Validation of the Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire scale in medical students and doctors in Chile

Background: The increasing use of Mindfulness-based interventions requires standardized construct-based measurement instruments for clinical and research purposes. The Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire scale with five factors was developed in the United States and validated in Spain. There are versions of 39, 24 and 15 items (FFMQ-39, FFMQ-24 and FFMQ-15). Objective: To validate the FFMQ-24 and FFMQ-15 scale in Chile. Methodology: Six experts performed a linguistic adaptation of the Spanish version of the FFMQ-24. The adapted instrument was applied to a sample of 795 physicians. Internal validity was analyzed by calculating Cronbach's alpha (a) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). Finally, 15 items were retained, and the 5-factor solution was maintained. The FFMQ-15 scale was applied to a sample of 365 medical students and analyzed by calculating (a) and CFA. The external validity of FFMQ-15 was evaluated with the Mental Health Continiuum-14 (MHC-14) scale. Results: Linguistic changes were made. The CFA of FFMQ-24 obtained a lower-than-expected fit for a 5-factor solution. The (a) value varied between.68 and.86 in all dimensions. The FFMQ-15 had an adequate fit for five factors for physicians (c2 = 216.17, df = 80, p <.01; CFI =.96; TLI =.94; RMSEA =.05 [.04,.06]; SRMR =.04) and students (c2 = 163.61, df = 80, p <.01; CF =.96; TLI =.94; RMSEA =.05 [.04,.07]; SRMR =.05). External validity with MHC-14 was adequate. Conclusion: The FFMQ-15 scale has acceptable internal consistency and adequate internal and external validity in Chile.