlled (r =  − .04 to − .05) in the partial correlation analyses. Conversely, significant correlations were noted between J-FMI acceptance and anxiety and depressive symptoms after presence was controlled (r =  − .27 to − .53).

These findings demonstrate the J-FMI’s high internal consistency, reliability, and factorial validity and support its criterion, convergent, and discriminant validity in a clinical sample, thus confirming its high reliability and validity.