Southampton Mindfulness Questionnaire and its Utility for Behavioral Health Assessment

This chapter reviews the utility and psychometric properties of the Southampton Mindfulness Questionnaire (SMQ). The original SMQ contains 16 items and assesses mindful responses to painful thoughts and images. In this chapter, the background development details of the SMQ are presented, followed by an examination of its psychometric properties and a further update on its application when used in languages other than English. The SMQ focuses on four facets of mindfulness, namely mindfulness observation, letting go, absence of aversion, and nonjudgment. The seminal research that enabled the development of the SMQ indicated the questionnaire’s promise as a unidimensional instrument. Further studies, however, have suggested that the unidimensional nature of the original SMQ instrument may be contested, especially when used in differing cultural contexts employing non-English-language versions. Nonetheless, the SMQ has been shown to be effective in assessing clinical gains in certain clinical settings.