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Exploring an Implicit Measure of Acceptance and Experiential Avoidance of Anxiety

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Abstract

Experiential avoidance (EA) is a generalized risk factor for psychopathology and is defined as an unwillingness to remain in contact with private events. A number of behavioral tasks have demonstrated potential in assessing EA, including a limited number of studies using the Implicit Relational Assessment Procedure (IRAP). IRAP studies of EA to date have involved relatively small samples, limited consideration of dependent variables, and/or stimulus configurations that addressed a conceptually narrow aspect of EA. The current study describes the initial piloting of an IRAP designed to assess implicit repertoires regarding EA and acceptance in response to anxiety-relevant and positive emotional words. A variety of conceptually relevant self-report measures were administered along with the EA IRAP to a sample of college undergraduates. Dependent variables included average latencies for each block type as well as D-scores for each trial type of the IRAP. Evidence for convergent validity was revealed by correlations between the IRAP block-type latencies and a self-report measure of defusion, while unexpected divergent relations were obtained between self-reports and IRAP D-scores. Overall, the Drexel Defusion Scale was the most robust correlate of IRAP performance; trait anxiety and experiential avoidance were also correlated. We discuss alternative approaches to stimulus selection (including response options), increased efforts to reduce attrition, and utilization of clinical samples.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, Southern Illinois University, Mail Code 6502, Carbondale, IL, 62901, USA

    Chad E. Drake

  2. Department of Psychiatry, Pereleman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA

    C. Alix Timko

  3. Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Behavioral Science, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, USA

    C. Alix Timko

  4. Department of Psychology, Towson University, Towson, MD, USA

    C. Alix Timko

  5. Portland Psychotherapy Clinic, Research, & Training Center, Portland, OR, USA

    Jason B. Luoma

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  1. Chad E. Drake
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Correspondence to Chad E. Drake.

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Chad Drake, Alix Timko, and Jason Luoma each declare no conflict of interest.

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All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki Declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

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Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

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The authors wish to thank Amy Neal and Kerry Whiteman for their assistance.

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Drake, C.E., Timko, C.A. & Luoma, J.B. Exploring an Implicit Measure of Acceptance and Experiential Avoidance of Anxiety. Psychol Rec 66, 463–475 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40732-016-0186-z

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