Development of the Southampton Experiential Avoidance and Acceptance Scale (SEAAS)

Abstract

Acceptance is an important construct in various psychological models seeking to describe psychological distress and emotion regulation. Existing measures either focus on broader constructs like psychological flexibility or lack proper validation. There are no established tools which measure acceptance as a general process, as defined within Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT). The absence of valid and reliable measures impedes research on acceptance processes in clinical change. To address this, we developed the Southampton Experiential Avoidance and Acceptance Scale (SEAAS). Across four studies an item pool was generated, evaluated, and refined into an 18-item scale with a theoretically coherent two-factor structure. The SEASS demonstrates strong psychometric properties, including excellent internal consistency, convergent, concurrent, and discriminant validity, and test-retest reliability. This scale is a promising new tool for assessing acceptance and experiential avoidance.