Measuring Psychological Mechanisms in Meditation Practice: Using a Phenomenologically Grounded Classification System to Develop Theory-Based Composite Scores

Abstract

Objectives: Deepening our understanding of the mechanisms by which meditation practices impact well-being and human flourishing is essential for advancing the science of meditation.The phenomenologically grounded classification system introduced by Dahl, Lutz, and Davidson (2015) distinguishes attentional, constructive, and deconstructive forms of meditation based on the psychological mechanisms these practices primarily target or necessitate. Our main aim was to understand whether this theory-based taxonomy could be used as a guiding principle for combining established psychological self-report measures of meditation-related mechanisms into psychometrically adequate composite scores. Methods:We used cross-sectional data to compute meditation composite scores in three independent samples, namely meditation-naïve healthy older adults from the Age-Well trial (n = 135), meditation-naïve older adults with subjective cognitive decline from the SCD-Well trial (n = 147), and healthy long-term meditators (≥10,000 hours of practice including one three-year meditation retreat) from the Brain & Mindfulness project (n=29). The psychometric properties of the composite scores were assessed via floor and ceiling effects, composite intercorrelations, interpretability, and convergent validity in relation to well-being, anxiety, and depression.Results: Three theoretically derived meditation composite scores, reflecting mechanisms involved in attentional, constructive, and deconstructive practices, displayed adequate psychometric properties. Separate secondary confirmatory factor analyses empirically corroborated the theoretically predicted three-factor structure of this classification system. Conclusions:Complementing data-driven approaches, this study offers preliminary support for using a theoretical model of meditation-related mechanisms to create empirically meaningful and psychometrically sound composite scores. We conclude by suggesting conceptual and methodological considerations for future research in this area.

Effects of a mindfulness-based intervention and a health self-management programme on psychological well-being in older adults with subjective cognitive decline: Secondary analyses from the SCD-Well randomised clinical trial

“…These well-being measures might be limited in their ability to capture those dimensions of well-being that meditation theories would predict long-term practice to cultivate (7,16). In fact, a recent cross-sectional study suggested that expert meditators (≥10,000 hours of practice including one 3-year meditation retreat) displayed lower PWBS total scores than meditation-naïve individuals (15). Nonetheless, from a clinical perspective, we still expected an improvement in the general type of well-being that is captured by these measures.…”

“…Importantly, no self-report measures that specifically reflect the dimensions of Dahl et al's training-based framework for well-being (7) have been developed. Therefore, we utilised previously developed composite scores of meditation-related capacities that were based on self-report measures of trait-like individual differences (15). These trait-level scales may be suboptimal for capturing the process-level aspects of meditation-related dimensions of psychological well-being.…”

“…Awareness, connection, and insight correspond to the attentional, constructive, and deconstructive psychological capacities previously introduced byDahl et al (2015). Details of the theory-guided development and psychometric properties of the composites used in the present study have been published(15). The three composite scores include scales or subscales from four self-report measures (see Table2): The Multidimensional Assessment of Interoceptive Awareness (MAIA; Mehling et al, 2012) questionnaire and the 39-item Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire (FFMQ-39; Baer et al, 2006) subscales of observing (noticing experiences) and acting with awareness (attending to activities non-mechanically) were used as measures of awareness.…”

Transforming adversity into an ally: A qualitative study of “feeding your demons” meditation

“…Before describing how the three families suggested by Dahl and colleagues relate to the steps of the FYD practice, we will define the mechanisms and examples of these practices here briefly. The attentional family addresses the process of attention regulation through meta-awareness including such practices as concentration and mindfulness-based practices (Dahl et al, 2015;Schlosser et al, 2022). Meta-awareness is awareness of what we are conscious of whether that is thinking, feeling, or perceiving, or as in non-dual states, awareness itself (Dahl et al, 2015).…”

“…These practices, conducted under the guidance of an authorized instructor, aim to increase metaawareness and undo experiential fusion with constraining or (Greer Dickson, 2019) invalid concepts of self in order to arrive at a non-dual state of awareness. The cognitive structures of distorted views of self/other considered the root of suffering in Buddhist philosophy, collapse in this state, and experiential knowledge of the nature of consciousness itself arises (Dahl et al, 2015;Schlosser et al, 2022).…”