Reliability of self-reported dispositional mindfulness scales and their association with working memory performance and functional connectivity

• DOI: 10.1016/j.bandc.2023.106001
• Publication Date: 2023-05-24T03:12:23Z
• Authors: Yeji Kim; Juhyeon Lee; Marion Tegethoff; Gunther Meinlschmidt; Seung-Schik Yoo; Jong-Hwan Lee
• Keywords: Male; Adult; Young Adult; Memory, Short-Term; Humans; Reproducibility of Results; Attention; Self Report; 16. Peace & justice; Mindfulness

We systematically investigated the link between trait mindfulness scores and functional connectivity (FC) features or behavioral data, to emphasize the importance of the reliability of self-report mindfulness scores. Sixty healthy young male participants underwent two functional MRI runs with three mindfulness or mind-wandering task blocks with an N-back task (NBT) block. The data from 49 participants (age: 23.3 ± 2.8) for whom two sets of the self-reported Mindfulness Attention Awareness Scale (MAAS) and NBT performance were available were analyzed. We divided participants into two groups based on the consistency level of their MAAS scores (i.e., a "consistent" and an "inconsistent" group). Then, the association between the MAAS scores and FC features or NBT performance was investigated using linear regression analysis with p-value correction and bootstrapping. Meaningful associations (a) between MAAS and NBT accuracy (slope = 0.41, CI = [0.10, 0.73], corrected p < 0.05), (b) between MAAS and the FC edges in the frontoparietal network, and (c) between the FC edges and NBT performance were only observed in the consistent group (n = 26). Our findings demonstrate the importance of appropriate screening mechanisms for self-report-based dispositional mindfulness scores when trait mindfulness scores are combined with neuronal features and behavioral data.