Cognitive Control and Cognitive Flexibility in the Context of Stress: A Scale Adaptation

Abstract

The purpose of the current research study is to adapt The Cognitive Control and Flexibility Questionnaire (CCFQ; Gabrys, Tabri, Anisman, & Matheson, 2018), which aims to measure the levels of cognitive control over emotions, appraisal and coping flexibility of individuals, into Turkish. The psychometric properties of the scale were tested in three stages in which the participants were university students. The first stage of the research, aimed to test the linguistic equivalence of the instrument, was conducted with 47 participants (66% female, 34% male), the second stage, aimed to test the construct validity and reliability of the measuring instrument, was conducted with 241 participants (65% female, 35% male), the third stage, aimed at examining the relationship of the measuring instrument with other structures, internal consistency, substance validity and reliability values, was conducted with 352 participants (45% female, 55% male). The psychometric properties of the scale were investigated by linguistic equivalence, item analysis, construct validity and Cronbach’s alpha reliability. The Cognitive Flexibility Inventory, The Dispositional Hope Scale and The Perceived Stress Scale were used to test the validity. The results of the confirmatory factor analysis showed that the two-factor structure of the scale, Cognitive Control over Emotion and Appraisal and Coping Flexibility, has adequate fit values. As expected, it was found that the scale has positive and significant relationships with cognitive flexibility and dispositional hope, and negative and significant relationship with perceived stress. In the second and the third phases of the study, Cronbach’s Alpha reliability coefficients were found to range from .85 to .91. In conclusion, the research findings indicate that the Turkish Form of CCFQ is a valid and reliable tool for the measurement of cognitive control over emotion and appraisal, and the coping flexibility of the Turkish university students in the context of stress.