Factor Structure and Reliability of the Mindfulness Attention Awareness Scale for Adolescents and the Relationship Between Mindfulness and Anxiety in Adolescents

Background: In recent years, application and practice of mindfulness-based interventions to reduce adolescent psychological problems are increasing. Therefore, it is necessary to design and study tools that measure mindfulness and its effects. Objectives: One of the available tools to measure mindfulness in adolescents is the mindfulness attention awareness scale for adolescents (MAAS-A). The current study aimed at examining the factor structure and reliability of a Persian version of this scale and investigating the relationship between mindfulness and anxiety. Methods: The current descriptive, cross sectional and psychometric study was conducted on 354 students from Kashan city, Iran, selected via the cluster sampling method in 2017. The exploratory factor analysis (EFA) by the principle component analysis method, the confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), and the relationship between mindfulness and anxiety were conducted to examine the validity of the MAAS-A. To calculate the reliability of the MAAS-A, Cronbach's alpha and test-retest reliability (four-week interval) were employed. The statistical analysis was performed with SPSS version 19.0 and AMOS-22. Results: The results of the EFA suggested two factors for this scale labeled as âacting with attention and awarenessâ and âattention to the present momentâ. The CFA confirmed the two-factor model of the 14-item scale (the root mean square error of approximation (RMSEA) 90 confidence interval (CI) = 0.001 - 0.06). The reliability of this scale was good (I± = 0.81, retest reliability = 0.86) and the correlation between mindfulness and anxiety was negative and significant (r = -0.43, P < 0.01). Also, this relationship was significant in females (r = -0.44, P < 0.01) and males (r = -0.46, P < 0.01). Conclusions: According to the results of the current study, the MAAS-A was a reliable and valuable scale to measure the mindfulness of adolescents. The results of correlation between mindfulness and anxiety meant that by increasing mindfulness, the anxiety reduced in adolescents. ©2018, Author(s). This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License