A psychometric evaluation of the parental acceptance and action questionnaire (PAAQ) in parents of children with and without disabilities

Parental psychological inflexibility, particularly characterized by experiential avoidance, represents a significant risk factor for chronic stress and psychological distress. The Parental Acceptance and Action Questionnaire (PAAQ) is a context-specific instrument for the measurement of parental psychological inflexibility. This study aimed to evaluate the psychometric properties of the original composite version of the 19-item PAAQ across the three distinct Swedish samples; a community sample (n = 1018), a clinical sample of treatment-seeking parents of children with disabilities (n = 667), and a test-retest sample (n = 337). The Principal Axis Factoring of the PAAQ in the community sample yielded a 16-item, three-factor solution: 1) action-taking and flexibility in the parenting context, 2) experiential acceptance of internal experiences related to parenting, and 3) experiential acceptance of child's internal experiences. This factor model was supported by the confirmatory factor analysis in the test-retest sample. The associations observed with related constructs (r = between 0.49 and 0.61, p < 0.0001) indicated good discriminant validity. The Receiver Operator Characteristic analysis demonstrated that the PAAQ can effectively classify between the clinical and community sample, achieving 79% sensitivity and 68% specificity. The showed good test-retest reliability (r = 0.82). As anticipated, the parents in the clinical sample showed greater psychological inflexibility compared to parents in the community sample. To conclude, the 16-item Swedish version of the PAAQ demonstrates adequate to good psychometric qualities.