Support for the Development and Use of the Child Observation of Mindfulness Measure (C-OMM)

Objective We describe the Child Observation of Mindfulness Measure (C-OMM), a new instrument designed to assess young children’s outward expressions of self-regulated attention and orientation to experience. Methods Twenty-three 3- to 4-year-old children were assessed using the C-OMM. Using Generalizability theory, differentiated variances were examined across three settings (free play, teacher-directed activities, and meals), five dimensions (three for self-regulated attention and two for orientation to experience), and two components (summary scores for self-regulated attention and orientation to experience). A follow-up decision study was conducted to identify the number of raters needed and the number of observations per child required to achieve acceptable reliability. Results Results from the generalizability study indicate that the use of the C-OMM was moderately reliable ( ϕ = .79 and .86, for self-regulated attention and orientation to experience, respectively) during teacher-directed activities only. The decision study indicated that future uses of the C-OMM require either a greater number of raters or a greater number of observations for acceptable reliability. Conclusion The C-OMM represents a more appropriate instrument for trained observers to assess children’s mindfulness related behaviors in certain educational settings given the limitations inherent to young children’s capacity to accurately self-report. Furthermore, as an observational measure of children’s mindfulness behaviors, the C-OMM might be more sensitive to multiple observations that therefore lends to the measurement of ongoing development over time.