Department of Psychology, University of Mainz, Mainz, Germany.
Department of Psychology, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.
Behav Res Methods. 2024 Dec;56(8):8720-8744. doi: 10.3758/s13428-024-02500-6. Epub 2024 Sep 11.
In recent years, researchers from different fields have become increasingly interested in measuring individual differences in mind wandering as a psychological trait. Although there are several questionnaires that allow for an assessment of people's perceptions of their mind wandering experiences, they either define mind wandering in a very broad sense or do not sufficiently separate different aspects of mind wandering. Here, we introduce the Brief Mind Wandering Three-Factor Scale (BMW-3), a 12-item questionnaire available in German and English. The BMW-3 conceptualizes mind wandering as task-unrelated thought and measures three dimensions of mind wandering: unintentional mind wandering, intentional mind wandering, and meta-awareness of mind wandering. Based on results from 1038 participants (823 German speakers, 215 English speakers), we found support for the proposed three-factorial structure of mind wandering and for scalar measurement invariance of the German and English versions. All subscales showed good internal consistencies and moderate to high test-retest correlations and thus provide an effective assessment of individual differences in mind wandering. Moreover, the BMW-3 showed good convergent validity when compared to existing retrospective measures of mind wandering and mindfulness and was related to conscientiousness, emotional stability, and openness as well as self-reported attentional control. Lastly, it predicted the propensity for mind wandering inside and outside the lab (as assessed by in-the-moment experience sampling), the frequency of experiencing depressive symptoms, and the use of functional and dysfunctional emotion regulation strategies. All in all, the BMW-3 provides a brief, reliable, and valid assessment of mind wandering for basic and clinical research.
近年来，不同领域的研究人员越来越关注将个体在思维漫游方面的差异作为一种心理特征进行测量。虽然有几种问卷可以评估人们对思维漫游体验的感知，但它们要么将思维漫游定义为非常广泛的概念，要么没有充分区分思维漫游的不同方面。在这里，我们引入了简短思维漫游三因素量表（BMW-3），这是一种 12 项的德语和英语问卷。BMW-3 将思维漫游概念化为与任务无关的思维，并测量思维漫游的三个维度：无意识思维漫游、有意思维漫游和对思维漫游的元认知。基于对 1038 名参与者（823 名德语使用者，215 名英语使用者）的结果，我们支持了思维漫游的三因素结构和德语及英语版本的标度测量不变性。所有子量表均表现出良好的内部一致性和中等至高度的重测信度，因此为思维漫游的个体差异提供了有效的评估。此外，与现有的思维漫游和正念的回溯性测量相比，BMW-3 具有较好的聚合效度，并与尽责性、情绪稳定性和开放性以及自我报告的注意力控制有关。最后，它预测了实验室内外思维漫游的倾向（通过即时体验抽样评估）、经历抑郁症状的频率以及功能和非功能情绪调节策略的使用。总之，BMW-3 为基础和临床研究提供了一种简短、可靠和有效的思维漫游评估方法。
