Psychometric properties and measurement invariance of the Work-Related Acceptance and Action Questionnaire (WAAQ) in a Colombian sample

ENGLISH VERSION

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

This study examined the psychometric properties and measurement invariance of the Work-Related Acceptance and Action Questionnaire (WAAQ), a 7-item instrument measuring psychological flexibility in workplace contexts. The Colombian adaptation of the WAAQ was evaluated in a large sample of 985 workers from private companies in Bogotá. Results demonstrated excellent internal consistency (α = .877), confirmed the one-factor structure through confirmatory factor analysis, and established scalar measurement invariance across gender, age groups, socioeconomic status, and hierarchical occupational levels. The instrument showed theoretically coherent convergent validity patterns with related constructs including psychological inflexibility, psychological distress, work engagement, job satisfaction, and burnout dimensions.

INTRODUCTION AND THEORETICAL CONTEXT

Job-related stress represents a widespread occupational health concern affecting employee wellbeing and organizational outcomes. Within the contextual behavioral science framework, psychological flexibility—defined as the capacity to discriminate ongoing private experiences from a nonjudgmental observational perspective while maintaining behavior orientation toward personally valued ends (Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, Hayes & Strosahl, 2005)—has emerged as a significant predictor of occupational functioning including burnout, work engagement, professional efficacy, and job satisfaction.

The Work-Related Acceptance and Action Questionnaire (WAAQ; Bond et al., 2013) was developed as a brief seven-item unidimensional measure of psychological flexibility specifically contextualized to work settings. The original instrument demonstrated adequate internal consistency (α = .83). Subsequent validations have been conducted in Spanish (Ruiz & Odriozola-González, 2014; α = .92, N = 209), Portuguese (Pinto et al., 2015; N = 583), Swedish (Holmberg et al., 2019; N = 184), and Chinese (Xu et al., 2018; α = .92, test-retest r = .77) populations.

Despite widespread use across cultural contexts, significant measurement gaps remained: (1) absence of psychometric data for Colombian populations; (2) lack of comprehensive measurement invariance studies across demographic and occupational variables; (3) limited confirmatory factor analytic evidence in large-scale samples; and (4) previous validations primarily utilizing exploratory factor analysis with modest sample sizes. The present study addressed these gaps through comprehensive psychometric analysis and invariance testing in a large Colombian sample.

METHOD

Sample Characteristics

Participants comprised 985 workers employed across three private companies in Bogotá, Colombia. The sample was predominantly female (66.9%), with ages ranging from 18 to 87 years (M = 38, SD = 11.0), with 52.4% of participants exceeding age 35. Employment classifications included direct contract, service provision, contractor, and temporary service arrangements. Educational attainment represented diverse levels: primary/secondary school (40.4%), technical/technology credentials (24.9%), professional/postgraduate qualifications (19.9%), and unspecified (14.8%). Socioeconomic distribution reflected: low stratum (54.2%), middle stratum (41.0%), and high stratum (4.8%). Hierarchical occupational levels included managerial/professional positions (37.5%) and assisting/operative roles (61.1%), with 1.4% missing data.

Instruments and Measures

The WAAQ (Bond et al., 2013; Spanish version by Ruiz & Odriozola-González, 2014) comprises 7 items rated on a 7-point Likert scale (1 = never true to 7 = always true), with higher scores indicating greater psychological flexibility at work.

Convergent validity was examined through correlations with theoretically related measures: (1) the Acceptance and Action Questionnaire-II (AAQ-II; Bond et al., 2011; α = .92), assessing general psychological inflexibility; (2) the General Health Questionnaire-12 (GHQ-12; Goldberg & Williams, 1988; α = .81), measuring psychological distress; (3) the Utrecht Work Engagement Scale (UWES; Schaufeli et al., 2002; Spanish version α = .90), assessing vigor, dedication, and absorption; (4) the Overall Job Satisfaction measure (OJS; Warr et al., 1979; α = .93), examining intrinsic and extrinsic satisfaction; and (5) the Maslach Burnout Inventory-General Survey (MBI-GS; Maslach et al., 1996; α = .86 emotional exhaustion, .72 cynicism, .79 professional efficacy).

Data Analysis Procedures

Missing data imputation employed the matched response pattern method in LISREL 8.71, with minimal imputations required (0.3%, 21 WAAQ values). Item discrimination was evaluated through corrected item-total correlations. Confirmatory factor analysis utilized DWLS robust estimation with polychoric correlations. Two models were tested: Model 1 (one-factor structure per Bond et al., 2013) and Model 2 (one-factor with correlated error terms for items 4 and 7). Model fit was evaluated through Satorra-Bentler chi-square, Root Mean Square Error of Approximation (RMSEA), Comparative Fit Index (CFI), Non-Normed Fit Index (NNFI), Expected Cross-Validation Index (ECVI), and Standardized Root Mean Square Residual (SRMR), with criteria: RMSEA < .08 acceptable, < .05 good; CFI/NNFI > .90 good, > .95 very good; SRMR < .05 good.

Measurement invariance testing employed multi-group confirmatory factor analysis across gender (male/female), age group (≤35/>35 years), hierarchical level (managerial/professional vs. assisting/operative), and socioeconomic stratum (low/middle/high). Three invariance levels were examined: configural (same structure across groups), metric (equal factor loadings), and scalar (equal loadings and intercepts). Invariance criteria (Cheung & Rensvold, 2002; Chen, 2007) required ΔRMSEA < .01 and ΔCFI ≥ −.01. Convergent validity was assessed through Pearson zero-order correlations. Internal consistency was evaluated via Cronbach's coefficient alpha.

RESULTS

Item Analysis and Internal Consistency

All items demonstrated adequate discrimination, with corrected item-total correlations ranging from .616 (Item 7) to .720 (Item 5). Item means ranged from 5.24 (Item 4) to 5.93 (Item 3). The full scale demonstrated excellent internal consistency (α = .877, 95% CI [.865, .888]), with total scale mean = 38.91 (SD = 9.20).

Confirmatory Factor Analysis

Model 1 (one-factor structure) demonstrated acceptable-to-good fit on most indices [S-B χ²(14) = 141.923, p < .001; CFI = .984; NNFI = .976; SRMR = .050; RMSEA = .096, 90% CI [.082, .111]; ECVI = .173], though RMSEA slightly exceeded acceptable threshold. Model 2 (one-factor with correlated errors for items 4 and 7) yielded substantially improved fit [S-B χ²(13) = 27.184, p < .001; CFI = .998; NNFI = .997; SRMR = .018; RMSEA = .033, 90% CI [.015, .051]; ECVI = .058]. Chi-square difference testing confirmed Model 2 superiority [S-B χ²(1) = 114.739, p < .001]. The correlated error specification was theoretically justified: items 4 and 7 both contain the phrase "interponer/get in the way," explaining shared variance. Standardized factor loadings ranged from .79 to .86, indicating strong factor saturation. The correlated error between items 4 and 7 was .27.

Measurement Invariance

Comprehensive invariance testing demonstrated consistent support across all tested demographic variables:

Gender: Configural model (RMSEA = .044, CFI = .997) provided baseline fit. Metric invariance (ΔRMSEA = −.005, ΔCFI = −.002) and scalar invariance (ΔRMSEA = .002, ΔCFI = .000) both met invariance criteria, confirming full scalar invariance across gender.

Age Group: Configural fit (RMSEA = .035, CFI = .998) was excellent. Metric invariance (ΔRMSEA = .004, ΔCFI = −.013) showed marginal CFI change but met RMSEA threshold. Scalar invariance (ΔRMSEA = .002, ΔCFI = .001) was supported, confirming that WAAQ functions equivalently across age groups.

Hierarchical Level: Configural model fit was excellent (RMSEA = .036, CFI = .998). Metric invariance (ΔRMSEA = .011, ΔCFI = −.011) showed marginal CFI change but RMSEA criterion was met. Scalar invariance (ΔRMSEA = .002, ΔCFI = .000) was supported, indicating equivalent functioning across occupational levels.

Socioeconomic Status: Configural fit (RMSEA = .037, CFI = .998) was excellent. Metric (ΔRMSEA = .007, ΔCFI = −.002) and scalar (ΔRMSEA = .000, ΔCFI = .000) invariance both fully supported, demonstrating equivalent measurement across socioeconomic strata.

Convergent Validity

All correlations with theoretically related constructs were statistically significant (p < .001) and showed theoretically coherent patterns. WAAQ correlated negatively with general psychological inflexibility (AAQ-II, r = −.163) and psychological distress (GHQ-12, r = −.199), consistent with theoretical expectations. Positive correlations with work engagement dimensions showed strongest associations with vigor (r = .333), followed by dedication (r = .284) and absorption (r = .261). Job satisfaction demonstrated modest positive correlations (total r = .169; intrinsic r = .175; extrinsic r = .160). Burnout dimensions showed expected negative associations with emotional exhaustion (r = −.120) and cynicism (r = −.119), with strongest positive association with professional efficacy (r = .431).

DISCUSSION

This investigation provides the most comprehensive psychometric evaluation of the WAAQ to date, addressing significant measurement gaps in the literature. Results confirm the WAAQ as a valid and reliable instrument for assessing work-related psychological flexibility in Colombian populations. The study represents the largest sample subjected to WAAQ psychometric analysis (N = 985) and constitutes only the third confirmatory factor analytic validation, following Bond et al. (2013) and Pinto et al. (2015).

Strong internal consistency (α = .877) with narrow confidence intervals reflects excellent measurement precision. All items demonstrated adequate item discrimination, supporting the retention of all seven items. The one-factor structure was confirmed via confirmatory factor analysis, with Model 2 (including correlated error specification) providing theoretically meaningful and empirically superior fit. The correlated error between items 4 and 7 reflects shared linguistic content regarding behavioral interference—a finding with practical implications for interpretation.

The first comprehensive measurement invariance study for the WAAQ demonstrates scalar invariance across multiple demographic and occupational dimensions, substantiating that psychological flexibility is measured equivalently across gender, age groups, socioeconomic status, and hierarchical occupational levels. This finding supports meaningful comparison of WAAQ scores across diverse population subgroups in Colombian settings.

Convergent validity evidence reflects theoretically coherent patterns. Negative correlations with psychological inflexibility and distress align with theoretical predictions that psychological flexibility opposes experiential avoidance and psychological distress. Positive correlations with work engagement, particularly vigor (r = .333), support the construct validity of psychological flexibility as an occupational resource. Correlations with burnout dimensions—negative associations with emotional exhaustion and cynicism, positive with professional efficacy (r = .431)—reflect expected relationships. The magnitude of correlations, while modest to moderate, is consistent with prior validations (Ruiz & Odriozola-González, 2014) and supports psychological flexibility as a distinct but related construct within occupational wellbeing frameworks.

Limitations warrant consideration: (1) sampling from three private companies limits generalizability to public sector and autonomous workers; (2) exclusive reliance on self-report measures introduces potential method variance; (3) treatment sensitivity of the WAAQ in occupational contexts remains unexplored; and (4) behavioral validation (sick leave usage, job performance metrics) would strengthen validity evidence.

Conclusion

The WAAQ demonstrates robust psychometric properties for Colombian working populations, establishing it as a reliable and valid single-factor instrument measuring work-related psychological flexibility. Comprehensive measurement invariance evidence supports its appropriate use across demographic and occupational subgroups. The instrument is recommended for both research and applied occupational contexts in Spanish-speaking Colombian settings.

---

VERSIÓN EN ESPAÑOL