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The following is a summary of “Psychometric examination of the Multidimensional Psychological Flexibility Inventory Short Form (MPFI-24) and the Psy-Flex Spanish versions in individuals with chronic pain,” published in the July 2024 issue of Pain by Navarrete et al.

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) benefits individuals with chronic pain through mechanisms outlined in the Hexaflex model, which is reflected by tools like the Multidimensional Psychological Flexibility Inventory (MPFI) and Psy-Flex.

Researchers conducted a retrospective study adapting the MPFI-24 and Psy-Flex with Spanish-speaking patients with chronic pain and evaluating the dimensionality, internal consistency, convergent validity, and incremental validity.

They involved 309 Spanish-speaking adults with chronic pain who completed an online survey, with a predominant female representation (88.3%) and ages ranging from 18 to 79 years.

The result showed that the Spanish version of the MPFI-24 includes 12 factors, 6 related to flexibility and 6 to inflexibility, matching the original version but lacking second-order general factors. The Psy-Flex maintained a single-factor structure, reflecting the general factor of psychological flexibility seen in the original. The MPFI-24 demonstrated strong internal consistency and adequate convergent validity, although the Acceptance and Experiential Avoidance subscales were exceptions. The Psy-Flex also showed good internal consistency and convergent validity. Both the MPFI-24 and Psy-Flex significantly accounted for additional variance in psychological distress beyond other ACT-related Hexaflex measures, with only the Psy-Flex additionally explaining pain interference.

Investigators concluded that Spanish versions of the MPFI-24 and Psy-Flex were both valid and reliable tools for evaluating Hexaflex model processes in Spanish-speaking adults with chronic pain.

Source: onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/ejp.4704