Salazar, D. M., Ruiz, F. J., Suárez-Falcón, J. C., Barreto-Zambrano, M. L., Gómez-Barreto, M. P., & Flórez, C. L. (2019). Psychometric properties of the Avoidance and Fusion Questionnaire – Youth in Colombia. Journal of Contextual Behavioral Science, 12, 305-313.
The Avoidance and Fusion Questionnaire – Youth (AFQ-Y) is a widely used measure of psychological inflexibility in children and adolescents. It is a 17-item questionnaire which also has an 8-item version (AFQ-Y-8). The AFQ-Y has been adapted into some languages, including Spanish. Overall, the AFQ-Y seems to be a sound measure although there is some debate concerning the factor structure of the long version, with studies suggesting one- and two-factor structures. This study presents the adaptation of the Avoidance and Fusion Questionnaire – Youth (AFQ-Y) for Colombian participants and its psychometric analysis in a sample of 1127 participants aged 8–18 years. All items obtained good discrimination indexes, and both the AFQ-Y and AFQ-Y-8 showed good internal consistency. The confirmatory factor analyses supported the one-factor structure in both versions of the questionnaire. Additionally, both versions showed measurement invariance across gender and age group. Girls obtained higher scores than boys both in the AFQ-Y and the AFQ-Y-8. Both versions showed similar and strong correlations with measures of generalized pliance, repetitive negative thinking, pathological worry, and emotional symptoms. In conclusion, the AFQ-Y and the AFQ-Y-8 seem to be valid and reliable measures of psychological inflexibility in Colombian children and adolescents.
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