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Experiential Avoidance as a Generalised Diathesis Process: Comparisons with Coping Strategies, Fear of Uncertainty, and Alexithymia
No full textRelating coping, fear of uncertainty and alexithymia with psychological distress: The mediator role of experiential avoidance
No full textAbstract
The present study tests the mediating role of experiential avoidance (EA;
Hayes, Wilson, Gifford, Follette, & Strosahl, 1996) to account for the
relations of avoidant coping, fear of uncertainty, and alexithymia with
negative psychological outcomes. Participants were 177 adults (51 males
and 126 females; mean age = 34.5). Measures of EA (Acceptance and
Action Questionnaire, AAQ), avoidant coping (Brief COPE scale), fear of
uncertainty (Temperament and Character Inventory), alexithymia (Toronto
Alexithymia Scale), and psychological outcomes (Behavior and Symptom
Identification Scale) were obtained from standardized, self-administered
questionnaires. Regression analyses were performed to test for mediation
models. Results show that the effect of avoidant coping and fear of
uncertainty on emotional distress and other negative outcomes decreases
when controlling avoidance scores, whereas the latter predicts
psychological outcomes. Findings suggest that EA may represent a
generalized mechanism through which both avoidant coping and fear of
uncertainty take on psychological significance. Results did not support,
however, the mediating role of EA for explaining the relations between
alexithymia and psychological outcomes
Does Experiential Avoidance mediate the relation between Anxiety Sensitivity and Alexithymia?
No full textAcceptance and psychological outcomes: The mediating role of catastrophism
No full textObjectives: The present study analyses the relations of Acceptance, as measured by the Chronic Pain Acceptance Questionnaire (CPAQ), and psychological outcomes in a sample of patients with fybromialgia. In particular, the objective is to explore whether the relations of Acceptance with psychological outcomes are mediated by catastrophising tendency.
Methods: 49 patients with a diagnosis of fybromialgia completed the CPAQ, the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, the Pain Anxiety Symptom Scale, and the Pain Catastrophizing Scale. Linear regression analyses were performed to test the hypothesised relations.
Results: The tendency to catastrophise mediates the relations between CPAQ scores and anxiety, pain-related anxiety, and depression.
Conclusions: The tendency to catastrophise is the mechanism through which Acceptance takes on psychological significance
Experiential avoidance, somatosensory amplification, and psychological distress
No full textThe study is aimed at testing for mediational and moderational models to explain relationships among experiential avoidance, somatosensory amplification and emotional distress. Experiential Avoidance (EA) is a process involving excessive negative evaluations of unwanted private experiences, unwillingness to experience these private experiences, and deliberate efforts to control them. Somatosensory amplification (SA) refers to the tendency of experiencing somatic sensations as unusually intense, noxious, and disturbing. Although both EA and SA have been consistently related with psychological distress, the specific pattern of interrelationships between the two predictors to affect psychological well-being has not been yet explored. Participants included undergraduate university students and outpatients with chronic pain (males and females, aged 18-65 yrs.). Measures of somatosensory amplification (Somatosensory Amplification Scale, Barsky et al., 1990), experiential avoidance (Acceptance and Action Questionnaire, AAQ, Hayes, 2004), and emotional distress were obtained from standardized, self-administered questionnaires. Regression analyses were performed to test for mediational and moderational models. Results show that the effect of EA on emotional distress is not significant when controlling SA scores, whereas the latter predicts emotional outcomes. Findings support EA as a broad-based vulnerability for emotional distress, and suggest that SA may represent a mechanism through which EA takes on psychological significance
Reliability and Validity of the Italian Version of the Acceptance and Action Questionnaire
No full textObjective: the present study reports on the psychometric properties of the adaptation into Italian of the Acceptance and Action Questionnaire (AAQ; Hayes et al., 2004). The AAQ is aimed at measuring several processes involved in the psychological basic ability namely “psychological flexibility” -or its opposite “experiential avoidance”- in population-based studies. The pool of items assesses the degree to which an individual fuses with thoughts, avoids feelings, and is unable to act in the presence of difficult private events.
Design and methods: participants included undergraduate students and non-student adults (males and females, 18-65 yrs.). In addition to the AAQ, subjects were also requested to fill up questionnaires measuring constructs that share a high conceptual affinity with the scale. In order to estimate the test-retest reliability of the instrument, a half of the sample completed the questionnaire twice over an interval of two to three weeks. Statistical analyses for testing the factorial validity, internal consistency, test-retest reliability, and convergent validity of the questionnaire were carried out.
Results: findings in this study indicate that the AAQ is a reliable and valid assessment tool for measuring Psychological Flexibility/Experiential Avoidance in population-based studies with Italian samples.
Conclusion: like the English original version, the Italian AAQ is an important instrument for measuring Experiential Avoidance, which has been proposed to be a stronger contributor to psychopathology, and is supposed to be related to several significant forms of psychological dysfunctions
Predittori di outcome psicosociale in pazienti affetti da dolore cronico. Il ruolo dell’accettazione e dell’impegno
No full textObiettivo: L’obiettivo dello studio è stato esplorare se impegno e accettazione, misurati rispettivamente dall’“Activity Engagement” (AE) e dal “Pain Willingness” (PW) del Chronic Pain and Acceptance Questionnaire (CPAQ) sono predittori di outcome psicosociale in pazienti affetti da dolore cronico.
Metodo: 120 pazienti afferenti consecutivamente ad un centro per il trattamento del dolore cronico sono stati valutati. AE e PW sono stati misurati con il CPAQ (McCracken et al. 2004; Italian version of Bernini et al. 2008). Inoltre sono state somministrate HADS, BASIS-32, PASS-20, l’item 5 del EQ-5D.
Risultati: L’analisi di regressione gerarchica, controllando per intensità e durata del dolore, e per altre variabili sociodemografice, ha indicato che l’accettazione del dolore non è un predittore di outcome psicosociale, mentre l’impegno predice la depressione, l’ansia, la difficoltà nel funzionamento nella vita quotidiana, il benessere e la qualità di vita.
Conclusioni: Il dolore cronico non è semplicemente un problema fisico ma coinvolge variabili psicologiche, come in questo caso l’impegno (AE). L’impegno, per esempio, dovrebbe essere parte dell‘approccio medico e psicologico del trattamento del dolore. Gli interventi dovrebbero quindi essere finalizzati non solo ad insegnare al paziente ad accettare il dolore e migliorare il suo stato fisico o il disturbo cronico ma a vivere una vita piena di significati e obiettivi, nonostante il dolore
Does Experiential Avoidance mediate the relation between Anxiety Sensitivity and Alexithymia?
No full textCoping strategies and the mediating role of Experiential Avoidance
No full textThe present study tests the mediating role of Experiential Avoidance (EA; Hayes et al., 1996) in the relation of specific forms of coping strategies (Self Distraction, Denial, Behavioural Disengagement, and Self Blame) with Depression, Anxiety, and Alexithymia. Participants were 161 subjects recruited from the general population. Measures of EA (Acceptance and Action Questionnaire II, AAQII, Bond et al., submitted), coping strategies (The Brief COPE scale, Carver et al., 1989), Depression and Anxiety (Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, HADS, Zigmond & Snaith, 1983), and Alexithymia (Toronto Alexithymia Scale, LSAS-SR; Liebowitz, 1987; Baker et al., 2002) were obtained from standardised, self-administered questionnaires. Regression analyses were performed to test for mediational models. Results showed that coping strategies significantly predicted EA, Depression, Anxiety, and Alexithymia. Moreover, the effect of coping strategies on Depression, Anxiety, and Alexithymia was not significant anymore or was strongly reduced when controlling for EA scores, whereas the latter still predicted Depression, Anxiety, and Alexithymia. Findings suggest that avoidance strategies may represent the mechanism through which Self Distraction, Denial, Behavioural Disengagement, and Self Blame take on psychological significance
Activity Engagement, Pain Willingness, and Catastrophising in chronic pain
No full textObjectives: The objectives of the present study are: to analyse whether Activity Engagement and Pain Willingness, as measured by the Chronic Pain and Acceptance Questionnaire (CPAQ), predict psychological outcomes in chronic pain patients; to explore whether the relations of AE and PW with psychological outcomes are mediated by catastrophising tendency.
Methods: 120 patients seeking treatment for chronic pain completed the CPAQ, the Hospital anxiety and Depression Scale, the Pain Anxiety Symptom Scale, and the Pain Catastrophizing Scale. Hierarchical and linear regression analyses were performed to test the hypothesised relations.
Results: The results show that both CPAQ subscales are able to predict psychological outcomes and that several of these correlations are mediated by catastrophizing.
Conclusions: Avoidance (activity disengagement and pain unwillingness) of chronic pain is a predictive factor for the development of psychological outcomes as depression, anxiety, and, specifically, anxiety related to pain. Moreover, these relations seem to be mediated by the tendency to catastrophise
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