Assessing Decentering: Validation, Psychometric Properties, and Clinical Usefulness of the Experiences Questionnaire in a Spanish Sample

Decentering is defined as the ability to. observe one's thoughts and feelings in a detached manner. The Experiences Questionnaire (EQ) is a self-report instrument that originally assessed decentering and rumination. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the psychometric properties of the Spanish version of EQ-Decentering and to explore its clinical usefulness. The 11-item EQ-Decentering subscale was translated into Spanish and psychometric properties were examined in a sample of 921 adult individuals, 231 with psychiatric disorders and 690 without. The subsample of nonpsychiatric participants was also split according to their previous meditative experience (meditative participants, n = 341; and nonmeditative participants, n = 349). Additionally, differences among these three subgroups were explored to determine clinical validity of the scale. Finally, EQ-Decentering was administered twice in a group of borderline personality disorder, before and after a 10-week mindfulness intervention. Confirmatory factor analysis indicated acceptable model fit sb chi(2) = 243.8836 (p .46; and divergent validity: r < .35). The scale detected changes in decentering after a 10-session intervention in mindfulness (t = 4.692, p < .00001). Differences among groups were significant (F = 134.8, p < .000001), where psychiatric participants showed the lowest scores compared to nonpsychiatric meditative and nonmeditative participants. The Spanish version of the EQ-Decentering is a valid and reliable instrument to assess decentering either in clinical and nonclinical samples. In addition, the findings show that EQ-Decentering seems an adequate outcome instrument to detect changes after mindfulness-based interventions.Hosp Santa Creu & Sant Pau, Barcelona, SpainUniv Autonoma Barcelona, Inst Invest Biomed St Pau IIB St Pau, Ctr Invest Biomed Red Salud Mental, CIBERSAM, E-08193 Barcelona, SpainUniv Autonoma Barcelona, Hosp Univ Parc Tauli, E-08193 Barcelona, SpainUniv Jaume I Castello, CIBEROBN Santiago Compostela, Castellon de La Plana, SpainUniv Zaragoza, Hosp Miguel Servet, Inst Aragones & Ciencias Salud, Red Actividades Preventivas & Promoc Salud REDIAP, E-50009 Zaragoza, SpainXaixa Assistencial Univ Manresa, Div Salut Mental Althaia, Barcelona, SpainUniv Fed Sao Paulo, Sao Paulo, BrazilUniv Valencia, E-46003 Valencia, SpainUniv Fed Sao Paulo, Sao Paulo, BrazilWeb of Scienc