The CompACT: A tool for measuring psychological flexibility

Description

The CompACT was developed as a general measure of psychological flexibility – the ability to attend and adapt to situational demands in the pursuit of personally-meaningful longer-term goals. Psychological flexibility has been identified as fundamental to psychological wellbeing, and it forms a central target of contemporary psychological interventions (including Acceptance and Commitment Therapy [ACT]).

The tool has been developed and validated through research by Clinical Psychologists within the School of Psychology at the University of Lincoln. 

The CompACT can be used:

1. to measure general psychological flexibility across a range of applied contexts (including health, occupational, and education settings) and identify areas that may benefit from further exploration and intervention
2. as a clinical tool when assessing the likely contribution of psychological (in)flexibility to psychological and behavioural difficulties – and monitoring progress thereafter
3. to evaluate interventions that aim to promote psychological flexibility – including ACT and other contemporary cognitive-behavioural therapies
4. as a tool for examining the role of psychological flexibility and its relationship to other variables of interest in applied and basic research (for example, in predicting resilience after trauma or response to aversive stimuli in lab settings)

Files (Product) 

The CompACT is a 23-item questionnaire using a 7-point Likert scale. There is an associated scoring key and calculator, producing an overall psychological flexibility score, plus 3 sub-scores representing different facets of psychological flexibility.

References

 Francis, A. W., Dawson, D. L., & Golijani-Moghaddam, N. (2016). The development and validation of the Comprehensive assessment of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy processes (CompACT). Journal of Contextual Behavioral Science, 5(3), 134-145.

Academic Profiles (Links to pages for Nima and Dave)

https://staff.lincoln.ac.uk/nmoghaddam

https://staff.lincoln.ac.uk/ddawson 

Consultancy

David and Nima offer research consultancy to public, private, and third-sector organisations. They have consulted on service-development projects for the NHS and other providers.