A French validation of the Child and Adolescent Mindfulness Measure (CAMM)

Abstract

Abstract Introduction A large number of studies have been devoted to the development of mindfulness questionnaires, a potential central mechanism in therapy. Although these questionnaires are well validated for adults, their accessibility to young populations are still in its infancy. Objective This study aims to validate a French version of the Child and Adolescent Mindfulness Measure (CAMM) to foster the use of mindfulness questionnaires in clinical studies on children and adolescents, and to fix limitations of a previous French-Canadian version. Method A total of 545 youth aged from 10 to 17 were recruited in a Belgian and a French school in order to test the validity and reliability of the CAMM. Results The results indicate a one-factor structure and suggest a good internal consistency. As expected, the CAMM was positively correlated to another mindfulness questionnaire and negatively correlated to depressive symptomatology and psychological inflexibility. Conclusion Overall, the French version of the CAMM presents good psychometric qualities and seems to remain faithful to its original scale. This measure could help to assess mindfulness in young French speakers.