Psy-Flex: A contextually sensitive measure of psychological flexibility

Abstract

Psychological flexibility is increasingly studied in various contexts including clinical studies. The construct has been hypothesized to be a major determinant of mental health. Existing measures lack context-sensitivity (e.g, implicitly measuring it as a trait) and/or reference to a limited time frame. We developed a short self-report measure that covers all facets of the construct and is context-sensitive. Data was collected from four separate samples (n = 744), including a community (n = 346), non-clinical (n = 188), and two clinical (n = 163 in- and outpatients and n = 47 inpatients) samples from a psychiatric hospital. Confirmatory Factor Analysis confirmed a one-factor structure with excellent reliability (Raykov's r = 0.91). Correlations with related (such as other measures of psychological flexibility and symptomatology) and unrelated constructs (such as age and sex) were all consistent with predictions. The Psy-Flex differentiated clinical and non-clinical samples and predicted unique variance in well-being. The Psy-Flex is an easily administrable questionnaire, useful in research and clinical settings. Its context-sensitive nature makes it applicable to repeated administrations aimed at capturing change.