Assessing the valuing process in acceptance and commitment therapy: Experts' review of the current status and recommendations for future measure development
Open accessAbstract
Within Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), personal values provide the foundational framework of the therapeutic process and are considered necessary to facilitate targeted behavioral movement and a more vital, meaningful life. Considering the proposed nature of values as a core mechanism of change in this way, a thorough understanding of the therapeutic valuing process through which targeted changes occur is essential to evaluate the true efficacy of the ACT model empirically and implement it most effectively. However, to date, development of measurement tools for this purpose is limited and those that do exist are often inconsistent in their targeted constructs. The current study collected in-depth, descriptive data from ACT experts to critically examine how the valuing process in ACT is currently defined and measured and make recommendations for future measure development. 11 experts participated in semi-structured interviews and responded to topic guided questions. Thematic analyses of experts' responses were then conducted, and eight core themes were identified. Findings denoted that experts' definitions of the valuing process and its core components are largely consistent with theoretical conceptualization of ACT but that no measurement tool to date provides a complete and adequate assessment of this process. Experts expressed the need for measures capable of assessing essential contextual aspects of the valuing process and gaining a more proximal evaluation of values-consistent behaviors and experiential momentary awareness. The current study provides insight into critical areas for improvement and provides recommendations for future measure development for the empirical assessment of the valuing process in ACT which is crucial for evaluating the role of values work as a therapeutic mechanism of action.
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The psychometric robustness of questionnaires measuring BA activation and ACT psychological inflexibility justifies their use as outcome measures for these therapies.
“The psychometric robustness of the questionnaires to measure the model of Activation developed by BA (for a review, see Manos et al., 2010) and the patterns of psychological inflexibility focused on by ACT (for a review, see Barney et al., 2019; Cherry et al., 2021 ) justifies their use as result measures for these therapies.”
From Patients´ and Therapists´ Reports of Psychotherapy Outcomes: Similarities and Differences (2023) · cites this paper as Barney et al., 2019
The Discussion (Summary of results and current status; page unavailable) says commonly used ACT measures can produce incomplete or ACT-inconsistent responses, despite their clinical utility. The Conclusion says these measures fail to depict the valuing process fully and need improvement for empirical evaluation. That runs contrary to citing this paper as evidence that their psychometric robustness justifies their use as outcome measures; the BA portion is attributed to a different review. (LLM, conf=0.87)
Checked by a reasoning model — may be wrong.
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredLack of values clarification was not included in this study due to the poor validity and reliability of measures available at the time.
“lack of values clarification was not included due to the poor validity and reliability of measures available at the time of this study (Barney et al., 2019).”
From Associations between psychological inflexibility processes, pre‐sleep arousal and sleep quality. (2025) · cites this paper as Barney et al., 2019
The Results section (page unavailable) describes limitations in how existing measures define and assess values, and the Discussion says they do not provide a complete assessment of the valuing process. The paper does not establish that the measures had poor reliability or say that lack of values clarification should be omitted from the citing study for that reason. (LLM, conf=0.85)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredPsychological flexibility is conceptualised with six facets that support or undermine its expression.
“Psychological flexibility is conceptualised with six facets that support or undermine its expression; the ‘Acceptance and Commitment Therapy hexaflex’ 17 and ‘in-hexaflex’ 15 , respectively”
From A scoping review to identify process and outcome measures used in acceptance and commitment therapy research, with adults with acquired neurological conditions. (2023) · cites this paper as [17]
The Introduction describes six interrelated ACT processes that increase psychological flexibility, and the Discussion says they work together to facilitate it. The Results mention experiential avoidance and cognitive fusion, but our copy does not describe six opposing facets or an ‘in-hexaflex’ that undermines flexibility. No page numbers were available in the indexed passages. (LLM, conf=0.82)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredBarney et al. (2019) recently provided guidance for measuring the valuing process in ACT.
“as Barney et al. (2019) recently provided for the measurement of the”
From Acceptance and Commitment Therapy Processes and Mediation: Challenges and How to Address Them (2023) · cites this paper as Barney et al., 2019
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- Authors
- Barney, J. L., Lillis, J., Haynos, A. F., Forman, E., & Juarascio, A. S.
- Affiliations
- Drexel University (US)
- Brown University (US)
- University of Minnesota (US)
- Corresponding author
- Barney, Jennifer L.
- Venue
- Journal of Contextual Behavioral Science
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2019-04
- Volume
- 12
- Pages
- 225-233
- ISSN
- 2212-1447 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC6905635
- OpenAlex
- W2887702526
- Cited by
- 23
- References
- 20
- Citations by year
- 2026: 4 · 2025: 3 · 2024: 5 · 2023: 3 · 2022: 4 · 2021: 2 · 2020: 1 · 2019: 1
- FWCI
- 1.18
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- Locations
- Journal of Contextual Behavioral Science (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
- Funders
- National Institute of Mental Health (K23MH105680)
- National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (K23DK097143)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Mindfulness and Compassion Interventions
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Psychotherapy Techniques and Applications
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Psychological Well-being and Life Satisfaction
- Keywords
- acceptance and commitment therapy, personal values, values work, scale development, expert opinion
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