توسعه مقیاس برای ارزیابی تجربه مدیتیشن

This paper describes the initial development of a scale to assess the effects of meditation. The scale consists of two sections: Experiences During Meditation (EOM-DM) and Effects of Meditation in Everyday Life (EOM-EL). Scale evaluation on 236 participants involved factor analysis, reliability and validity analysis. The EOM-DM scale had five subscales: Cognitive effects, Emotional effects, Mystical experiences, Relaxation and Physical discomfort. The physical, emotional, expanded consciousness and cognitive item groups of the EOM-EL were analysed separately. Each scale had a single factor structure whereas analysis of the EOM-EL-cognitive scale identified four factors: Social relations, Cognitive ability, Non-judgemental acceptance and Behaviours and habits. Construct validity was explored by assessing correlations with existing measures: Mindful Attention Awareness Scale, FACIT Spiritual wellbeing subscale and POMS-Short Form. Although further development is required, the scale showed adequate psychometric properties and may be useful for clinicians and researchers to improve understanding of the effects of meditation practices.

Meditation, which may be defined as the “intentional self-regulation of attention from moment to moment” (Kabat-Zinn, 1982, p. 33) has become increasingly popular, both to promote wellbeing and to treat specific medical and psychological problems. There has been a trend to de-emphasize the religious/spiritual dimensions of practice and to focus on the physiological and psychological effects of meditation. Meditation techniques may be divided into two broad categories: those with an emphasis on (a) concentration (e.g. Transcendental Meditation) and (b) mindfulness (e.g. vipassana and mindfulness-based stress reduction). Concentration-based approaches involve focusing attention on a particular stimulus, such as a mantra, sound, object or sensation. Mindfulness meditation techniques emphasize non-judgemental attention to constantly changing internal (bodily sensations, cognitions, perceptions, and emotions) and external (sights and sounds) stimuli as they arise. Mindfulness may be viewed as a multifaceted, naturally occurring characteristic, with some facets more greatly affected by meditation than others (Baer, Smith, & Allen, 2004; Brown & Ryan, 2003). Meditation has been shown to have beneficial physiological, cognitive and behavioural effects (Cahn and Polich, 2006 and Vaitl et al., 2005). The cognitive aspects of meditation may underlie some clinical applications, with increased awareness bringing about improved self-management through changes in habitual cognition and patterns of responding (Wenk-Sormaz, 2005). Meditation-based interventions may help alleviate health problems and improve psychological functioning (Kabat-Zinn et al., 1986 and Teasdale et al., 1995). Meditation is a complex, multifaceted intervention with specific and non-specific effects. It is difficult to standardise, quantify, authenticate and research (Caspi & Burleson, 2005). Meditation practices vary and may produce different physiological and psychological effects, complicating comparisons across studies (Gillani & Smith, 2001). Meditators vary widely in their subjective reports and how rapidly they experience effects. A common description is that of a very relaxed but alert state, while some meditators have mystical experiences that are difficult to describe (Osis, Bokert, & Carlson, 1973). In addition, data from inexperienced practitioners may not reflect the experiences of longer-term meditators (Goleman, 1978–1979). A significant factor in continued practice is participant reaction to the intervention and whether they feel that meditation is effective in daily life (Kabat-Zinn et al., 1986). Several research studies have involved the use of questionnaires to explore the meditation experience (Brown and Engler, 1980 and Kohr, 1977–1978; Maliszewski et al., 1981, Osis et al., 1973 and Piron, 2001), although these have not been widely used or validated. A number of mindfulness measures have been developed, including The Mindful Attention Awareness Scale (MAAS) (Brown & Ryan, 2003), The Freiburg Mindfulness Inventory (FMI) (Buchheld, Grossman, & Walach, 2001) and The Kentucky Inventory of Mindfulness Skills (KIMS) (Baer et al., 2004). These measures generally examine mindfulness without reference to meditation and have been criticized for failing to cover all facets of the construct (Walach, Buchheld, Buttenmuller, Kleinknecht, & Schmidt, 2006) and for not including other aspects of meditation, including the physical and the spiritual. History traditionally links meditation with the concept of a spiritual reality larger but inclusive of the personal self. Kabat-Zinn (2003) notes that meditation is concerned with cultivation of awareness, insight, and compassion, yet these concepts are not often the focus of research. They may be incorporated by examining the psychological and phenomenological changes that occur during meditation and in everyday life. This may help to understand processes and links to psychological symptoms and wellbeing (Roemer & Orsillo, 2003). Standardized measurement of the impact of meditation may facilitate comparisons across studies, aid teaching and assessment of change over time. As the quality of the meditation experience may be more important than quantity in achieving beneficial effects, there is a need to assess quality of meditation, rather than merely compliance. The aim of this study was to develop a scale to assess the cognitive, physical, emotional, and spiritual effects of meditation both during meditation and in everyday life. This is in contrast to most currently available scales which tend to focus on mindfulness alone. This paper describes the development of the Effects of Meditation scale (EOM), including the creation of the item pool, administration, scale evaluation and refinement.