TY - JOUR
T1 - Development and initial validation of the Cardiovascular Disease Acceptance and Action Questionnaire (CVD-AAQ) in an Italian sample of cardiac patients.
AU - Spatola, Chiara
AU - Cappella, Emanuele Antonio Maria
AU - Goodwin, Christina L.
AU - Baruffi, Matteo
AU - Malfatto, Gabriella
AU - Facchini, Mario
AU - Castelnuovo, Gianluca
AU - Manzoni, Gian Mauro
AU - Molinari, Enrico
PY - 2014
Y1 - 2014
N2 - Psychological inflexibility refers to the attempt to decrease internal distress even when doing so is inconsistent with life values, and has been identified as a potential barrier to making and maintaining health behavior changes that are consistent with a heart-healthy lifestyle. Disease- and behavior-specific measures of psychological inflexibility have been developed and utilized in treatment research. However, no specific measure has been created for patients with heart disease. Thus, the CardioVascular Disease Acceptance and Action Questionnaire (CVD-AAQ) was developed. The present study is aimed to evaluate the psychometric properties of the CVD-AAQ and to explore its association with measures of psychological adjustment and cardiovascular risk factors in an Italian sample of 275 cardiac patients. Exploratory factor analysis showed a structural one-factor solution with satisfactory internal consistency and test-retest reliability. The relation with other measures was in the expected direction with stronger correlations for the theoretically consistent variables, supporting convergent and divergent validity. CVD-AAQ scores were associated with general psychological inflexibility, anxiety and depression and inversely correlated with psychological well-being. Moreover, the results showed that CVD-AAQ scores are associated with two relevant risk factors for cardiac patients, namely low adherence to medication and being overweight. In sum, results suggest that the CVD-AAQ is a reliable and valid measure of heart disease-specific psychological inflexibility with interesting clinical applications for secondary prevention care.
AB - Psychological inflexibility refers to the attempt to decrease internal distress even when doing so is inconsistent with life values, and has been identified as a potential barrier to making and maintaining health behavior changes that are consistent with a heart-healthy lifestyle. Disease- and behavior-specific measures of psychological inflexibility have been developed and utilized in treatment research. However, no specific measure has been created for patients with heart disease. Thus, the CardioVascular Disease Acceptance and Action Questionnaire (CVD-AAQ) was developed. The present study is aimed to evaluate the psychometric properties of the CVD-AAQ and to explore its association with measures of psychological adjustment and cardiovascular risk factors in an Italian sample of 275 cardiac patients. Exploratory factor analysis showed a structural one-factor solution with satisfactory internal consistency and test-retest reliability. The relation with other measures was in the expected direction with stronger correlations for the theoretically consistent variables, supporting convergent and divergent validity. CVD-AAQ scores were associated with general psychological inflexibility, anxiety and depression and inversely correlated with psychological well-being. Moreover, the results showed that CVD-AAQ scores are associated with two relevant risk factors for cardiac patients, namely low adherence to medication and being overweight. In sum, results suggest that the CVD-AAQ is a reliable and valid measure of heart disease-specific psychological inflexibility with interesting clinical applications for secondary prevention care.
KW - ACT
KW - cardiac rehabilitation
KW - ACT
KW - cardiac rehabilitation
UR - http://hdl.handle.net/10807/64535
U2 - 10.3389/fpsyg.2014.01284
DO - 10.3389/fpsyg.2014.01284
M3 - Article
SN - 1664-1078
SP - 1
EP - 8
JO - Frontiers in Psychology
JF - Frontiers in Psychology
ER -