Investigating the Reliability and Validity of the Cognitive Flexibility Inventory (CFI- I) among Iranian University Students

The purpose of the present study was to inspect the validity and reliability of the Iranian version of the Cognitive Flexibility Inventory (CFI-I). The statistical population of the present study were selected among the university students studying at Shiraz University in the 2010- 2011 academic year. Two hundred and seventy seven of the university students were recruited via cluster sampling method. The participants answered the Cognitive Flexibility Inventory (CFI-I), Connor and Davidson Resilience Scale (CD-RISC), Beck Depression Inventory-Second Edition (BDI-II) and and Billings and Moos Coping Styles Questionnaire (CSQ). To examine the validity of the CFI-I, factor analysis by principle component analysis method was run, the result of which yielded three factors namely, Control, Alternatives and Alternatives for Human Behaviors that explained 56.02% of the variance. Support for the convergent and discriminant validity of the CFI -I was obtained by its correlations with the measures of depression, coping strategies, and resilience. Evidence for the internal consistency of the CFI was obtained by calculating correlations between the CFI -I and its subscales. Also, the Cronbach’s alpha and test-retest coefficients for the CFI-I reliability were 0.90 and 0.71, respectively. It was concluded that the Iranian version of the CFI has acceptable levels of validity and reliability among Iranian university students and can be utilized in research investigations and therapeutic interventions.