Willingness and Action Measure for Children and Adolescents (WAM-C/A)

The WAM and AFQ were derived from an initial pool of 50 items developed to measure psychological acceptance, conceptualized as an active and multidimensional process involving high or low levels of: willingness to experience private events, values-oriented action, experiential avoidance, and cognitive and emotional fusion. Results of exploratory factor analysis on these initial 50 items supported a three-factor solution. Factor one consisted of 25 items, all negatively worded. Conceptually, this factor seems to tap into experiential avoidance and fusion and is now the Avoidance and Fusion Questionnaire for Youth (AFQ-Y). Factors two and three were combined into a single measure – the Willingness and Action Measure for Children and Adolescents (WAM-C/A). The WAM can be broken down into a 9-item Action Scale and a 5-item Willingness Scale. The WAM total and subscale scores correlate with each other but not with the AFQ-Y. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the Action Scale seems to be driving the results of the WAM. A validation study is currently underway and will help determine which version of the WAM is most useful and psychometrically sound. At this point, we suggest using the 14-item WAM to measure willingness and ability to take action.

We have used the WAM and AFQ with children and adolescents 9-17 years old. Based on results from school studies in middle Tennessee, children report good comprehension of items. Though preliminary, our findings suggest that the WAM may be a stronger predictor of positive outcomes such as quality of life and social effectiveness, whereas the AFQ may be a stronger predictor of negative outcomes such as physical and emotional symptoms. As noted above, the nine Action items seem to be driving the predictive utility of the WAM (Greco, Dew, & Baer, in progress). If you’d like more information regarding these scales, please contact Laurie.Greco@Vanderbilt.Edu.

WAM-C/A and AFQ-Y References:
Greco, L. A., Murrell, A. R., & Coyne, L. W. (2004). The Willingness and Action Measure for Children and Adolescents. Available from the first author at the Division of Adolescent Medicine and Behavioral Science, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN.

Child Acceptance and Mindfulness Measure (CAMM)

"The CAMM is a 25-item measure of mindfulness and assesses the degree to which children and adolescents observe internal experiences, act with awareness, and accept internal experiences without judging them.

Scoring: Respondents are asked to indicate how true each item reflects their experience using a 5-point scale ranging from 0 (Never true) to 4 (Always true). A total acceptance-mindfulness score can be generated by reverse scoring negatively worded items (see below) and summing the item total, yielding a possible range in scores from 0-100. Higher scores indicate higher levels of acceptance and mindfulness.
Reverse-scored items: 2, 4, 5, 7, 8, 10, 11, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 25
Reliability: The CAMM demonstrates good internal consistency, with Cronbach’s alpha = .87.

Validity: Research using the CAMM suggests the measure has good concurrent validity.

Reference:
Greco, L. A., Dew, S. E., & Ball, S. (2005). Acceptance, mindfulness, and related processes in childhood: Measurement issues, clinical relevance, and future directions. In S.E. Dew & R. Baer (Chairs), Measuring Acceptance, Mindfulness, and Related Processes: Empirical Findings and Clinical Applications across Child, Adolescent, and Adult Samples. Symposium presented at the Association for Behavior and Cognitive Therapies, Washington, DC."

Information quoted from Ciarrochi, J. & Bilich, L. (2006). Process measures of potential relevance to ACT. Unpublished manuscript, University of Wollongong, Australia.

Diabetes Acceptance and Action Scale for Children and Adolescents (DAAS)

"Authors: L. A. Greco & Hart

The Diabetes Acceptance and Action Scale for Children and Adolescents is a 42-item measure that is being used to indicate levels of psychological flexibility in youth with Type 1 diabetes.

Scoring: To score the DAAS, first reverse score negatively worded items (see below), then sum all items. Higher scores on the DAAS should reflect higher levels of diabetes-related acceptance and action.

Reverse score key: 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 11, 13, 14, 17, 18, 19, 21, 22, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42.

The authors are still in the process of collecting data. Preliminary data obtained thus far reveals statistically significant correlations:

Diabetes-related quality of life = .36 (higher acceptance correlates with higher Quality of Life)
Diabetes-related worry = -.41
Social anxiety = -.36
Adherence to medical regimen = .30"

Information quoted from Ciarrochi, J. & Bilich, L. (2006). Process measures of potential relevance to ACT. Unpublished manuscript, University of Wollongong, Australia.

Revised Avoidance & Fusion Questionnaire for Youth (AFQ-Y; Greco, Murrell, & Coyne, 2005)

The Avoidance and Fusion Questionnaire for Youth (AFQ-Y; Greco, Murrell, & Coyne, 2005) is a 17-item measure that asks respondents to rate how true each item is for them (0 = Not at All True; 4 = Very True). Items are tied to ACT’s model of human suffering and were generated to represent a theoretically cohesive conceptualization of psychological inflexibility fostered by: (1) Cognitive fusion (e.g., “My thoughts and feelings mess up my life,” “The bad things I think about myself must be true”); (2) Experiential avoidance (e.g., “I push away thoughts and feelings that I don’t like”); and (3) Inaction or behavioral ineffectiveness in the presence of unwanted internal experiences (e.g., “I can’t be a good friend when I feel upset”).

Consistent with the theory underlying acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT), items converged into a 17-item scale (AFQ-Y) and an 8-item short form (AFQ-Y8). Results of classical test theory, factor analysis, and item response theory support the psychometric properties of the 17-item version of the AFQ-Y and AFQ-Y8. Overall, research suggests that the AFQ-Y may be a useful and child-friendly measure of core ACT processes.

Reference
Greco, L. A., Lambert, W., & Baer, R. A. (2008). Psychological inflexibility in childhood and adolescence: Development and evaluation of the Avoidance and Fusion Questionnaire for Youth. Psychological Assessment. 20(2), 93-102.