Assessing psychological flexibility in test situations: The test anxiety acceptance and action questionnaire for adolescents

Abstract

Acceptance-based interventions such as acceptance and commitment therapy motivated the development of measures of psychological flexibility. As an anxiety-based condition, test anxiety can be conceptualized as an experiential avoidance condition. Given the need to evaluate acceptance and action processes in test anxiety and the lack of such an instrument, the present study aimed to explore the factor structure and psychometric properties of the Test Anxiety-Acceptance and Action Questionnaire for Adolescents (TA-AAQ-A), adapted from the Social Anxiety-Acceptance and Action Questionnaire. The sample comprised 827 adolescents (12-18 years old) from 10 Portuguese schools. Confirmatory factor analysis indicated a well-adjusted 12-item single-factor measure, invariant across genders. Results also showed high internal consistency and temporal stability, and good convergent validity. Findings suggest the TA-AAQ-A is a reliable and valid measure for the assessment of adolescents' psychological flexibility in test situations.