Assessing ACT Questionnaire Validity in Chronic Pain Services
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Assessing the Validity of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) Questionnaires in individuals with Chronic Pain
IRAS ID
222447
Contact name
Holly Castle
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Leeds
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 10 months, 1 days
Research summary
The improvement of care for people experiencing chronic pain – using Acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT), relies on the use of valid measures which are able to accurately reflect change as therapy progresses. Yet, to our knowledge there has been limited research exploring individual’s experience of these questionnaires. Exploring this component of validity may help us to understand what responses might be based upon and how this may impact the validity of the questionnaire. Understanding where problems lie in the use of ACT questions may improve future research in its evaluation of processes occurring during treatment. As a result, clinical psychologists working within chronic pain services may be better equipped to effectively capture change in clients undergoing ACT for chronic pain. The primary objective of this study is to investigate the clinical utility of commonly used ACT questionnaires in individuals experiencing chronic pain. The study aims to explore whether participants understand the questionnaire items as intended and in turn evaluate the content validity of ACT questionnaires. This is a questionnaire validation study with people experiencing chronic pain. The study will recruit a minimum of 30 participants from a chronic pain service at St James University Hospital, Leeds. The validity of the questionnaires will be explored through one 1:1 session with the chief investigator (lasting no longer than 1 hour) using two methodologies; 1. Cognitive interviewing to establish difficulties in interpreting, comprehending, retrieve answers and avoiding making errors in arriving at a response, 2. Card sorting to explore whether the processes the questionnaire intends to measure are understood by the participant. The study will use a mixed-methods approach; this requires that the data will be analysed using both quantitative and qualitative methods (please refer to Q62 for detailed explanation of method of analysis).
REC name
Yorkshire & The Humber - South Yorkshire Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
17/YH/0165
Date of REC Opinion
22 Jun 2017
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion