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Toronto Mindfulness Scale (TMS) State Version

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Handbook of Assessment in Mindfulness Research

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Abstract

The Toronto Mindfulness Scale-State Version (State TMS) is a rationally derived 13-item, two-factor self-report questionnaire designed to assess an individual’s capacity to invoke a mindful state as measured immediately following a mindfulness meditation experience. The TMS developers conceptualized mindfulness as having two components: (1) an intentional self-regulation of attention toward present experience and (2) a curious, accepting, and open orientation toward present experience as it arises. Based upon this meta-cognitive definitional framework, the State TMS comprises two factors: Decentering, which reflects an awareness of one’s experience with some distance and disidentification rather than over-identifying with thoughts and emotions, and Curiosity, which reflects an attitude of wanting to learn more about one’s experiences. Although evaluations of the substantive validity of the State TMS subscales have demonstrated moderate to good internal consistency as well as good convergent and discriminant validity, no studies beyond the initial validation study have independently examined the psychometric properties of the State TMS factors when using the standardized protocol.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, University of Maine, Orono, ME, USA

    Emily A. P. Haigh, Liv Valö & Colin M. Bosma

  2. Department of Psychiatry, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada

    Mark A. Lau

Authors
  1. Emily A. P. Haigh
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  2. Liv Valö
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  3. Colin M. Bosma
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  4. Mark A. Lau
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Emily A. P. Haigh .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. School of Psychology, University of Waikato, Hamilton, New Zealand

    Oleg N. Medvedev

  2. North Shore Campus, Auckland Univ of Technology, Auckland, New Zealand

    Christian U. Krägeloh

  3. Dept of Psychology and Neuroscience, Auckland University of Technology, Auckland, New Zealand

    Richard J. Siegert

  4. Augusta University, Raleigh, NC, USA

    Nirbhay N. Singh

Toronto Mindfulness Scale State (TMS-State)

Toronto Mindfulness Scale State (TMS-State)

We are interested in what you just experienced. Below is a list of things that people sometimes experience. Please read each statement. Next to each statement are five choices: “not at all,” “a little,” “moderately,” “quite a bit,” and “very much.” Please indicate the extent to which you agree with each statement. In other words, how well does the statement describe what you just experienced, just now?

 

Not at all

A little

Moderately

Quite a bit

Very much

1. I experienced myself as separate from my changing thoughts and feelings.

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2. I was more concerned with being open to my experiences than controlling or changing them.

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3. I was curious about what I might learn about myself by taking notice of how I react to certain thoughts, feelings or sensations.

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4. I experienced my thoughts more as events in my mind than as a necessarily accurate reflection of the way things ‘really’ are.

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5. I was curious to see what my mind is up to from moment to moment.

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6. I was curious about each of my thoughts and feelings as they occur.

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7. I was receptive to observing unpleasant thoughts and feelings without interfering with them.

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8. I was more invested in just watching my experiences as they arise, than in figuring out what they could mean.

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9. I approached each experience by trying to accept it, no matter whether it is pleasant or unpleasant.

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10. I remained curious about the nature of each experience as it arose.

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11. I was aware of my thoughts and feelings without overidentifying with them.

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12. I was curious about my reactions to things.

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13. I was curious about what I might learn about myself by just taking notice of what my attention gets drawn to.

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Scoring:

Key: All items are written in the positively keyed direction, so no reverse scoring of items is required

Curiosity score:

The following items are summed: 3, 5, 6, 10, 12, 13

Decentering score:

The following items are summed: 1, 2, 4, 7, 8, 9, 11

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Haigh, E.A.P., Valö, L., Bosma, C.M., Lau, M.A. (2022). Toronto Mindfulness Scale (TMS) State Version. In: Medvedev, O.N., Krägeloh, C.U., Siegert, R.J., Singh, N.N. (eds) Handbook of Assessment in Mindfulness Research. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-77644-2_16-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-77644-2_16-1

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