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Evaluating the Convergent and Divergent Validity of the Children’s Psychological Flexibility Questionnaire (CPFQ) among Children with Autism

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Abstract

Objectives

The current study examines the convergent and divergent validity between the Children’s Psychological Flexibility Questionnaire (CPFQ) and other established measures among children with autism.

Method

Twenty-nine children with autism completed the CPFQ, the Avoidance and Fusion Questionnaire for Youth (AFQ-Y), the Acceptance and Action Questionnaire (AAQ-II), and the Child and Adolescent Mindfulness Measure (CAMM).

Results

Results showed a significant negative correlation between the CPFQ and the AFQ-Y (r = −.449, p = .015) with a medium to large effect size, and divergent validity between the CPFQ and the AAQ-II (r = −.324, p = .086), and the CAMM (r = .279, p = .143) with a small to medium effect size.

Conclusion

These results illustrate the value of self-report measures using child-specific language to target and measure the six psychological flexibility processes. This result highlights the benefit of the CPFQ by using child-specific language and measuring all six processes of the psychological flexibility model. Implications for clinical practice and suggestions for future research are discussed.

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Funding

No funds, grants, or other support was received. Research was conducted when all authors were affiliated with Southern Illinois University.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Contributions

KB executed the study and collaborated with the design of the study. JH collaborated with the design of the study, assisted in executing the study, and assisted in writing the paper. ZY assisted with the data analyses and assisted in writing parts of the paper. MD assisted in designing the study and collaborated in the writing and editing of the final manuscript. All authors approved the final version of the manuscript for submission.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Mark R. Dixon.

Ethics declarations

Ethics Approval

The Human Subjects Committee approved the content and procedure of this study at the Southern Illinois University Carbondale (Date: 08/13/19, Protocol: 15334).

Consent to Participate

Written informed consent was obtained for all participants.

Conflict of Interest

Mark R. Dixon receives small royalties from the book which the CPFQ was originally published within. The CPFQ in its entirety is now available free online at https://www.acceptidentifymove.com. The remaining authors declare no conflicts of interest.

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Bachmann, K., Hinman, J.M., Yi, Z. et al. Evaluating the Convergent and Divergent Validity of the Children’s Psychological Flexibility Questionnaire (CPFQ) among Children with Autism. Adv Neurodev Disord 5, 298–303 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s41252-021-00206-w

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s41252-021-00206-w

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