Construction and first validation of the Comprehensive Inventory of Mindfulness Experiences

The present article describes the development and validation of a questionnaire for the comprehensive assessment of mindfulness: the Comprehensive Inventory of Mindfulness Experiences (CHIME). The factor structure, reliability, and validity of the CHIME were established in a community sample (N = 298) and a sample of MBSR group participants (N = 161). Factor-analytical procedures supported an eight-factor structure. The structure was tested in a further confirmatory sample (N = 202). The questionnaire and its subscales exhibited good reliability (internal consistency and retest-reliability). Analysis of the measurement invariance of the single items over groups differing in age, gender, meditation experience, and symptom load pointed to the absence of systematic differences in the items' semantic understanding. Parameters reflecting construct validity, criterion validity, and incremental validity as well as change sensitivity were all at least satisfactory. The CHIME is a self-report measure with favorable psychometric properties based on all aspects of mindfulness that are included in current mindfulness scales.