Center for Research in Neuropsychology and Cognitive Behavioral Intervention

The Willingness and Acceptance for Delusions Scale (WADS) is preceded by a brief introduction explaining delusions in a non-judgmental, non-threatening and normalizing way. The participant is instructed to think about a specific delusional thought, experienced either in the present or the past, and rate the items using a 0 (do not agree at all) to 3 (completely agree) scale. The items reflect processes such as experiential and non-judgmental acceptance (e.g. “When a thought like this emerges I just notice it and move on”), committed action (e.g. “In spite of having these thoughts I do what I have to do”), cognitive defusion (e.g. “I am more than just these thoughts”), non-rumination and non-entanglement with thoughts (e.g. “I find myself spending a lot of time ruminating on these thoughts” – reversed scoring), non-avoidance (e.g. “I tell myself I should not have these thoughts” – reversed scoring), and willingness (e.g. “I wish that these thoughts could disappear” – reversed scoring). The final version of the WADS thus comprises 12 items. The first factor – ‘Acceptance and Action’ – intends to measure acceptance and committed action processes as understood by the ACT framework. It encompasses items assessing competencies to: be aware of delusions without reacting (item 2), acceptance of delusions (item 3), separate self from delusions (item 4) and acting with commitment while having delusions (items 1, 5, 6). The second factor – ‘Non-entanglement’ – is related to the ability to defuse from delusions nonjudgmentally. The factor includes items assessing the ability to not evaluate thoughts as good or bad (item 7) or ruminate on them (items 8 and 9). The third factor – ‘Non-struggling’ –intends to measure the capability to let the delusions emerge without fighting them or trying to make them disappear (items 10-12).