Psychometric Evaluation of a Sinhalese Version of the Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire and Development of a Six-Facet Short Form in a Sri Lankan Buddhist Context

Objectives This study aimed to evaluate the psychometric properties of a Sinhalese version of the Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire (FFMQ), including its factor structure, internal consistency and convergent validity, in an exclusively Buddhist population. Methods The FFMQ was translated to Sinhalese using forward and backward translation, expert consensus and pretesting. The translated questionnaire was administered to a sample of 415 nurses (90.8% female; mean age = 39 years; 100% Buddhists), from 4 hospitals in Sri Lanka. The Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale (DASS)-21 was administered concurrently. A series of empirical factor models were tested for fit using confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) was used to explore alternative factor structures. Internal consistency was measured using Cronbach alpha. Results The original five-factor structure, either as first-order or hierarchical models, showed poor fit in the present population. EFA supported a six-factor structure, where the original Actaware facet splits into two facets, namely, Distract and Autopilot. A 20-item short form composed of 3-4 items from each of the six facets, selected based on factor loadings and item-total correlations, showed excellent CFA model fit. Internal consistencies of the 20-item scale (alpha = 0.7) and the five subscales (alpha = 0.67-0.72) were satisfactory. Overall mindfulness showed moderate negative correlations with depression, anxiety and stress; and all facets except Observe and Describe correlated negatively with psychological problems. Conclusions Our findings endorse a six-factor structure of mindfulness, which had been proposed in a few previous studies. A modified 20-item short form with six facets shows satisfactory psychometric properties.