Assessing Perceived Barriers to Meditation: the Determinants of Meditation Practice Inventory-Revised (DMPI-R)

Engaging in meditation on a regular basis has been shown to enhance well-being. However, barriers to adopting it as a health behavior are poorly understood. The Determinants of Meditation Practice Inventory (DMPI) is an existing scale designed to measure perceived barriers to meditation. However, it was developed without factor analyses; thus, the dimensionality and construct validity of overall scale and/or subscale scores are unknown. Using factor analyses and tests of convergent validity, the present study explored the psychometric properties of the DMPI and presents a revised, psychometrically valid scale (The Determinants of Meditation Practice Inventory-Revised; DMPI-R).

Adult participants living in the USA (n = 621) provided data through an online survey platform. Extensive exploratory factor analyses were conducted (n = 311) and followed by confirmatory factor analysis (n = 310) on the best-fitting model. Convergent validity was estimated using the full sample data.

Five items were removed because they demonstrated high residual variances and cross loaded onto multiple factors. Relationships among the remaining items were best explained by a four-factor structure with the following subscales: low perceived benefit, perceived inadequate knowledge, perceived pragmatic barriers, and perceived sociocultural conflict. Convergent validity was evidenced by associations between subscale scores and experiential avoidance, distress tolerance, and curiosity.

The multifactor structure of the DMPI-R indicates that there are multiple classes of perceived barriers on which people can vary. Validity analyses suggest that the DMPI-R is a promising measure of perceived barriers to meditation among North American adults.