The Toronto and Philadelphia Mindfulness Scales: Associations with Satisfaction with Life and Health-Related Symptoms

The treatment efficacy of mindfulness for improved quality of life and health-related symptoms has reliably been found in the literature. Questionnaires have been developed to assess both state mindfulness (Toronto Mindfulness Scale, TMS) and trait mindfulness (Philadelphia Mindfulness Scale, PHLMS). The objective of this study was to directly compare state and trait mindfulness measures to self-reported satisfaction with life and health outcomes. Healthy adults (n= 28) completed self-report questionnaires assessing mindfulness, a Satisfaction with Life Scale and a health outcome measure (Symptom Checklist 90-revised) prior to and after undergoing a 10-week mindfulness meditation intervention program. Correlational analyses between the mindfulness measures and outcome measures clearly demonstrated the association between the PHLMS Acceptance subscale and reductions in symptom severity r(26)= -.46, p= .015. These results suggest that a trait mindfulness measure (i.e., PHLMS) can detect change in mindfulness that is associated with health outcome measures whereas the state-like mindfulness (i.e., TMS) did not.