Validation of the Factor Structure of Acceptance and Action Questionnaire-II (AAQ-II) in the Indian Context

Abstract

Psychological inflexibility, is the rigid dominance of psychological reactions over chosen values, in guiding action. It as a faulty self-regulation process linked to poor mindfulness, avoidance of certain inner experiences, and a lack of clarity and commitment to personal ideals which results in mental health issues. The Acceptance and Action Questionnaire-II (AAQ-II) is a broadly used measure of psychological inflexibility. The present study aims to validate AAQ-II in Indian context and then evaluate its psychometric properties and factor structure.  In this  study, 7 items of  the AAQ-II, developed by Bond et al. (2011), were translated in the Hindi language and adopted in the Indian context A total of 1000 Hindi speaking adults (18 above) from different Hindi speaking states were included in the study. An Exploratory Factor Analysis and a Confirmatory Factor Analysis were performed to test the factorial structure of the AAQ-II, and the internal consistency of the scale was studied. The result supported the scale’s unidimensionality. The obtained Cronbach’s alpha revealed satisfactory internal consistency with a value of 0.84. Based on the psychometric properties obtained, it is concluded that AAQ-II is a reliable measure to assess psychological inflexibility among adults in India.