Psychometric properties of the Mindful Attention Awareness Scale in Colombian undergraduates

The Mindfulness Attention Awareness Scale is one of the most popular instruments to measure mindfulness, and this construct is conceived as unidimensional, emphasizing attention/awareness as its essential aspect. This study aimed to analyze the factor structure and psychometric properties of the Spanish version of the MAAS in a Colombian sample of 762 undergraduates. Data were very similar to those obtained in other validation studies of the MAAS. A confirmatory factor analysis found that the expected one-factor structure showed a good fit to the data. The MAAS had excellent internal consistency, and showed theoretically coherent correlations with emotional symptoms, automatic negative thoughts, psychological inflexibility, and life satisfaction. Participants who could have a psychopathological problem because they exceeded the cut-off of the General Health Questionnaire, 12 scored lower on the MAAS than participants who scored below this cut-off. In conclusion, the MAAS seems to be a reliable and valid measure of mindfulness in Colombian undergraduates.