A study of the psychometric properties of the Italian version of the Child and Adolescent Mindfulness Measure (CAMM)

Mindfulness is a state of complete awareness of one’s thoughts, which is intentional, non-judgmental and present moment by moment. In recent years several psychotherapeutic and educational interventions in childhood and adolescence have proposed mindfulness-based programmes to promote better well-being and to prevent psychopathology in young subjects. Despite the numerous applications of this construct, mindfulness is struggling to become a scientific construct, because valid and reliable instruments are not available. The aim of this work was to study the factorial structure of the Child and Adolescent Mindfulness Measure (CAMM), on a sample of 917 participants, divided into 345 children and 572 healthy adolescents. Exploratory factor analyses suggested a reduced form with 8 items loading on one factor, with good internal consistency. This study legitimises the use of the CAMM in the national context for childhood and adolescence.