[How to assess mindfulness? Problems and future]

The concept of mindfulness is characterized by awareness and acceptance of experiences; flexible regulation of attention; an objective receptivity to experience and an orientation to the here-and-now. Interest in 'mindfulness' and 'mindfulness meditation' is recent and growing both at the levels of research and of clinical practice in the West as mindfulness is associated with health and well-being. It (mindfulness) is attained by the practice of certain types of meditation. One of the current key challenges is to evaluate and measure the level of mindfulness of a subject and its evolution.

The paper proposes a reflexion on the concept of mindfulness with a view to improving the operational evaluation of mindfulness level for clinical and non-clinical subjects.

First, the problems with the use of existing self-report questionnaires assessing mindfulness level are discussed. Second, an analysis of the cognitive processes that come into play in mindfulness acquisition (by meditation) can highlight the significance of certain cognitive tools in a more accurate evaluation of the level of mindfulness of individuals.

Self-regulation of attention, and orientation to lived experience could be operational candidates for assessing the level of mindfulness. The pertinence of well-known paradigms evaluating self-regulation of attention and orientation to experience are discussed.