TY - JOUR
T1 - Psychometric Properties of the Spontaneous and Deliberate Mind Wandering Scales
AU - Marcusson-Clavertz, David
AU - Kjell, Oscar N.E.
PY - 2019
Y1 - 2019
N2 - Thinking about task-unrelated matters (mind wandering) is related to cognition and well-being. However, the relations between mind wandering and other psychological variables may depend on whether the former commence spontaneously or deliberately. The current two studies investigated the psychometric properties of the Spontaneous and Deliberate Mind Wandering Scales (SDMWS; Carriere, Seli, & Smilek, 2013). Study 1 evaluated the stability of the scales over 2 weeks (N = 284 at Time 1), whereas Study 2 (N = 323) evaluated their relations to Generalized anxiety disorder symptoms, Openness, Social desirability, and experience-sampling reports of intentional and unintentional mind wandering during an online cognitive task. The results indicated that the SDMWS were better fitted with a two-factor than a one-factor solution, although the fit was improved with the exclusion of one item. The scales exhibited strong measurement invariance across gender and time, and moderately high test-retest reliability. Spontaneous mind wandering predicted Generalized anxiety disorder and experience-sampling reports of unintentional mind wandering, whereas Deliberate mind wandering predicted Openness and experience-sampling reports of intentional mind wandering. Furthermore, Spontaneous mind wandering showed a negative association with social desirability of weak-to-medium strength. In sum, the scales generally showed favorable psychometric properties.
AB - Thinking about task-unrelated matters (mind wandering) is related to cognition and well-being. However, the relations between mind wandering and other psychological variables may depend on whether the former commence spontaneously or deliberately. The current two studies investigated the psychometric properties of the Spontaneous and Deliberate Mind Wandering Scales (SDMWS; Carriere, Seli, & Smilek, 2013). Study 1 evaluated the stability of the scales over 2 weeks (N = 284 at Time 1), whereas Study 2 (N = 323) evaluated their relations to Generalized anxiety disorder symptoms, Openness, Social desirability, and experience-sampling reports of intentional and unintentional mind wandering during an online cognitive task. The results indicated that the SDMWS were better fitted with a two-factor than a one-factor solution, although the fit was improved with the exclusion of one item. The scales exhibited strong measurement invariance across gender and time, and moderately high test-retest reliability. Spontaneous mind wandering predicted Generalized anxiety disorder and experience-sampling reports of unintentional mind wandering, whereas Deliberate mind wandering predicted Openness and experience-sampling reports of intentional mind wandering. Furthermore, Spontaneous mind wandering showed a negative association with social desirability of weak-to-medium strength. In sum, the scales generally showed favorable psychometric properties.
KW - deliberate mind wandering
KW - generalized anxiety disorder
KW - openness to experience
KW - social desirability
KW - spontaneous mind wandering
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85049413072&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1027/1015-5759/a000470
DO - 10.1027/1015-5759/a000470
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85049413072
SN - 1015-5759
VL - 35
SP - 878
EP - 890
JO - European Journal of Psychological Assessment
JF - European Journal of Psychological Assessment
IS - 6
ER -