Development and Validation of the Inventory of Meditation Experiences (IME)
Nicholas T. Dam, Jessica Targett, Alex Burger, Jonathan N. Davies, Julieta Galante
Mindfulness June 1, 2024 DOI: 10.1007/s12671-024-02384-9 via Springer Nature
Summary
AI-generated from the abstractA new questionnaire, the Inventory of Meditation Experiences (IME), captures a wide range of meditation-related experiences, from pleasant to unpleasant and mild to intense. Developed with data from 886 US meditators, the final 30-item scale has three factors and shows good statistical fit. The IME correlates as expected with measures of adverse effects, meditation habits, and mental health symptoms. The tool allows researchers to assess both the intensity and subjective valence of experiences separately or together, offering a more nuanced way to study the full spectrum of meditation-related psychological states.
Study at a glance
| Characteristics | Cross-sectional survey Preregistered Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 886 |
| Population | US meditators with varied meditation practices and experience levels |
| Topics | Meditation |
| Keywords | Adverse effects Unusual experiences Psychometrics |
| Citations | 9 |
| Key finding | The Inventory of Meditation Experiences (IME) is a psychometrically valid 30-item, 3-factor scale that captures meditation-related experiences of varying intensity and subjective valence. |
Abstract
Objectives Meditation is increasingly popular, and yet studies of meditation-related adverse effects, or experiences of unusual psychological states, have mostly focused on those of extremely unpleasant or pleasant nature, respectively, despite the wide range of possible experiences. We aimed to create an instrument to capture meditation-related experiences of varied intensity and subjective valence. Method We collected detailed data from 886 US meditators after screening over 3000 individuals to generate a sample representative of major types of meditation practices and experience levels. Participants answered questions about meditation history, mental health, and 103 meditation-related experiences identified for the development of the Inventory of Meditation Experiences (IME). Results Parallel analysis guided the eventual determination of factors; exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis yielded good model-to-data fit on a 30-item, 3-factor version of the scale. The total scale and subscales showed expected correlations with measures of adverse effects, meditation characteristics, and mental health symptoms. Analysis indicated utility in examining experience intensity and valence as potentially distinct or combined features of experiences. Conclusions The IME is a psychometrically valid tool that may prove useful to assess a variety of meditation-related experiences that account for both the intensity and subjective valence of those experiences. Preregistration While several hypotheses were preregistered ( https://osf.io/r8beh/ ), the present study pertains only to the development and validation of the instrument.