Mindfulness skills and interpersonal behaviour

We discuss the multidimensional nature of mindfulness and its relation to interpersonal feelings and performance. We examined the factor structure and internal reliability of a self-report measure of mindfulness, the Kentucky Inventory of Mindfulness Skills (KIMS; Baer, Smith, & Allen, 2004), in Dutch speaking Psychology students (n = 113) and parents (n = 246). We replicated the four factors proposed by Baer et al. (2004): Observe, Describe, Act With Awareness and Accept Without Judgement. The Dutch KIMS and all elements of mindfulness appeared invariant across samples. All elements of mindfulness were positively associated with expressing oneself in various social situations. A greater tendency for mindful observation was associated with more engagement in empathy. Mindful description, acting with awareness, and non-judgemental acceptance were associated with better identification and description of feelings, more body satisfaction, less social anxiety, and less distress contagion.