Screening Depression and Anxiety via Brief Measures of Psychological Inflexibility

We evaluated the usefulness of scores from two transdiagnostic scales--the 8-item version of the Avoidance and Fusion Questionnaire for Youth and the second edition of the Avoidance and Action Questionnaire--for estimating symptom severity on two measures of depression and anxiety. Responses from 797 college students, who mostly identified as White and female, to both measures of psychological inflexibility were analyzed to determine how well scores estimated anxiety and depression above or below a given severity level and at specific categories of symptom severity. Findings indicated that scores from both measures were acceptable to excellent screeners of concurrent ratings of anxiety and depression. Results varied somewhat depending on the measure used, level of severity targeted, and scope of screening. By investigating the screening accuracy of these transdiagnostic measures and potential cut scores to ease in interpreting results, we hope these measures might prove useful for addressing barriers in public health screening endeavors.