title: Measuring the role of psychological inflexibility in Trichotillomania.
abstract: Psychological Inflexibility (PI) is a construct that has gained recent attention as a critical theoretical component of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT). PI is typically measured by the Acceptance and Action Questionnaire-II (AAQ-II). However, the AAQ-II has shown questionable reliability in clinical populations with specific diagnoses, leading to the creation of content-specific versions of the AAQ-II that show stronger psychometric properties in their target populations. A growing body of the literature suggests that PI processes may contribute to hair pulling, and the current study sought to examine the psychometric properties and utility of a Trichotillomania-specific version of the AAQ-II, the AAQ-TTM. A referred sample of 90 individuals completed a battery of assessments as part of a randomized clinical trial of Acceptance-Enhanced Behavior Therapy for Trichotillomania. Results showed that the AAQ-TTM has two intercorrelated factors, adequate reliability, concurrent validity, and incremental validity over the AAQ-II. Furthermore, mediational analysis between emotional variables and hair pulling outcomes provides support for using the AAQ-TTM to measure the therapeutic process. Implications for the use of this measure will be discussed, including the need to further investigate the role of PI processes in Trichotillomania.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Texas A&M University, 4235 TAMU, College Station, TX 77843, USA.
authors.forename: David C
authors.initials: DC
authors.lastname: Houghton
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, NC, USA.
authors.forename: Scott N
authors.initials: SN
authors.lastname: Compton
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Utah State University, Logan, UT, USA.
authors.forename: Michael P
authors.initials: MP
authors.lastname: Twohig
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Marquette University, Milwaukee, WI, USA.
authors.forename: Stephen M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Saunders
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA.
authors.forename: Martin E
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Franklin
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Kent State University, Kent, OH, USA.
authors.forename: Angela M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Neal-Barnett
authors.affiliation: Psychological Health Roanoke, Roanoke, VA, USA.
authors.forename: Laura
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Ely
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Milwaukee, WI, USA.
authors.forename: Matthew R
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Capriotti
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Texas A&M University, 4235 TAMU, College Station, TX 77843, USA. Electronic address: dowoods@tamu.edu.
authors.forename: Douglas W
authors.initials: DW
authors.lastname: Woods
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001521:Behavior Therapy / Q000379:methods; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011594:Psychometrics / Q000379:methods; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014256:Trichotillomania / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology* / Q000628:therapy; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: ACT; Behavior therapy; Impulse control disorders; Measurement; Obsessive-compulsive disorder