Validation of meditation styles measurements: An exploratory study on non expert meditators

Construct models of meditation measurements are not fully validated. Several scales exist, however, the assessed underlying cognitive processes are not clearly defined. The objective of our study was to analyse various scales, as well as to propose a rigorous construct of meditation styles based on these scales.
Exploratory factor analysis was performed on 131 healthy older participants’ data from the Silver Santé Study. Participants were naïve to meditation practice. Systematic oblimin rotation was used to control the correlation between the following scales: Multidimensional Assessment of Interoceptive Awareness (MAIA), Drexel Defusion Scale, Compassion for Others Scale, Prosocialness Scale and Self-Compassion Scale.
According to the Kaiser criterion, the employed factor model culminated in four distinct factors across two axes. Specifically, two mindfulness axes, and two compassion axes.
Regarding the two mindfulness axes, we can notice one attention regulation axis which includes items of the MAIA: Noticing, Attention Regulation, Emotional Awareness, Self-Regulation, Body Listening and Trusting. The second axis is focused on cognitive defusion is composed of Drexel Defusion Scale as well as of two items of MAIA Not Distracting and Not Worrying.
Concerning the two compassion axes, the first one describes attitudes towards others and is composed of the Compassion for Others and the Prosocialness Scales, while the second axis depicts aspects of being self-centered and includes the Self-Compassion Scale.
The factors identified in a population naïve to the meditation practice largely overlap to the theoretical typology distinguishing between attentional (first axis), constructive (third and fourth axes) and deconstructive (second axis) meditation styles.