Mindfulness in the context of self-regulation: structure and psychometric properties of Russian version of Mindful Attention Awareness Scale (MAAS)

Abstract

This paper examined psychometric properties of the Mindful Attention Awareness Scale (MAAS). By means of confirmatory factor analysis, the models of Mindful Attention Awareness were formulated and compared. Measures of reliability, internal consistency and retest reliability of the allocated scales and subscales were analyzed. The study included two independent samples of students (N = 531) aged from 16 to 29 years. The validity of the MAAS as well as the Deautomatizationand Concentrationsubscales derived from the original scale was tested. The MAAS was applied in two studies in conjunction with other psychodiagnostic methods. The first study, which compared healthy students with students with disabilities showed that Mindful Attention Awareness was associated with subjective well-being and personality resources in both groups. Additionally, common and group-specific features were identified thus showing differential role of the Mindful Attention Awareness in coping mechanisms. It was also found that awareness played a more important role in the struc-ture of self-regulation among students with disabilities compared to the healthy group. The second study did not reveal any significant associations between the indicators of the Mindful Attention Awareness and indica-tors of subjective well-being, personality traits and reflexive features of personality. Moderate to strong asso-ciations were found between mindfulness and indicators of subjective well-being and resilience. Subscales of the MAAS were inversely related to all forms of reflection (constructive and non-constructive) except for the reflection on current activities, awareness of communicative contexts and loneliness-related problems.