Reliability and validity of the Chinese version of the Acceptance and Action Questionnaire-Second Edition(AAQ-II)in college students

Objective:To assess the reliability and validity of the Chinese translation of the Acceptance and Action Questionnaire-Second Edition( AAQ-Ⅱ) in college students and to offer a measurement in studies of experiential avoidance and the acceptance and commitment therapy( ACT) in China. Methods: Totally 1749 college students w ere selected from Beijing,Henan,and Sichuan Provinces,and w ere randomly allocated into tw o groups w here one subset( n = 879) w as used for exploratory factor analysis( EFA),and the other( n = 870) for confirmatory factor analysis( CFA). In addition,responses of 366 participants selected by simple random sampling w ere assessed in criterion validity,convergent and incremental validity. Criterion validity w as tested w ith the Self-Rating Depression Scale( SDS) and Self-Rating Anxiety Scale( SAS). Convergent and incremental validity w as tested w ith the M indful Attention Aw areness Scale( M AAS) and Ruminative Responses Scale( RRS). After 1 month,238of the participants from the total sample w ere randomly sampled out to assess the test-retest reliability. Results: Results of EFA show ed one factor solution w hich explained 62. 5% of the total variance,and factor loadings ranged betw een 0. 72 and 0. 84. Results of CFA confirmed the hypothesized one-factor mode( χ2/ df = 4. 56,CFI = 0. 99, TLI = 0. 97, RM SEA = 0. 06, SRM R = 0. 02). Furthermore, the AAQ-Ⅱ w as significantly correlated w ith SAS, SDS,M AAS,as w ell as total and subscale scores of the RRS( r = 0. 26- 0. 69,P 0. 01),suggesting sound criterion and convergent validities. The AAQ-II also show ed incremental validity beyond mindfulness or rumination in explaining depression and anxiety( ΔR2= 0. 07- 0. 13,P 0. 001). The AAQ-Ⅱ additionally demonstrated good internal consistency( Cronbach' s α = 0. 88) and test-retest reliability( Cronbach' s α = 0. 80). Conclusion: It suggests that the Chinese version of the Acceptance and Action Questionnaire-Second Edition( AAQ-Ⅱ) has acceptable psychometric properties in college students,and it could be applied in studies of experiential avoidance and acceptance and commitment therapy( ACT) in China.