Objectives: 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).
Methods: 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.
Results: 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.
Conclusions: 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.
Keywords: Health behavior change; Measurement; Meditation; Mindfulness; Perceived barriers.