The Development and Validation of the Comprehensive Assessment of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy Processes (CompACT)-Malay Version

Objectives: psychological flexibility is a crucial construct highly correlated with psychological wellness. There is a need for a tool to measure psychological flexibility in order to accurately ascertain the effects of treatment. The existing industry standard, the Acceptance and Action Questionnaire-II (AAQ-II), has issues with conflating psychological flexibility with distress; moreover, it does not cover the hexaflexes. The 23-item CompACT was designed to surmount these limitations. Methods: the classical test theory (CTT) and Rasch measurement theory (RMT) were used to check the validity and reliability of the Malay version of the CompACT Scale. Cronbach's alpha, McDonald's omega, and greatest lower bound were used to measure internal consistency. A Pearson's correlation test was used to measure test-retest reliability of the Malay versus the original English version. For validity, convergent validity was established by using the Malay AAQ-7 Scale. The dimensionality of the Malay version of the CompACT Scale was explored using exploratory factor analysis. For the RMT, weighted fit statistics (infit) and outlier sensitive fit statistic (outfit) mean square (MnSq) values were used at the item level, while item and person separation reliability values and item and person separation indices were applied at the scale level. Results: the internal consistency measures, including Cronbach alpha and McDonald's omega, passed the suggested cutoff points. Convergent validity with the AAQ-II was 0.693. The quality of the Malay version of the CompACT Scale was also satisfactory, as all item and person reliability values and indices exceeded the suggested cut-off points. Conclusions: the Malay CompACT is a psychometrically sound instrument to assess psychological flexibility in both clinical and research settings.

Automated summary

This study developed a psychometrically sound instrument called CompACT to assess psychological flexibility and tested its validity and reliability in the Malay version. The results showed that the Malay version of the CompACT Scale demonstrated good internal consistency, convergent validity, and reliability, making it a reliable tool to assess psychological flexibility in clinical and research settings.