title: Validation of the comprehensive inventory of mindfulness experiences using Rasch methodology

authors: Wilkinson, Samuel

subjects: Mindfulness

abstract: Although mindfulness has now been studied for multiple decades, the field of psychometric research has yet to agree upon the optimal way to measure the mindfulness construct. Prior research has identified eight distinct aspects of mindfulness, which were not adequately captured by any available measures until the development of the Comprehensive Inventory of Mindfulness Experiences (CHIME). The CHIME contains 37 items and has demonstrated excellent psychometric properties in both the German and Dutch languages, but an English version for adults has not been validated to date. The purpose of the present study was to investigate the psychometric characteristics of the translated English CHIME scale using Rasch 
methodology. The current study utilized the unrestricted Partial Credit Rasch model to evaluate the psychometric characteristics of the English CHIME. The sample included 620 participants from the general population. The validity of the English CHIME was examined by correlating its scores with various measures of mindfulness and psychological functioning. Initial Rasch analysis of the English CHIME showed poor model fit, local dependency, and evidence against the assumption of unidimensionality. Several minor modifications, which involved creating Super-Items, were required to achieve good fit to the Rasch model (ꭕ²45)=31.99, p=0.93). The modified scale displayed evidence of unidimensionality, invariance across personal factors, and ahigh reliability (PSI=0.92). The developed Rasch algorithm permitted the transformation of ordinal responses into interval scale scores, increasing the English CHIME’s precision of measurement. The English CHIME’s external validity was established by moderate–high correlations with other measures of mindfulness and various measures of psychological functioning. The results of this study provide evidence for the validity of the English CHIME scale, which can be used to assess the overarching construct of mindfulness.

text: Validation of the comprehensive inventory of mindfulness experiences using Rasch methodology Although mindfulness has now been studied for multiple decades, the field of psychometric research has yet to agree upon the optimal way to measure the mindfulness construct. Prior research has identified eight distinct aspects of mindfulness, which were not adequately captured by any available measures until the development of the Comprehensive Inventory of Mindfulness Experiences (CHIME). The CHIME contains 37 items and has demonstrated excellent psychometric properties in both the German and Dutch languages, but an English version for adults has not been validated to date. The purpose of the present study was to investigate the psychometric characteristics of the translated English CHIME scale using Rasch 
methodology. The current study utilized the unrestricted Partial Credit Rasch model to evaluate the psychometric characteristics of the English CHIME. The sample included 620 participants from the general population. The validity of the English CHIME was examined by correlating its scores with various measures of mindfulness and psychological functioning. Initial Rasch analysis of the English CHIME showed poor model fit, local dependency, and evidence against the assumption of unidimensionality. Several minor modifications, which involved creating Super-Items, were required to achieve good fit to the Rasch model (ꭕ²45)=31.99, p=0.93). The modified scale displayed evidence of unidimensionality, invariance across personal factors, and ahigh reliability (PSI=0.92). The developed Rasch algorithm permitted the transformation of ordinal responses into interval scale scores, increasing the English CHIME’s precision of measurement. The English CHIME’s external validity was established by moderate–high correlations with other measures of mindfulness and various measures of psychological functioning. The results of this study provide evidence for the validity of the English CHIME scale, which can be used to assess the overarching construct of mindfulness.

year: 2022

title: Understanding Christian-Muslim relations: Past and present [Book review]

authors: Pratt, Douglas

subjects: Christian

abstract: Clinton Bennett’s overview analysis of the history of relations between Islam and Christianity has been attempted with a view to shedding light on contemporary interfaith issues and the prospects for ongoing interreligious dialogue. After some 1,400 years of encounter and engagement, has there been any real progress? For that matter, as the introduction notes, ‘How is progress judged?’ (p. 1). The author is of the view that ‘the most meaningful dialogue . . . takes place when individuals or groups of Christians and Muslims meet face to face and discuss their faith, hopes and dreams, problems and successes’ (p. 8). At the same time, he acknowledges the rightful role of discursive dialogue where, in effect, the interlocutors are the abstract systems of ‘Islam’ and ‘Christianity’. Dialogue is as much inter-systemic as it is interpersonal; a view with which I fully concur. Taking a broad, chronological approach, Bennett visits significant contributions and contributors from both faith traditions. He shows how ‘arguments and counter-arguments used centuries ago remain popular today, on both sides’ (p. 8) and structures his work through the lens of a dual category analysis of conciliation and confrontation that he developed in an earlier work (Bennett, 1992).

text: Understanding Christian-Muslim relations: Past and present [Book review] Clinton Bennett’s overview analysis of the history of relations between Islam and Christianity has been attempted with a view to shedding light on contemporary interfaith issues and the prospects for ongoing interreligious dialogue. After some 1,400 years of encounter and engagement, has there been any real progress? For that matter, as the introduction notes, ‘How is progress judged?’ (p. 1). The author is of the view that ‘the most meaningful dialogue . . . takes place when individuals or groups of Christians and Muslims meet face to face and discuss their faith, hopes and dreams, problems and successes’ (p. 8). At the same time, he acknowledges the rightful role of discursive dialogue where, in effect, the interlocutors are the abstract systems of ‘Islam’ and ‘Christianity’. Dialogue is as much inter-systemic as it is interpersonal; a view with which I fully concur. Taking a broad, chronological approach, Bennett visits significant contributions and contributors from both faith traditions. He shows how ‘arguments and counter-arguments used centuries ago remain popular today, on both sides’ (p. 8) and structures his work through the lens of a dual category analysis of conciliation and confrontation that he developed in an earlier work (Bennett, 1992).

year: 2009

title: A newly-available resource for historians of early New Zealand: The Marist Missionary Letters (1838-54)

authors: Jennings, William

abstract: The 7000 pages of primary documents of the Lettres reçues d’Océanie constitute a vast new source for the study of the Pacific during the period 1838-54. Published in 2009 after sixteen years of transcription, the Lettres are the collected correspondence of the first French Marist missionaries to New Zealand and other Pacific islands. In the words of Pacific historian Hugh Laracy, they are ‘the single most important foundational contribution to Pacific history in its fullest extent since J. C. Beaglehole’s magisterial editions of James Cook’s Journals. About 2000 of those pages are transcripts of letters written in New Zealand that open up a fresh perspective of life before the wars of the 1860’s. This paper will locate the early French Marist Māori mission within the context of New Zealand public history before exploring how the Lettres reçues d’Océanie can complement existing views of early colonial New Zealand. To better contextualise the correspondence, it would be useful to begin with a brief background of the Marists’ presence in New Zealand.

text: A newly-available resource for historians of early New Zealand: The Marist Missionary Letters (1838-54) The 7000 pages of primary documents of the Lettres reçues d’Océanie constitute a vast new source for the study of the Pacific during the period 1838-54. Published in 2009 after sixteen years of transcription, the Lettres are the collected correspondence of the first French Marist missionaries to New Zealand and other Pacific islands. In the words of Pacific historian Hugh Laracy, they are ‘the single most important foundational contribution to Pacific history in its fullest extent since J. C. Beaglehole’s magisterial editions of James Cook’s Journals. About 2000 of those pages are transcripts of letters written in New Zealand that open up a fresh perspective of life before the wars of the 1860’s. This paper will locate the early French Marist Māori mission within the context of New Zealand public history before exploring how the Lettres reçues d’Océanie can complement existing views of early colonial New Zealand. To better contextualise the correspondence, it would be useful to begin with a brief background of the Marists’ presence in New Zealand.

year: 2012