A Rasch Model Analysis of the Mindful Attention Awareness Scale

The Mindful Attention Awareness Scale was developed to measure individual differences in the tendency to be mindful. The current study examined the psychometric properties of the Mindful Attention Awareness Scale in a heterogeneous sample of 565 nonmeditators and 612 meditators using the polytomous Rasch model. The results showed that some items did not function the same way for these two groups. Overall, meditators had higher mean estimates than nonmeditators. The analysis identified a group of items as highly discriminating. Using a different model, Van Dam, Earleywine, and Borders in 2010 identified the same group of items as highly discriminating, and concluded that they were the items with the most information. Multiple pieces of evidence from the Rasch analysis showed that these items discriminate highly because of local dependence, hence do not supply independent information. We discussed how these different conclusions, based on similar findings, result from two very different paradigms in measurement.