Behavioral assessment of mindfulness: defining features, organizing framework, and review of emerging methods
Introduction
In recent years there has been a rapid growth of interest in and study of mindfulness [1•]. To facilitate this science, measurement methods of mindfulness have been developed and implemented widely, most commonly self-report scales of mindfulness [1•,2,3]. However, reliance on self-report scales to measure mindfulness is limited in a number of fundamental and well-established ways (see Refs. [1•,4, 5, 6] for reviews). Consequently, responding to calls for advancing mindfulness measurement and thereby the science of mindfulness [1•,2,3,7], a number of research groups have developed and tested novel behavioral measures of mindfulness.
To-date, behavioral measures of mindfulness have emerged, organically so to speak, through creative efforts of various research groups. There are, however, no established defining features of behavioral measures of mindfulness to help guide such work. Likewise, there is no organizing framework or proposed set of principles to conceptually or methodologically organize this work to-date, nor to systematically guide the ongoing development of novel measurement methods. Accordingly, in this paper, we propose defining features of behavioral measures of mindfulness, lay out a novel organizing framework for such measures, and review extant behavioral methods and measures of mindfulness.
We argue that behavioral measures of mindfulness are characterized by two essential and defining features. First, behavioral measures of mindfulness are designed to measure attention of, awareness of, or an attitude(s) toward, present moment experience(s). Second, experimental stimuli in behavioral measures of mindfulness are present moment experiential objects of mindful awareness common to mindfulness training (e.g. breath, interoception, mental events; c.f., numbers, words, or arrows on a computer screen). Such defining features may help to conceptualize and specify behavioral assessment of mindfulness, and may guide the development of novel behavioral measures of mindfulness. Such features may also help to distinguish behavioral measures of mindfulness from long-standing cognitive tasks, such as those measuring external attention (typically visual attention) or executive functions (e.g. working memory) that have to-date been the primary behavioral measures of outcomes, or putative cognitive proxies, of mindfulness [8, 9, 10].
We propose a framework consisting of four domains that may further help to organize, conceptualize, and guide the development of extant and emerging behavioral measures of mindfulness. Each domain entails one or more behavioral method(s) and measure(s) designed to assess a group of inter-related mindfulness processes (see Table 1). The domains include measurement of (I) objects of mindful awareness, (II) time-course of mindful awareness, (III) sensitivity of mindful awareness, as well as (IV) attitudes toward present moment experience (see Figure 1). Below, we describe the mindfulness process(es), behavioral method(s), and measure(s) included in each domain.
Section snippets
Domain I. Measuring the objects of mindful awareness
Mindfulness involves awareness of various present moment experiences or objects. Indeed, canonical Buddhist texts delineate four foundations of mindfulness, three of which refer to experiential objects of mindful awareness — body, hedonic tone, and mind [11,12]. Likewise, the objects of mindful awareness are also central to many forms of mindfulness meditation. For example, focused Attention (FA) meditation involves focusing mindful awareness on a meditation anchor, an object such as the breath
Domain II. Measuring the time-course of mindful awareness
As a process that unfolds from moment-to-moment in time, mindfulness practice entails sustaining mindful awareness on present moment experience and re-engaging in mindful awareness once mindless states occur (i.e. states with no awareness of present moment experience) [11,12]. We refer to the expression of mindful awareness in time as the time-course of mindful awareness. Indeed, Buddhist scholars and mindfulness researchers have previously referred to at least two important mindfulness
Domain III. Measuring the sensitivity of mindful awareness
Various Buddhist canonical texts and contemporary Buddhist and secular mindfulness traditions emphasize the importance of developing mindful awareness of subtle experiences in the body and mind, such as subtle sensations throughout the body [28, 29, 30, 31, 32]. Accordingly, accurate detection of subtle changes in interoceptive and mental experience is an important mindfulness process. In line with recent conceptualizations of interoceptive sensitivity as accuracy in detection of internal
Domain IV. Measuring the attitudes toward present moment experience
Mindfulness practice is characterized by a particular relationship with, or attitudes toward, present moment experience, such as non-judging, acceptance, curiosity, and disidentification from experience [22,24,32,51, 52, 53]. Collectively, these attitudes toward present moment experience are often referred to as attitudinal qualities of mindfulness, and are considered foundational to the practice and cultivation of mindfulness [24,32,53].
To-date, only one behavioral method has been used to
Conclusions
We proposed two defining features of behavioral measures of mindfulness as well as a framework to help organize, conceptualize, and guide the development of extant and emerging behavioral measures of mindfulness (see Table 1). Of the 12 reviewed measures, four demonstrate acceptable reliabilities and preliminary evidence of construct validity as measures of mindfulness processes: Mindful-Breathing Exercise [16•], Mindful Awareness Task, Breath Counting Task [26••], and the Single Experience and
Conflict of interest statement
Nothing declared.
References and recommended reading
Papers of particular interest, published within the period of review, have been highlighted as:
• of special interest
•• of outstanding interest
Acknowledgements
This work was supported by the Israel Science Foundation (grant no. 2046/17) and a Mind and Life Institute Francisco J. Varela Research Award (grant no. 2015-Varela-Hadash, Yuval).
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