A Preliminary Investigation into the Factor Structure of Two Psychological Flexibility Measures in a Sample of Community-Dwelling Older Adults

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) targets psychological flexibility and the ability to identify behavioral function in context. Properly measuring these constructs is imperative to understanding whether these processes are mechanisms of change in treatment. The current study examined the factor structure of the Comprehensive Assessment of ACT processes (CompACT) and Tacting of Function scale (TOF) in community-dwelling older adults.

Factor structure was examined with CFA. Eighty community-dwelling older adults completed questionnaires prior to an intervention.

While the original 23-item, 3-factor structure of the CompACT demonstrated inadequate fit, a modified 15-item, 3-factor structure demonstrated adequate fit. The original 1-factor structure of the TOF demonstrated inadequate fit. A modified 2-factor structure of the TOF fit significantly better than the original 1-factor structure; however, this model also demonstrated inadequate fit.

Examining the factor structure of the CompACT and TOF in an older adult sample contributes to the field's understanding of the constructs of psychological flexibility and tacting ability and to the clinical utility of these measures in an understudied sample.

These findings provide preliminary support for the use of a short-form version of the CompACT to measure therapeutic processes of change in community-dwelling older adults.