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Understanding psychological flexibility: A multimethod exploration of pursuing valued goals despite the presence of distress
Abstract
Psychological flexibility (PF), defined as the ability to pursue valued life aims despite the presence of distress, is a fundamental contributor to health (Kashdan & Rottenberg, 2010). Existing measures of PF have failed to consider the valued goals that give context for why people are willing to manage distress. Using 4 independent samples and 3 follow-up samples, we examined the role of PF in well-being,
emotional experience and regulation, resilience, goal pursuit, and daily functioning. We describe the development and psychometric properties of the Personalized Psychological Flexibility Index (PPFI),
which captures tendencies to avoid, accept, and harness discomfort during valued goal pursuit. Correlational, laboratory, and experience-sampling methods show that the PPFI measures a trait-like individual
difference dimension that is related to a variety of well-being and healthy personality constructs. Unlike existing measures of PF, the PPFI was shown to be distinct from negative emotionality. Beyond trait measures, the PPFI is associated with effective daily goals and life strivings pursuit and adaptive emotional and regulatory responses to stressful life events. By adopting our measurement index, PF may
be better integrated into mainstream theory and research on adaptive human functioning.
... In a nutshell, an increasing amount of empirical evidence has indicated that the measurement of psychological flexibility has primarily relied on scales with low construct validity and imprecise borders with negative emotionality and distress instead of psychological flexibility. [14][15][16][17][18][19] For these reasons, Kashdan et al 16 designed the Personalized Psychological Flexibility Index (PPFI), a new self-report scale to more accurately assess psychological flexibility. According to a scoping review, the PPFI is the superior measure that has made an effort to address the criticisms of psychological flexibility measures mentioned above. ...
... In a nutshell, an increasing amount of empirical evidence has indicated that the measurement of psychological flexibility has primarily relied on scales with low construct validity and imprecise borders with negative emotionality and distress instead of psychological flexibility. [14][15][16][17][18][19] For these reasons, Kashdan et al 16 designed the Personalized Psychological Flexibility Index (PPFI), a new self-report scale to more accurately assess psychological flexibility. According to a scoping review, the PPFI is the superior measure that has made an effort to address the criticisms of psychological flexibility measures mentioned above. ...
... It is a 15-item scale used to evaluate levels of psychological flexibility across three dimensions: avoid, accept, and harness discomfort. 16 Every item is assessed on a 7-point Likert scale. One of the sample items is "I avoid the most difficult goal-related tasks". ...
Purpose:
Although the link between psychological flexibility and healthy functioning has been widely analyzed, the employed measurements often lacked accuracy. The current study introduced a person-centered approach that identified subgroups of college students across the dimensions of the Personalized Psychological Flexibility Index (PPFI) and explored how these subgroups relate to a risk factor (perceived stress) and mental health outcomes (depression, anxiety, negative affect, and positive affect) in the context of COVID-19.
Methods:
A sample of 659 participants (Mage = 19. 99, SD = 1.27; 57.97% females) completed the questionnaires online. Latent profile analysis (LPA) was employed to determine the optimal number of subgroups or profiles. Then, multinomial logistic regression and analyses of variance were used to identify variables associated with profile membership.
Results:
LPA identified three distinct profiles (active strategy, inconsistent strategy, and passive strategy). Furthermore, multinomial logistic regressions indicated that students with high perceived stress were more likely to be in the passive strategy group than the active strategy group (β = -0.104, OR = 0.901, p < 0.001) and the inconsistent strategy group (β = -0.087, OR = 0.917, p < 0.001). Additionally, analyses of variance revealed that the three profiles differed in depression (η2 = 0.062, p < 0.001), anxiety (η2 = 0.059, p < 0.001), negative affect (η2 = 0.047, p < 0.001), and positive affect (η2 = 0.048, p < 0.001).
Conclusion:
The current study employed LPA based on the PPFI to identify and confirm three profiles of psychological flexibility. We found that perceived stress and mental health outcomes were associated with these three profiles. This study offers a new perspective on understanding psychological flexibility through a person-centered approach. Furthermore, interventions aimed at reducing college students' perceived stress during the COVID-19 crisis are critical for preventing the deterioration of psychological flexibility.
... As rumination is focused on the past and anxiety is focused on the future, the most important characteristic that the individual will likely have between these two concerns is psychological flexibility, which is a structure connected with the person's ability to manage psychological distress (Kashdan et al., 2020). Psychological flexibility, according to Hayes et al. (2005), is the ability to completely express one's ideas and feelings in the present without unnecessary defense and to adjust one's conduct permanently or temporarily in pursuit of aims and values depending on the circumstances. ...
... On the contrary, it is thought that psychological inflexibility and diminished psychological resilience are the root causes of mental health problems such as depression and anxiety disorders (Kashdan et al, 2020). Aydin and Yerin Guneri's (2020) research looks at the relationship between psychological inflexibility and test anxiety. ...
... When people have an examination experience that falls short of their expectations, rumination becomes more visible. In truth, this is a vicious loop since stressful events cause people to ruminate, and people might strive to avoid stressful situations to prevent rumination (Kashdan et al., 2020). They are unable to escape the exam, which is a distinguishing feature of test anxiety. ...
Students’ anxiety over taking tests, which play a vital role in their educational lives, is very prevalent in our country. The purpose of this study is to reveal the pattern of relationships between test anxiety, psychological flexibility, and rumination. The survey included 247 (35%) men and 458 (65%) women from Muğla Sıtkı Koçman University’s several faculties. 705 individuals provided information. Test anxiety is classified as low, medium, or high. While psychological inflexibility and rumination were more prevalent in the high-test anxiety group, it can be demonstrated that being in the high-test anxiety group predicts psychological inflexibility and rumination. The relationship pattern between test anxiety, psychological flexibility, and rumination was investigated using structural equation modelling. Rumination was shown to be a significant variable in the relationship between test anxiety and psychological flexibility, the model analysed was found to be significant and all fit indexes were acceptable. Test anxiety has an important role in the individual’s psychological inflexibility and rumination.
... The study relies mainly on the coverage of this problem within the framework of the constructivist and cognitivist approaches, which in a number of studies indicate that university education does not necessarily form the personal experience of the student and does not always allow him to form his own model of professional knowledge, which he could effectively apply in practice (Benson et al., 2019;Kashdan et al., 2020;Stapleton & Stefaniak, 2019). A number of researchers point out that the availability of knowledge and often even good professional skills applicable to patients very rarely manifest themselves in the ability of a professional psychologist to be effective within his personality and personal psychological needs. ...
... One would expect that the increase in scores for indicators should gradually increase as the age and experience of the participants increase. However, in reality this is not the case, the formation of individual components of emotional flexibility occurs unevenly, and this effect cannot be explained by the personal characteristics of each participant, because significant differences are observed not within groups by years of study, but between these groups (Iannucci et al., 2021;Kashdan et al., 2020). Similar effects were indicated by a number of researchers who were involved in the processes of psychological adaptation and coping (Coyne et al., 2021;Doorley et al., 2020;Sheppes, 2020). ...
The study concerns the question of how much the emotional competence and the ability to cope with problems in one’s own personality increase in the process of professional psychological education, for which students of different years of study were tested. The aim of this study is to deeply diagnose various components of psychological flexibility and the ability to cope with unexpected events among psychology students. The study involved 30 students from 1 to 4 years of university grade level participated into study, divided into 4 equal groups from. Based on testing various aspects of psychological flexibility, emotional intelligence test (EQ test), Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (ERQ) and D.V. Lyusin emotional intelligence instrument (Emin) were used; it was tested using Student’s t-test and Kruskal-Wallis H-test to evaluate differences between three or more samples simultaneously. As a result of the study, the significant differences between all groups of participants and between the assessment of individual factors of psychological flexibility in different groups was accepted. Each of the groups demonstrated its specific characteristics of the relationship between emotional competence and coping with stress. Comparison of the results of students from different years of study showed that psychological education does not have a significant effect on emotional intelligence as an indicator of emotional flexibility, but positively affects the development of coping with stress, although in predominantly passive forms. The practical application of the research lies in improving psychology students’ learning; the research results can be used as methods for determining psychological flexibility factors that require development in study groups.
... Based on the history reviewed in this field, qualitative research on nurses' experience in epidemic diseases, such as acute respiratory syndrome [15] or influenza, has provided useful information. [16] Also, during the COVID-19 pandemic in Iran and other countries, coping strategies have been studied through qualitative and quantitative research. However, the researcher has not found a study examining nurses' safe coping strategies. ...
... Consistent with other research, "wise liberation" creates a flexible psychological state among nurses, leading to empiricism in the face of inner and outer experiences, and determining the kind of nurse's reaction to new experiences. [16] In the safe strategy of "wise liberation," the ability to communicate with the present moment and the ability to distinguish oneself from psychological inner experiences and thoughts are facilitated by the strategies of "living in the moment" and "accepting inner and outer world," respectively, thus leading to psychological flexibility, [17] this finding is in line with other research. Ching et al., in a study to discover the coping strategies of nurses in clinical situations, "coping avoidance," which is one of the examples of "not accepting the inner and outer world," is an anon effective coping strategy for nurses with highly occupational burnout and low resilience, against which the strategy of "problem-solving" is an effective coping strategy for nurses with low occupational burnout and high resilience. ...
... Conceptualized as a trait-level characteristic (6), grit has demonstrated stability over various time periods. However, reports of stability for adults are limited to student and medical resident samples (6,(12)(13)(14)(15)(16)(17). The test-retest reliability of a self-report measure of grit (6) has been good in these samples, ranging from .68-.85, assessed over intervals from one month to one year. ...
... Over the course of one week, Grit-S scores in the outpatient sample demonstrated strong retest reliability, even after adjusting for demographic characteristics (adjusted r = .79). Retest reliability in the current clinical sample is consistent with reports in student and medical resident samples (6,(12)(13)(14)(15)(16)(17). The mean Grit-S score of 3.15 was statistically significantly lower than any other clinical sample found in the literature. ...
Background: Recovery from substance use disorder requires sustained effort and perseverance. Hence, the resilience factor of grit may be important for people in recovery. Little research has been conducted on grit in patients with substance use disorder (SUD), especially in a large and varied sample.
Objectives: To analyze the psychometric properties of the Short Grit Scale (Grit-S) in patients with SUD and to use demographic and clinical characteristics to predict variance in Grit-S scores.
Methods: Participants completed the Grit-S and other self-report measures. Psychometric properties of the Grit-S were assessed in outpatients (N = 94, 77.7% male) and a hierarchical regression predicted Grit-S variance in inpatients (N = 1238, 65.0% male).
Results: The Grit-S demonstrated good internal consistency (α=.75) and strong test-retest reliability (adjusted r = .79, p < .001). Mean Grit-S score was 3.15, lower than other clinical samples reported in the literature. Regression modeling indicated a moderate, statistically significant association between demographic and clinical characteristics and Grit-S scores (R² = 15.5%, p < .001). Of particular interest, the positive factor of recovery protection showed the strongest association with Grit-S of all variables assessed (β=.185 vs. β = .052–.175 for the remaining significant independent variables).
Conclusion: The psychometric properties of the Grit-S in patients with SUD support its use in this population. Moreover, the particularly low grit scores among inpatients with SUDs and the association of grit scores with substance use risk and recovery factors suggest that grit could be useful as a treatment target in this population.
... The 15 items of the Personal Psychological Flexibility Index (Kashdan et al., 2020) were used for measuring the trait-like ability to pursue valued life aims and daily goals despite the presence of distress. In the present research, a COVID-19 pandemic and health-related distress were targeted, and therefore the scale instruction was reformulated accordingly: "Please take a few moments to think of an important goal that you are working on related to your health maintenance during COVID-19 pandemic. ...
... A 7-point Likert scale was applied for recording the answers from strongly disagree to strongly agree. The alpha coefficient of the total scale was 0.84, while test-retest reliability was also appropriate (Kashdan et al., 2020). In this study, Cronbach's alpha was 0.75, 0.88, and 0.72 for acceptance, avoidance, and harnessing, respectively. ...
Background
Positive and negative focus in information processing associated with age has a diverse role in COVID-19 vaccine uptake. The aim of the study was the exploration of the generational diversity among psychological predictors of COVID-19 vaccine uptake.
Methods
A cross-sectional research was conducted. The sample included 978 Hungarian women. Based on former literature findings, the COVID-19 vaccine uptake predictors were chosen from the health beliefs model, COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy, and psychological flexibility. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was conducted to investigate the predictors of COVID-19 vaccine uptake in women of Gen X, Gen Y, and Gen Z.
Results
In Gen X women, the influence of significant predictors are more prone to the positivity in COVID-19 vaccine uptake behavior, perceived benefits being the most relevant, increasing the likelihood of vaccine uptake more than four times. In Gen Y women, perceived barriers, lack of confidence/skepticism and avoidance significantly reduce the probability of vaccine uptake, showing an accentuated negative focus in information processing related to COVID-19 vaccination. The vaccine uptake in Gen Z is predicted only by the perceived benefits , and the likelihood of COVID-19 vaccine uptake is heightened in chance more than 19 times.
Conclusion
Women belonging to Gen X or Gen Y, the perceived benefits hold the key to vaccine uptake, while in women of Gen Z, low risks, lack of threats, and accessibility could motivate the decision of vaccine uptake. The findings are useful in generation-adapted vaccination campaigns and can also serve as inspiration for evolutionary psychology studies on health behavior and the broad area of study in cognitive biases in health information processing.
... Given the well documented concerns over the construct and discriminant validity of the AAQ-II (e.g., Kashdan et al., 2020;Rochefort et al., 2019;Tyndall et al., 2019;Wolgast, 2014), there is an imperative to provide psychometric evidence on measures of psychological flexibility such as the Portuguese CompACT. Moreover, there is potential for conceptual confusion in the postpartum literature in that the AAQ-II has been administered to assess psychological flexibility (e.g., Monteiro et al., 2019;Whittingham & Mitchell, 2021), but also experiential avoidance (e.g., Fonseca et al., 2018), which is a sub-component process of psychological inflexibility. ...
... However, the data from the present study underscores the acknowledged difficulty in the literature (see Ong et al., 2020;Kashdan et al., 2020) The present data generally support Ong et al.'s (2020) finding that the CompACT has good discriminant validity properties, insofar as non-significant associations with scales measuring negative emotionality and loneliness were observed. Moreover, the data also augment Ong et al.'s suggestion that researchers and clinicians should focus more on the three separate component factors rather than rely on calculating a total psychological flexibility score when linking psychological wellbeing and behavior changes to interventions designed to alter levels of psychological flexibility in clients. ...
An 18-item Portuguese-language version of the CompACT scale has recently been proposed for the Portuguese population. This study aims at conducting the first Confirmatory Factor Analysis of the Portuguese CompACT in participants from two different samples (community adults and women in the post-partum period; total N = 1090). Given that the CompACT had yet to be subjected to gender invariance testing, the present study also presents an invariance analysis between male and female community participants. The measurement invariance of the Portuguese CompACT between community and post-partum women was also examined. The current study additionally explored the scale's relationships with theoretically relevant outcomes associated in the literature with psychological flexibility. Results showed that the three-factor correlated model of the Portuguese CompACT was an adequate fit for the data taken from the complete sample, with most items presenting statistically and practically significant loading values. The Portuguese CompACT presented acceptable to good internal consistencies for all factors-Openness to Experience (OE), Behavioral Awareness (BA), and Valued Action (VA). Full measurement invariance was found, with results further indicating that community women presented lower scores in BA than community men, and that women in the post-partum period scored higher than community women in BA and VA, and lower in OE. The three subscales of the Portuguese CompACT, that underpin the overarching construct of psychological flexibility, demonstrated different patterns of association from one another with various aspects of individual functioning. Although those associations were in the expected directions with flexibility being associated with lower distress, some forms of psychological flexibility 3 assessed by the CompACT were not significantly associated with measures of positive affect or resilience. This result underscores the difficulty of measuring psychological flexibility as a single construct, as it comprises a number of sub-component processes. Further implications of findings are discussed.
... Therefore, we need measurements that evaluate EA in a contextsensitive manner. Measures that assess psychological flexibility across a specific timeframe (Gloster et al., 2021) or in the pursuit of specific, personalized values (Kashdan et al., 2020;Akbari et al., 2021a;Akbari et al., 2021b) are a step forward. Such measures can also help shift research on EA to be more consistent with the framework of process-based therapy . ...
... The variability in effect sizes across measurement types, and the high correlations EA measures share with trait anxiety and distress measures, suggest serious concerns in whether EA is being measured as intended. A new wave of state EA measures (Kashdan et al., 2014) and contextualized EA measures (Kashdan et al., 2020) may lead to a more precise understanding of the impact of EA. Measuring and analyzing EA as a dynamic process and considering non-linear relationships between EA and psychopathology may also lead to new breakthroughs. ...
Although numerous studies on experiential avoidance and its relationship to psychopathology have been conducted, systematic summaries of this research are lacking. The current systematic review and meta-analysis evaluated the transdiagnostic role of experiential avoidance across depression, anxiety and related disorders (obsessive-compulsive and related disorders [OCRDs] and post-traumatic stress disorder [PTSD]) as well as potential moderators of these relations. A total of 441 eligible studies including 135,347 participants (66.16% female, mean age = 31.53) and 899 effect-sizes were summarized. Results indicated a moderate-to-large association of experiential avoidance with anxiety (r = .506) and depressive symptoms (r = .562), major depressive disorder (r = .453), worry (r = .516), generalized anxiety disorder (r = .588), social anxiety disorder (r = .461), panic and agoraphobia (r = .340), specific phobias (r = .431), OCRDs (r = .406), and PTSD (r = .489). Anxiety sensitivity moderated the relationship of experiential avoidance to anxiety and depression. Moreover, depression moderated the relationship of experiential avoidance to generalized anxiety disorder and OCRDs. Correlations varied by mean experiential avoidance value, suggesting a potentially nonlinear relationship of experiential avoidance to psychological symptoms. Other potential moderators including type of population, type of measure, comorbidity, and clinical status were investigated. Results support the hypothesized role of experiential avoidance as a transdiagnostic and transcultural process relevant to depression, anxiety, OCRDs, and PTSD. However, experiential avoidance has largely been measured as a generalized trait; future research would be enhanced by measuring experiential avoidance as a dynamic and contextualized process.
... Some evidence [57,58] suggests that enhanced psychological flexibility (PF) may be associated with EAS participation. PF can be defined as pursuing goals despite feeling distress [154]. Another definition [155] of PF is that it describes how an individual adapts to shifting situations, shifts perspective, and balances competing desires and needs. ...
Equine-assisted services (EAS) are being increasingly used as complementary interventions for military veterans who have experienced trauma. However, there is limited evidence of benefit for this population and almost no literature describing desired potential outcomes and possible mechanisms of action. The aim of this article is to address these gaps by reviewing the extant literature of animal-assisted interventions in general, and equine-assisted services in particular, with the goal of providing guidance for future investigations in the field. Currently, the field is in the early stage of scientific development, but published results are promising. Interventions that enhance treatment compliance and/or outcomes could benefit this population. Preliminary results, reviewed herein, indicate that EAS interventions might benefit the military veteran population by enhancing treatment engagement and therapeutic alliance, as well as contributing to symptom reduction and resulting in various transdiagnostic benefits. It is recommended that future studies include exploration of potential beneficial outcomes discussed herein as well as investigate suggested mechanisms of action.
... Moreover, participants significantly increased their levels of engaged living and life fulfillment after pilgrimage, that together with the changes in subjective happiness and satisfaction with life, were the most influential and explicative variables in the networks. These results are in line with previous findings about the positive association of psychological flexibility with well-being (e.g., Howell & Demuynck, 2021) and satisfaction with life (e.g., Graham et al., 2016;Kashdan et al., 2020). However, Lucas and Moore (2020) found that the significant association between psychological flexibility and satisfaction with life was mediated by mental health outcomes (anxiety, depression, and social functioning). ...
Engaged Living (values clarity and committed action) is a main process of
psychological flexibility as defined by Acceptance and Commitment Therapy. However, there is scant research focused on its measurement. The Engaged Living Scale (ELS) was in consequence designed. The purpose of this study was to translate the ELS to Spanish and to examine the reliability and validity of its scores in a heterogeneous sample of 752 Spanish pilgrims of the Way of Saint James (pre-post analysis: n = 285). Confirmatory factor analyses were computed to study the structural validity of the ELS scores. Besides, convergent and divergent validity analyses in relation to variables such as mindfulness facets, satisfaction with life, subjective happiness, affect, depression, anxiety, and distress, were performed by implementing a novel technique, Network Analysis (NA). Results showed that the Spanish version of the ELS is two-factorial (valued living [VL] and life fulfillment [LF]; CFI = .91; TLI = .89; RMSEA = .09 with CI 90% [.08, .09]; SRMR = .06). The ELS scores showed good reliability (Cronbach’s α and McDonald’s ω ranged from .89 to .92). In addition, it was able to detect VL and LF changes after the Way underscoring its sensitivity to change. NA showed adequate scores’ convergent and divergent validity and changes in satisfaction with life, LF, happiness, and VL scores were most strongly associated with changes in the remainder of the variables. In short, the Spanish version of the ELS is a reliable and valid instrument to assess the engaged response style.
... After completing the decision-making simulation, participants were asked to self-assess their cognitive flexibility along the 20 items using a seven-point Likert scale. We chose this scale over the cognitive flexibility scale (Martin and Rubin, 1995), the personal psychological flexibility index (Kashdan et al., 2020), and the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (Berg, 1948) as a meta-review by Cherry et al. (2021) indicated that the CFI is the best measure to assess cognitive flexibility in self-assessments. Further, the CFI explicitly measures cognitive flexibility without including overlapping constructs and without evoking cognitive load due to lengthy measurement. ...
Escalation of commitment-the tendency to persist with failing courses of action-can determine whether a distressed Information Systems (IS) project can be turned around. To disentangle the emotional and cognitive factors that give rise to escalation we conducted a between-subject randomized controlled laboratory experiment with 75 Master, MBA, and Ph.D. students, including data triangulation between neurophysiological and behavioral measures. This study successfully replicates the bias in the context of IS project distress, provides evidence for a psychophysiological link, supports the predictions on the role of negative and complex emotional states of self-justification theory over coping theory, and adds to a better understanding of how escalation tendency changes over time due to learning effects. Our findings contribute to enhancing decision-making in uncertain environments by using cognitive and emotional markers and thereby provide the foundation for developing neuro-adaptive de-escalation strategies.
... For example, various important drivers of our mental health, such as experiencing humor (McCreaddie & Wiggins, 2008) and being part of nature (Pritchard et al., 2020), were merged into our predetermined dimensions as a result of how they were operationalized within the measures. Concepts such as psychological flexibility or pro-sociality were not explicitly covered in the scales, which some argue to be important drivers of our mental health (Kashdan et al, 2020;Marsh et al. 2020). This, however, does not mean that they should not be elevated as specific domains in a future version, considering their important influence on mental health. ...
... The specific weight of psychological dimensions, which may favor the onset of depressive spectrum conditions (namely the broad area of psychological/psychiatric phenomenology relating to depression and including signs, isolated symptoms, symptom clusters and behavioral patterns, prodromes and precursors) [7][8][9] in the general population samples of young adults is still under debate [10,11]. Among the psychological dimensions related to the occurrence of depressive spectrum symptoms, 'psychological inflexibility' has recently been considered noteworthy, especially in emerging adulthood [12][13][14]. Psychological inflexibility is characterized by a loss of contact with current environmental and psychological experiences and by the use of an unchanged and stereotyped repertoire of emotional and cognitive responses [10,15]. This dimension is linked to the 'ruminative response style' (RR), namely to a cognitive response style, which involves passively brooding about one's mood and, to some extent, to the occurrence of depressive signs and symptoms throughout the process of 'cognitive fusion' (CF). ...
Psychological inflexibility is related to depressive symptoms through the ‘ruminative response style’ (RR) and ‘cognitive fusion’ (CF). We aimed at exploring whether university students were more exposed to CF, RR and depressive symptoms because of their intellectual performance than non-university students of the same age. We compared university students (US) (n = 105) vs. non-university students (NUS) (n = 76) through online administration of the ‘Cognitive Fusion Questionnaire’ (CFQ-7), the ‘Depression-Zung Self-Assessment Scale’ (ZSDS) and the ‘Perseverative Thinking Questionnaire’ (PTQ) (study protocol #0077818/2022, approved by the Ethical Committee of the University of Pisa, Italy). University students scored significantly higher than non-university students in the CFQ-7 Total Score (27.5 ± 9.4 vs. 24.4 ± 9.5; p = 0.040), ZSDS Total Score (41.1 ± 7.7 vs. 39.0 ± 7.3; p = 0.031), PTQ Total Score (26.1 ± 13.1 vs. 21.8 ± 13.9; p = 0.029), PTQ ‘Repetitiveness’ (5.3 ± 2.8 vs. 4.5 ± 2.9; p = 0.034), ‘Intrusiveness’ (5.8 ± 3.0 vs. 4.8 ± 3.1; p = 0.046) and ‘Repetitive Negative Thinking capturing mental resources’ (5.0 ± 3.1 vs. 4.0 ± 3.0; p = 0.013) (MANOVA analysis). In a binary logistic regression analysis of US (with ZSDS scores < 44 vs. ≥44 as the dependent variable, and PTQ Total Score and dimensions, CFQ-7 Total Score, age and gender as the covariates), PTQ Total Score predicted the more severe depressive symptomatology (OR = 1.44, 95% CI: 1.017–2.039; p = 0.040). We believe that RR and CF should be specifically targeted through psychoeducational/psychotherapeutic interventions in university students.
... For example, the CPAQ-8 contains two factors, that is pain willingness and activity engagement (Fish et al., 2010). The Personalized Psychological Flexibility Index includes three dimensions (avoidance, acceptance, and harnessing; Kashdan et al., 2020). This four-factor structure of the CPFQ was based on one sample; hence study 2 was conducted to validate the factor structure in another dataset. ...
The Cancer-related Psychological Flexibility Questionnaire (CPFQ) was developed and validated for assessing cancer patients’ psychological flexibility, including attitudes and behavior toward cancer. In a systematic process, the CPFQ identified four factors through principal component analysis and confirmatory factor analysis: Cancer Acceptance, Cancer Avoidance, Activity Engagement, and Valued Action. The results of this study reveal that the CPFQ has a clear factor structure and good psychometric properties. The specific nature of cancer and the need for a specific measure of cancer patient psychological flexibility make this questionnaire valuable for research on psychological flexibility in cancer patients.
... FUS encompasses the "negative self-evaluation" aspect, which could justify the stronger and closer connection of those two components in the battery of scales but not in the MPFI. Similar concerns were raised by several researchers about the construct validity and measurement problems of the AAQ-II (Kashdan et al., 2020;Tyndall et al., 2019). Researchers and practitioners selecting the AAQ-II for evaluation, should be aware that they are actually assessing a combined EA/FUS skill. ...
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) is purported to work via targeting six interrelated processes summarized as the Psychological Inflexibility/Psychological Flexibility (PI/PF) model. However, the theoretical structure and interconnections of this model have not been sufficiently explored. Lacking are examinations of the interrelations among its components. Network Analysis (NA) can model PI/PF as a system of interconnected variables. We aimed at exploring the role and associations of the PI/PF model’s components using NA in two different samples and sets of scales, and compare its structure across sub-samples. Sample 1 consisted of 501 individuals, who completed an online battery of questionnaires including the Multidimensional Psychological Flexibility Inventory, and sample 2 consisted of 428 people, who completed an online set of six ACT measures each assessing a component of the PI/PF model. NA could not verify the six ACT dimensions as distinct components. Values and Committed Action components were found to be strongly associated and combined in a group in both sets of measures and samples. Interestingly, Acceptance and Defusion were not the most central components as purported in some ACT conceptualizations, whereas Self-as-Context had a key role on both sets of measures and its items were often merged with Present Moment Awareness items. No significant differences were found in the comparison of networks across different sub-samples and sets of scales. After combining different sets of scales, the six ACT components could not be completely verified as distinct entities, which might reflect problems with the theoretical model, or with the scales used. All components had critical roles in the model and particularly Self-as-Context, which reflects the need to redirect research towards this understudied construct. Findings point towards considerations of a triflex instead of a hexaflex ACT model.
... Relatedly, while Tyndall et al. (2018) found that unpicking individual processes of psychological inflexibility might provide greater insight concerning coping with ostracism, current views by leading scholars in this field lean strongly towards conceptualizing and assessing psychological flexibility or psychological inflexibility as a singular higher-order construct instead (see Gloster et al., 2021;Kashdan et al., 2020). While psychological flexibility and psychological inflexibility were often viewed as opposing ends of a continuum with most of the research employing the AAQ-II to categorize participants as being low in psychological flexibility (i.e., high in psychological inflexibility) or high in psychological flexibility (i.e., low in psychological inflexibility), some researchers propose that they are, in fact, distinct constructs (e.g., Rolffs et al., 2018), and should be measured as such. ...
Ostracism is known to lead to negative psychological outcomes; however, little is known as to how ostracism may be a predictor of paranoid thoughts. The present paper examined the relationship between perceived ostracism and paranoid thoughts (social reference, persecution) by focusing on the potential moderating roles of psychological flexibility and inflexibility. As expected, data from a sample of 315 internet users (Mage = 31.5 years) showed that perceived ostracism was positively related to both social reference and persecution. Psychological flexibility did not moderate the ostracism-paranoid thought relationships. However, psychological inflexibility was a moderator of the ostracism-social reference relationship, but not for ostracism-persecution. Specifically, at both high and low levels of psychological inflexibility, there was a significant positive relationship between ostracism and social reference. These unexpected findings suggest that future research is needed to elucidate the mechanisms by which perceived ostracism may lead to paranoia.
... In addition to the aforementioned limitations, these measures have been criticized for their low construct and discriminant validity. More recently, the AAQ-II and the BEAQ (the most widely used measures of psychological inflexibility) have been shown to capture difficult thoughts and feelings to which individuals respond, rather than measuring individuals' tendency to react inflexibly to undesirable inner experiences (Kashdan et al., 2020;Landi, Pakenham, Crocetti, et al., 2021;Ong et al., 2020;Tyndall et al., 2019;Wolgast, 2014). ...
The Multidimensional Psychological Flexibility Inventory (MPFI) is a new 60-item self-report scale developed to assess the specific components of psychological flexibility and inflexibility proposed in the Hexaflex model of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT). The present study sought to examine the psychometric properties of the Persian version of the MPFI-60 in a community sample of 307 Iranian adults. The original study supported a 12-factor second-order structure consisting of 6 dimensions for psychological flexibility and 6 dimensions for psychological inflexibility. The Persian MPFI-60 demonstrated acceptable semantic and test content, internal structure, correlations with other variables, and internal consistency. It also evidenced in relation to anxiety, stress, depression, and self-compassion. Overall, the results indicate that the Persian MPFI-60 is a psychometrically sound measure in the Iranian context that enables researchers and clinicians to comprehensively assess the components of psychological flexibility and inflexibility within the Hexaflex model.
... Higher scores represented a higher sense of purpose. Previous work has demonstrated that this measure correlates with other assessments for sense of purpose (Hill et al., 2016), health behaviors (Hill et al., 2020), and other variables across the adult lifespan with which other purpose measures have also been associated (Hill et al., 2016;Hill and Strecher, 2021;Kashdan et al., 2020;Scott and Cohen, 2020). Using the psych package (Psych Package), Cronbach's alphas were calculated for each month, ranging between 0.93 and 0.95. ...
Background
Sense of purpose is a salient predictor of health outcomes, at least partially because individuals with a higher sense of purpose appear to engage in healthier lifestyle behaviors. Yet, little work has considered the role that greater physical activity may play in allowing individuals to maintain or develop a higher sense of purpose.
Methods
Using five waves of monthly data (total n = 2337), the current study investigates the bi-directional association between sense of purpose and monthly reports of average time spent per day in moderate and vigorous physical activity utilizing Random Intercept Cross-Lagged Panel models.
Results
and Discussion. Findings suggested differences based on physical activity intensity. For moderate physical activity, concurrent within-person associations revealed that during months when sense of purpose was higher relative to a person's usual level, they also spent more time than usual engaging in moderate physical activity. Bi-directional cross-lagged effects indicated that higher sense of purpose predicted more next-month moderate physical activity, and vice versa. Only between-person associations were evident for vigorous physical activity, such that people with a higher sense of purpose on average spent more time in vigorous physical activity on average. The discussion focuses on the methodological advances of the current study, as well as implications for future research.
... Sense of purpose was assessed using the Brief Purpose Measure , a measure originally developed to assess sense of purpose levels in emerging adulthood. However, it has shown convergent validity with other sense of purpose measures used across the lifespan and is related to variables also associated with these other sense of purpose measures Hill, Burrow, & Strecher, 2021;Kashdan, Disabato, et al., 2020;Scott & Cohen, 2020). Furthermore, this measure was also used to assess dispositional sense of purpose at baseline for the hourly and weekly studies. ...
Sense of purpose can be understood as the extent to which one feels that they have personally meaningful goals and directions guiding them through life. Though the predictive value of this construct is well-established based on the robust research illustrating that it predicts a host of desirable cognitive, physical, and well-being benefits, the nature of sense of purpose is still under-researched. In particular, little is known regarding the extent to which this construct fluctuates within an individual and what is tied to those fluctuations. The current study addresses this gap by utilizing data from four separate studies (total N = 3,390) with lag variability to explore three primary questions. First, how much within-person variability do people exhibit in sense of purpose at the hourly, daily, weekly, and monthly level? Second, how does sense of purpose variability compare to positive and negative affect variability? Third, does dispositional sense of purpose predict short-term sense of purpose variability, and does age have a linear and/or quadratic association with sense of purpose variability? The current project finds that approximately 50-70% of the variability in sense of purpose scores occurs between-person, with the monthly reports exhibiting the least amount of within-person variability. Furthermore, the within-person variability of sense of purpose is often comparable to positive and negative affect depending on the time between measurement occasions. Finally, higher levels of dispositional sense of purpose do not appear to be strongly tied to how much variability an individual experiences in their purposefulness from one time period to next. However, depending on the amount of time between measurement occasions, higher age may be tied to experiences of variability. The discussion focuses on what these findings mean for the trait-like nature of sense of purpose, short-term sense of purpose measurement, lifespan development, and intervention efforts.
https://openscholarship.wustl.edu/art_sci_etds/2724
... Research shows that flexibly assessing situations and prioritising necessary emotional responses in alignment with goals and values, without relying on dominant default beliefs or strategies, is also associated with reduced psychological distress Bonanno & Burton, 2013). Furthermore, individuals with a flexible mindset generally are more accepting and have a greater sense of control over their emotions (Kashdan et al., 2020;Predatu et al., 2020). Consequently, individuals may flexibly shift beliefs in accordance with situational demands, thus producing a flexible approach to the regulation of emotions (i.e., sometimes controlling, sometimes accepting). ...
Objective: The process model of emotion regulation posits beliefs about emotions inform
regulation processes, affecting mental-health outcomes. Beliefs that emotions can be controlled (i.e., control beliefs, underpinning traditional Cognitive Behaviour Therapy) and accepted (i.e., acceptance beliefs, underpinning Acceptance and Commitment Therapy), though seemingly opposing, are both associated with lower psychological distress. This study tested the hypothesis that emotion regulation flexibility (i.e., using and applying a range of regulation strategies at the right times) may mediate the relationship between these beliefs and distress.
Method: 177 participants (87.6% female, Mage = 42.7) completed the 21-item Depression,
Anxiety and Stress Scale, the Emotion Belief Questionnaire-General Controllability Composite, and two measures developed for this study: the Emotion Belief Questionnaire-Acceptance Variant and Emotion Regulation Flexibility Questionnaire.
Results: Emotion regulation flexibility mediated the relationship between control and acceptance beliefs and distress, such that stronger control and acceptance beliefs were associated with lower distress via higher emotion regulation flexibility.
Conclusions: Our results are consistent with theorising that both control and acceptance
beliefs are useful for mental health; these beliefs may inform usage of control or acceptance based emotion regulation strategies, which may reduce distress levels if applied flexibly. These findings are discussed regarding corresponding therapeutic interventions
... Some authors, such as Kashdan et al. (2020), propose a "personalized" measure of psychological flexibility using the Personalized Psychological Flexibility Index (PPFI), which has notable psychometric qualities. This questionnaire seems to distinguish 3 factors: avoidance, acceptance, and harnessing. ...
Psychological flexibility is a key process in mental health, both in a psychopathological approach and from a quality of life and well-being perspective. The notion seems to suffer from a conceptual vagueness with multiple definitions, stemming from different conceptual propositions, with a frequent opposition between a “neuropsychological” approach or assessment and a “clinical and therapeutical” approach. The objective of this article is to propose a theoretical review of the literature, aiming at understanding the notion of psychological flexibility according to the different approaches. To do so, we propose a presentation of the notions, as well as perspectives to improve actual assessment, especially in its ecological aspects. Finally, we wish to underline the relevance of a convergence of measures by reflecting on the limits of current tools and proposing mixed ecological protocols between “objective” and “subjective” measures in a perspective of mutual enrichment, both theoretical and clinical.
... The Behavioral Activation for Depression Scale Short Form (Manos et al., 2011) assesses the extent to which people have been active over the previous week (e.g., "I engaged in many different activities"), or avoidant (e.g., "I engaged in activities that would distract me from feeling bad"). More recently, the Personalized Psychological Flexibility Index (Kashdan et al., 2020) assesses psychological flexibility in relation to a valued goal, but in theory, these are only valid valued goals insofar as people understand what it is that they value. Other measures of values assess stuff that we value, such as the Valued Living Questionnaire (Wilson et al., 2010), asking users to rate the importance of various life domains (e.g., parenting, work etc.) on a scale of 1-10, which is not in line with the quality of character definition of values within ACT. ...
Engaging in behavior that is congruent with the qualities of character to which we aspire is the key behavioral outcome sought in several evidence-based psychotherapies (e.g., “valued action” within Acceptance and Commitment Therapy) and moral education (e.g., “character sought” within Neo-Aristotelian Character Education). However, we cannot deliberately engage in valued action without first thinking through the qualities of character to which we aspire. We therefore developed a novel measure of “value clarity” and established its construct validity. Across two adult samples and one adolescent sample, we established the following psychometric properties of the seven-item Value Clarity Questionnaire: factor structure, concurrent validity, discriminant validity, internal reliability, rest-retest reliability, predictive validity, and incremental criterion validity. Value clarity predicted multiple aspects of flourishing including engaged living, depression, behavioral activation, assertiveness, productiveness, and energy levels over and above known predictors. This measure will be especially useful for assessing the efficacy of values/moral clarification interventions.
... Successful navigation of EA may be dependent on the level of tolerance versus aversion of ambiguity (Xu & Adams, 2020) and psychological flexibility (Kashdan et al., 2020) to identify and pursue one's goals despite distress. However, perceived social support, higher levels of parental support, and a strong network of positive relationships (Chu et al., 2010;Reid et al., 2016) can reduce risk for externalizing and internalizing challenges during EA, especially for racial and ethnic minoritized young people (Forster et al., 2013). ...
Emerging adulthood (EA) is a time of self-exploration as new opportunities for independence and autonomy arise. Yet, for some youth, this may also contribute to instability, uncertainty, and anxiety. Consequently, evidence suggests that rates of exposure to various forms of violence increase in EA. This study examined changes in experiences of bullying and sexual violence (SV) victimization among a sample of post-high school emerging adults who were exposed to a primary prevention program, Sources of Strength (Sources). We also examined whether Sources skills (e.g., healthy coping and help-seeking) buffer against these experiences. Participants were 102 emerging adults (73.5% identifying as female, 36.3% as Latinx, and 22.6% as LGBQ), who completed surveys at three time points: 1 month prior to graduation and at 6- and 12-months post-graduation. Results suggest that as youth transition into emerging adulthood, experiences of bullying victimization were relatively low and slightly decreased whereas experiences of SV were also relatively low, but stable over time. Notably, bullying victimization was lower when female-identifying participants, relative to males, had higher levels of healthy coping. In addition, SV victimization for participants identifying as non-white was higher at lower levels of coping than those identifying as white; however, at higher levels of coping, non-white participants reported lower rates of SV victimization, while rates were relatively stable for white participants at high and low levels of coping. These findings provide some support for the Sources program model where engaging in healthy coping may protect young women from bullying exposure and buffer against SV victimization for racial and ethnic minoritized young adults. Implications for violence prevention are discussed.
... The authors developed this scale to overcome the limitations of the most widely used measure of psychological flexibility, the Acceptance and Action Questionnaire-II (AAQ-II) [10]. One weakness of the AAQ-II is that instead of measuring psychological flexibility, it assesses psychological inflexibility and is used as a proxy for psychological flexibility [11,12]. In addition, Wolgast [13] has argued that the AAQ-II is confounded with distress-outcome variables, and Francis et al. [9] argued that the AAQ-II is limited in its assessment of the six psychological flexibility processes due to a preponderance of items that focus on acceptance/experiential avoidance and defusion/fusion processes, neglecting other important processes (i.e., values and committed action, contact with the present moment and self-as-context) within the ACT model. ...
Purpose:
The Comprehensive assessment of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) processes (CompACT) is a 23-item self-report questionnaire assessing psychological flexibility, which is the overarching construct underpinning the ACT framework. We conducted a two-phase project to develop validated versions of the CompACT in three languages: phase 1-cross-cultural adaptation; and phase 2-psychometric validation of the questionnaire for use in Italy, Germany and Spain. This article focuses on the first phase.
Methods:
We translated and culturally adapted the CompACT in the three target languages, following the ISPOR TCA Task Force guidelines. The process was overseen by a translation panel (three translators, at least two multiple sclerosis (MS) researchers and a lay person), ACT experts and clinicians from the research team of each country and the original CompACT developers. We debriefed the new questionnaire versions via face-to-face interviews with a minimum of four adults from the general population (GP) and four adults with MS in each country.
Results:
The translation-adaptation process went smoothly in the three countries, with some items (7 in Italy, 4 in Germany, 6 in Spain) revised after feedback from ACT experts. Cognitive debriefing showed that the CompACT was deemed easy to understand and score in each target country by both GP and MS adults.
Conclusions:
The Italian, German and Spanish versions of the CompACT have semantic, conceptual and normative equivalence to the original scale and good content validity. Our findings are informative for researchers adapting the CompACT and other self-reported outcome measures into multiple languages and cultures.
... Researchers have begun to develop comprehensive tools to measure psychological flexibility. Kashdan et al. (2020) created the Personalized Psychological Flexibility Index (PPFI) that includes dimensions of avoidance, acceptance, and harnessing. Preliminary research has shown that PPFI has good reliability and validity and is not conflated with negative emotionality. ...
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) improves mental health by augmenting psychological flexibility. Studies showed that psychological flexibility affects mental health; however, although studies have examined individual aspects of psychological flexibility, few have comprehensively examined an entire psychological flexibility model, especially in China. The Comprehensive Assessment of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy Processes (CompACT) is a comprehensive evaluation method that reflects psychological flexibility. The objectives of this study were to develop a Chinese version of CompACT that fits with Chinese culture and examine its reliability and validity. We studied 4999 non-clinical Chinese civil servants and explored the characteristics of the Chinese version of CompACT. Exploratory factor analysis was used to measure Openness to Experience, Behavioral Awareness, and Valued Action that explained 54.3% of the total variance. Confirmatory factor analysis provided support for the three-factor model. The Cronbach’s α-coefficient of the scale was 0.87, suggesting that the Chinese version of the CompACT is reliable. The Chinese CompACT total score represents the overall level of psychological flexibility; it is significantly negatively correlated with negative emotions and positively associated with well-being. Our findings suggest that the Chinese version of the CompACT accurately assesses psychological flexibility in Chinese adults.
Objective:
Patients suffering from psychological disorders report decreased quality of life and low mood. The relationship of these symptoms to daily upsetting events or environments, and in the context of active coping mechanisms is poorly understood. The present study thus investigates the association between mood, psychological flexibility, upsetting events, and environment in the daily life of outpatients.
Method:
We investigated 80 outpatients at the beginning of treatment, using event sampling methodology (ESM). Patients' mood, occurrence of upsetting events, current environment, and psychological flexibility were sampled six times per day during a one-week intensive longitudinal examination. Data were analyzed using linear mixed models (LMMs).
Results:
Participants reported worse mood the more upsetting events they experienced. Further, participants reported better mood when in private environments (e.g., with friends), and worse mood when at the hospital, compared to being at home. Higher levels of psychological flexibility, however, were associated with better mood, irrespective of the occurrence of upsetting events or current environment.
Conclusion:
Results suggest that mood is positively associated with psychological flexibility, not despite, but especially during the dynamic and context-specific challenges of daily life. Psychological flexibility may thus potentially act as a buffer against distress-provoking situations as patients go about their daily lives.
Trial registration:
ISRCTN.org identifier: ISRCTN11209732.
Background:
The first coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) wave and lockdown adversely affected the lives of people in diverse ways.
Aims:
This study used a person-centered approach to identify patterns of engagement in the 12 psychological flexibility (PF) and inflexibility (PI) processes to manage the first COVID-19 wave and lockdown hardships.
Materials & methods:
A total of 1035 Italian adults completed an online survey.
Results:
Latent profile analyses conducted on the 12 PI/PF processes measured by the Multidimensional Psychological Flexibility Inventory identified five profiles; three reflected gradations of high to low PF with corresponding inverse levels of PI, while two represented more complex relationships between PI and PF. After controlling for relevant socio-demographic and COVID-19/lockdown factors, the five profiles differed in mental health (depression, anxiety, and COVID-19 distress). Essentially a gradient of progressive decreases in all PI processes (except experiential avoidance) corresponded with increments in mental health across all profiles. Two profiles, which evidenced the highest levels of mental health (highly flexible and moderately flexible profiles), also had the greatest proportion of the sample 56.42% (n = 584), and the highest levels of PF and experiential avoidance.
Discussion:
Findings from this and similar studies suggest intersecting complex relationships among the PI/PF processes that are likely to shift in response to changing contexts. We suggest this network of relationships is better represented by a three-dimensional PF/PI hexaflex than a simplistic two-dimensional depiction of the model.
Conclusion:
Distinguishing different PF/PI profiles identified groups most at risk for the adverse mental health impacts of the pandemic and exposed variations in the mental health protective and risk roles of PF and PI processes, respectively, that can inform ACT-based mental health promotion interventions.
Much of the scientific work on emotion regulation has examined strategies in isolation. Now that we have a better understanding of emotion regulatory strategy use and frequency, there is an opportunity to explore new psychological territory. As a starting point, we illustrate how a highly touted strategy, cognitive reappraisal, supercharges a critical component of well-being: purpose in life. We also examine how purpose in life offers a framework to better understand when and how cognitive reappraisal is adaptive. Examining emotion regulation in the context of a sense of purpose in life opens portals to new questions and testable hypotheses. We end with a reconsideration of emotion regulation flexibility over hyper specialization on singular strategies such as reappraisal. Our aim is to inspire research that examines how emotion regulation facilitates or hinders important elements of the good life, as well as how elements of well-being inform regulation choice and success.
Objective: The aim of this study was to perform across-cultural adaptation of the English version of the personalized psychological flexibility index (PPFI) into Chinese, and to evaluate its psychometric properties in patients with cancer. Methods: This study was conducted in two phases. In phase 1, we followed Beaton's guidelines for cross-cultural adaptation of PPFI. In phase 2, we conducted a cross-sectional study to assess the validity and reliability of the PPFI among a total of 455 patients with cancer in Hunan Province of China. Item analysis was used to evaluate and screen items, while content validity, construct validity, convergent validity, and concurrent validity were used to evaluate the validity. Reliability was assessed using Cronbach's ɑ coefficient, retest reliability, and composite reliability. Results: The item-level content validity index of the modified Chinese version of PPFI (PPFI-C) ranged from 0.89 to 1.00, the scale-level CVI/universal agreement was 0.87, and the S-CVI/average was 0.99. Exploratory factor analysis identified a 14-item, three-factor structure of PPFI (item 11 deleted). Confirmatory factor analysis showed χ2/df = 2.42, RMSEA = 0.07, GFI = 0.92, NFI = 0.91, TLI = 0.93, CFI = 0.95, and IFI = 0.95. PPFI-C demonstrated positive correlations with the 8-item Commitment Action Questionnaire, and negative correlations with Acceptance and Action Questionnaire-II, Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, and Short Form Quality Life Scale. The Cronbach's ɑ coefficient of modified PPFI-C stood at 0.84. Conclusions: The results suggest that the 14-item PPFI-C is a reliable and valid tool for measuring PF in Chinese patients with cancer. However, additional studies are needed to validate the psychometric properties of PPFI-C in other populations.
This study examines the intermediary role of rumination in the relationship between childhood traumas in young adults and cognitive defusion, psychological acceptance, and suppression which is one of the emotion regulation strategies. In the quantitative stage of the study formed according to the explanatory sequential design, the intermediary role of rumination by using a structural equation model while in the qualitative stage, the intermediary role of rumination was analyzed through interviews using the interpretive phenomenology design. Personal Information Form, Childhood Trauma Scale, Short Form Ruminative Response Scale, Acceptance and Action Form II, Drexel Defusion Scale, and Emotion Regulation Scale were used in the research. At the end of the research, it was determined that childhood traumas have a negative effect on cognitive defusion and acceptance, while they have a positive effect on suppression. It was seen that rumination has a partial intermediary role in the relationship of childhood traumas with cognitive defusion, acceptance, and suppression. As a result of the qualitative analysis, twelve themes such as "Constantly thinking about the past, not being able to move away from childhood traumas, not being able to forgive their parents, inability to get rid of negative thoughts, living in the past, moving away from a value-driven life, false expression of emotion, suppression of emotions, emotions reflected in behavior, coping with negative emotions and desired emotion regulation" emerged concerning participants' experiences of cognitive defusion, acceptance, and suppression. Although one of the purposes of using AAQ-II in the study was to support discussions about the scale via qualitative results, this was a limitation for the study. Therefore, although a high rate was obtained, it is not possible to infer that childhood traumas and rumination can explain acceptance behaviors. For this, much more quantitative and qualitative studies are needed. Other qualitative research findings are thought to support quantitative research findings.
While intellectual curiosity has been widely studied in the field of child development, interpersonal curiosity and its association with social and emotional skills and well-being has rarely been investigated. This mixed-methods study explored the dimensions of interpersonal curiosity, examined how each dimension was associated with social and emotional skills and well-being, and investigated the moderating role of gender among middle school students. 389 seventh-grade students in seven public middle schools in New York City (Mage = 12.52; 48% female) completed an online survey that included an interpersonal question-generation measure. The sample was racially/ethnically diverse: Asian (36%), White (29%), Latino/a (16%), African American (13%), and Other (6%). Content analysis guided by grounded theory approach revealed four dimensions of interpersonal curiosity: Curiosity about Me (15%), Curiosity about You (33%), Curiosity about Our Relationship (3%), and Curiosity about Your Relationships (6%). Results indicated that the dimensions of interpersonal curiosity were positively associated with social and emotional skills and well-being, and that gender moderated such associations. Our findings suggest the need to investigate this multidimensional construct and consider it a core component of healthy adolescent development.
The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between stressful life events (SLE) and school engagement and to determine if there are some likely mediating variables between them. A sample of 1517 Chinese junior high school students (51.5% female) completed the adolescent self-rating life events checklist (ASLEC), Utrecht Work Engagement Scale-student (UWES-s), cognitive fusion questionnaire (CFQ), and positive psychological capital questionnaire (PPQ). The model was calculated using the PROCESS macro in SPSS. The serial mediator model revealed a significant negative effect of SLE on school engagement through psychological flexibility and psychological capital (effect = −.08, 95% CI [−.10, −.06]). There was also a direct mediating effect through psychological capital (effect = −.17, 95% CI [−.21, −.13]). The results of the present study may help to clarify mechanisms that might explain the association between SLE and school engagement. Future research on improving school engagement should consider the critical roles of psychological flexibility and psychological capital.
Hoarding is a common problem behavior worldwide and is detrimental to the physical and mental health of individuals and groups. Currently, effective interventions for hoarding are cognitive-behavioral therapies, but their post-intervention efficacy is questionable, and the available research does not examine the mediating variables of the effects of interventions on clinical outcomes. Moreover, current research on hoarding has focused on Western countries. Therefore, there is a need to investigate the efficacy of other forms of cognitive behavioral therapy on hoarding as well as other psychological outcomes related to hoarding and mediating variables that contribute to its effectiveness in different cultural contexts. One hundred thirty-nine college students with higher hoarding behaviors were randomly divided into three groups: 45 in the Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) group, 47 in the Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT) group, and 47 in the control group. They completed the Saving Inventory-Revised (SI-R), Obsessive-Compulsive Symptom Scale (OCSS), Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale (DERS), Experiences in Close Relationships Inventory-Attachment Anxiety Subscale (ECR), Depression Anxiety Stress Scales (DASS-21), Acceptance and Action Questionnaire II (AAQ-II), and Cognitive Fusion Questionnaire (CFQ) before and immediately after the intervention. The results showed that ACT and REBT improved individuals' psychological flexibility, cognitive fusion, acquisition-difficulty discarding, clutter, negative affect (anxiety, depression, stress), attachment anxiety, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and difficulty in emotion regulation compared to the control group. In addition, ACT was more effective than REBT in improving psychological flexibility and reducing hoarding, cognitive fusion, depression, stress, and obsessive-compulsive disorder; there were no significant differences between the two in anxiety and emotion regulation difficulties. Furthermore, psychological flexibility is a mediator of the effect of ACT and REBT on some behavioral and psychological outcomes (hoarding, negative affect, attachment anxiety). Limitations were discussed.
The Comprehensive Assessment of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy Processes (CompACT; Francis et al., 2016) is a recently developed measure of psychological flexibility (PF) possessing several advantages over other measures of PF, including multidimensional assessment and relative brevity. Unfortunately, previous psychometric evaluations of the CompACT have been limited by their use of exploratory factor analysis to assess dimensionality, coefficient α to assess reliability, and a lack of attention to measurement equivalence in assessing change over time. The present study used confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and item factor analysis (IFA) to examine the dimensionality, factor-specific reliability, longitudinal measurement invariance, and construct validity of the CompACT items in a longitudinal online sample of U.S. adults (N = 523). Converging evidence across CFA and IFA confirmatory latent variable measurement models provides support for the reduction of the 23-item CompACT to a 15-item short form with a more stable factor structure, acceptable reliability over large ranges of its three latent factors, and measurement equivalence of its items in assessing latent change over time. Results also support the construct validity of the CompACT-15 items based on its relations with theoretically relevant measures. Overall, the CompACT-15 appears to be a psychometrically sound instrument with the potential to contribute to research and intervention efforts. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).
Objectives
Pilot assessment of an equine-assisted services intervention for Veterans with posttraumatic stress disorder.
Design
Prospective cohort.
Setting
A large Veterans Administration healthcare system.
Intervention
Two sessions of instruction in horsemanship skills and two sessions of trail rides.
Main outcome measures
Safety and feasibility of recruitment, retention, providing the intervention, and measuring outcomes, as well as acceptability of the intervention to the population studied were the main outcome measures.
Results
There were no injuries among the 18 participants, 6 staff, or 11 equines over the 3 months of the study. Eleven of 12 (92%) planned intervention sessions were provided, with one being cancelled due to weather. Out of approximately 1800 potential subjects, 21 were enrolled within three months and three dropped out before the first session. The mean number of sessions attended was 3 and 52% of participants completed all sessions. The mean PACES score for all sessions together was 109 (SD=12), with a range of 50 to 126. Pre- to one-month post-intervention exploratory results indicated increased psychological flexibility (p=0.008) and positive affect (p = 0.008) as measured by the Acceptance and Action Questionnaire II and the Positive and Negative Affect Scale, respectively as well as decreased PTSD (p=0.001) and depressive symptoms (p=0.017) as measured by the PTSD Checklist for DSM 5 and the Beck Depression Inventory, respectively.
Conclusions
Results suggest the intervention can be conducted with minimal risk. Further, it was feasible to recruit participants as well as provide the intervention and measure exploratory outcomes. Session attendance and PACES scores indicate acceptability to the Veteran population. The exploratory results will provide sample size estimates for future randomized controlled studies of this intervention Future studies should plan for missed sessions due to weather and consider compensating subjects to enhance retention. Finally, this work provides preliminary evidence that this intervention, without a mental health treatment component, might benefit the mental health of Veterans with PTSD.
Background:
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy for depression (ACT-D) is a promising depression treatment which has not been evaluated on a large scale within VA. This study aimed to evaluate ACT-D's effectiveness in a national, treatment-seeking sample of Veterans.
Methods:
The sample comprised 831 Veterans who received a primary depression diagnosis and received at least two sessions of ACT-D during fiscal years 2015-2020. We used GLM to measure predictors of symptom change, treatment response (50 % reduction in PHQ-9 and AAQ-II scores), subthreshold depression symptoms (PHQ-9 < 10; AAQ-II < 27), and treatment completion.
Results:
Veterans experienced an average reduction of 3.39 points on the PHQ-9 (Cohen's d = 0.56) and 3.76 points on the AAQ-II (Cohen's d = 0.43). On the PHQ-9, 40 % achieved subthreshold depression symptoms. On the AAQ-II, 36 % of Veterans achieved subthreshold psychological inflexibility scores. Service-connected disability rating for depression and higher levels of medical comorbidity were both related to lower levels of overall depression symptom change and treatment response. Substance use disorder and bipolar/psychosis diagnoses were associated with greater reductions in psychological inflexibility.
Limitations:
This is an observational study without a control group, so we were unable to compare the effectiveness of ACT-D to other usual care for depression. We were also unable to assess variables that can influence treatment success, such as therapist fidelity and patient engagement.
Conclusions:
ACT-D achieved similar improvements in depression as reported in controlled trials. Adaptations to ACT-D may be needed to improve outcomes for Veterans with depression and comorbid PTSD.
The psychological flexibility model can be seen as a basis for an integrated and progressive psychological approach to chronic pain management. Some researchers suggest that psychological flexibility and inflexibility represent distinct processes and constructs. This meta-analysis is the first to provide a summary estimate of the overall effect size for the relationship between psychological (in)flexibility and common outcomes among chronic pain patients. The research protocol was registered in the International Prospective Register of Systematic Reviews (PROSPERO, https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/PROSPERO/ ), registration number CRD42021285705. Four databases were searched (PsycINFO; PubMed; Web of Science, CINAHL) along with reference lists. Thirty-six cross-sectional studies were included (7,779 participants). Meta-analyses (random effects model) indicated a significant medium negative association between psychological flexibility and pain intensity or functional impairment. The present study also indicated a significant small to medium association between psychological inflexibility and pain intensity, a nearly large association between psychological inflexibility and functional impairment as well as the quality of life, and a large association between psychological inflexibility and anxiety/depression. Due to the limited number of included studies, the relationship between risk behavior and psychological inflexibility may not be significant. Types of countries and instruments measuring psychological inflexibility may explain part of the heterogeneity. These findings may carry significant implications for chronic pain patients regarding the potential relationship between psychological inflexibility or flexibility and these outcomes. It may consequently form the basis for more robust testing of causal and manipulable relationships.
Systematic review registration
https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/PROSPERO/ , identifier: CRD42021285705.
People's psychological response to the COVID-19 pandemic is significantly affected by their psychological inflexibility. One possible mechanism explaining the association between psychological inflexibility and psychological functioning concerns coping styles. While avoidance and approach coping styles were previously found to mediate this association, the mediating role of meaning-centered coping has not yet been explored. However, meaning-centered coping it is likely to be crucial in circumstances as uncertain as those at the onset of the COVID -19 pandemic. This study explored the mediating role of the three coping styles in the relationship of psychological inflexibility with ill-being and well-being. Slovenian adults (N = 1365) aged 18–81 years provided self-reports on the Acceptance and Action Questionnaire, the Depression Anxiety Stress Scale, the PERMA Profiler, the Brief COPE Inventory, and the Meaning-Centered Coping Scale. In the context of the highly stressful beginning of the pandemic, psychological inflexibility contributed to higher ill-being and lower well-being directly and through increased use of avoidance coping, decreased use of meaning-centered coping, and, to a lesser extent, decreased use of approach coping. Avoidance coping predicted higher levels of ill-being, suggesting a maladaptive effect of this coping strategy. Approach coping positively but weakly predicted well-being, indicating a diminished value of this coping style in low-controllable circumstances of the pandemic. Finally, meaning-centered coping appeared to be the most beneficial in such circumstances, as it was associated with both lower levels of ill-being and higher levels of well-being. This finding suggests that meaning-centered coping should be studied as a stand-alone strategy, rather than as a combination of specific approach coping strategies. Consistent with previous research, this study demonstrates the importance of psychological inflexibility in effectively adapting to and actively coping with aversive situations. Furthermore, the results suggest that seeking or making meaning is vital, at least in a context characterized by low levels of control and high levels of uncertainty.
Background
and purpose: Stress and burnout among healthcare workers are significant public health concerns. The primary aim of this pilot study was to conduct preliminary assessments of safety, feasibility, and participant satisfaction with a psychotherapy incorporating equines (PIE)-based resiliency intervention for healthcare workers. The overarching goal was to lay the groundwork for future, more rigorous investigations. Lastly, a very preliminary assessment of using the Acceptance and Action Questionnaire II (AAQII) to assess for changes in psychological flexibility (PF) associated with PIE was conducted.
Materials and methods
Thirty-seven staff members from a medical center participated in a four-hour PIE-based resiliency retreat. Pre- and post-intervention instruments were utilized to assess participants’ self-perception of physical and psychological health (PROMIS Global Short Form) and enjoyment of (Physical Activity Enjoyment Scale) and satisfaction with (Client Satisfaction Questionnaire) the intervention, as well as changes in PF (AAQII).
Results
There were no adverse effects on participants, staff, or equines. Preliminary results suggested that the intervention was perceived as enjoyable by participants. However, the intervention was not fully utilized. Finally, there was a significant (p = 0.02) pre-to post-intervention change in AAQII scores.
Conclusion
This study provides a foundation for future rigorous studies of PIE-based resiliency interventions for medical staff. Given the limitations of this pilot work, firm conclusions cannot be drawn regarding safety and feasibility. However, the preliminary results suggest that future studies of this intervention are warranted and that the AAQII may be a useful instrument to assess for possible changes in PF.
A large array of randomized controlled trials and meta-analyses have determined the efficacy of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT). However, determining that ACT works does not tell us how it works. This is especially important to understand given the current emphasis on Process-Based Therapy, the promise of which is to identify manipulable causal mediators of change in psychotherapy, and how their effectiveness is moderated by individual contexts. This paper outlines four key areas of concern regarding ACT’s status as a Process-Based Therapy. First, the relationship between ACT and Relational Frame Theory has been widely asserted but not yet properly substantiated. Second, most of the studies on ACT’s core process of change, psychological flexibility, have used invalid measures. Third, while lots of research indicates means by which individuals can be helped to behave consistently with their values, there is virtually no research on how to help people effectively clarify their values in the first instance, or indeed, on an iterative basis. Finally, the philosophy underlying ACT permits a-moral instrumentalism, presenting several ethical challenges. We end by making several recommendations for coherent methodological, conceptual, and practical progress within ACT research and therapy.
Background
The mental health of doctors is an ongoing concern, both prior to and during the COVID-19 pandemic. This study aimed to: i) assess the prevalence of symptoms of depression, anxiety, PTSD, and burnout in UK doctors and final year medical students during the pandemic, and ii) analyse the hypothesised relationships between psychological flexibility, intolerance of uncertainty and resilience with these mental health outcomes.
Methods
A cross-sectional online study of UK-based doctors and final year medical students was conducted between 27/09/2020 and 31/01/2021. Outcomes were measured using the PHQ9, GAD7, PCL-5, and aMBI. Independent variables included the CompACT-SF, IUS-12, and CD-RISC-10. Descriptive statistics, between-group analyses, and multiple regression were performed.
Results
Prevalence of anxiety symptoms was 26.3%, depression 21.9%, PTSD 11.8%, and burnout 10.8%. Psychological flexibility negatively predicted all outcomes, apart from low personal achievement. Intolerance of uncertainty positively predicted anxiety and PTSD scores. Resilience negatively predicted scores on burnout subscales.
Limitations
Cross-sectional design and non-probability sampling method means that assumptions about causality cannot be made and may have implications for bias and generalisability of results.
Conclusion
Doctors and medical students in the UK reported high levels of mental health symptoms during the pandemic, between September 2020 and January 2021. All three independent variables explained significant variance in mental health outcomes. Psychological flexibility was the most consistent predictor, over and above sociodemographic variables and other psychological predictors. These findings have implications for interventions to improve retention of our essential medical workforce, and for providing support at future times of national crisis.
Elevated psychosocial distress, pain and existential dread are prevalent among those living with a palliative illness with consequential negative impacts on quality of life (QoL). Psychological flexibility (PF) is a protective factor related to better psychosocial outcomes in various adverse health contexts. This study tests the applicability of the PF framework in accounting for variability in four palliative patient outcomes (death attitudes, distress, pain and QoL) and the stability of these variables over one month. Fifty-four palliative patients and 21 of their carers completed a questionnaire at Time 1 and one month later (Time 2). Informal carers provided proxy ratings of the patient's QoL. Results indicated no change in PF or patient outcomes, and that higher Time 1 total PF significantly predicted better Time 2 outcomes across QoL, distress, and death attitudes. The acceptance PF dimension evidenced the strongest beneficial associations, whereas unexpectedly the values-based action PF dimension predicted higher death escape attitudes, and the mindfulness PF dimension failed to predict any outcome, although at the bivariate level it was related to better outcomes across QoL, death attitudes and distress. Unexpectedly, the values-based action PF dimension was correlated with worse pain outcomes. Overall, these findings support the role of PF in improving palliative patient outcomes, and prior calls for the evaluation of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), which targets PF, in palliative care. The unexpected findings regarding the two PF dimensions of mindfulness and values-based action, suggest that these PF processes need further investigation and require fine tuning in ACT interventions to ensure sensitivity to the palliative care context. These findings are currently being utilised to inform the development and evaluation of a self-help ACT resource for palliative patients.
The present study combines two separate research traditions that have been found to explain the way students deal with their university study and other challenges: psychological flexibility and cognitive-attributional strategies. The aim of this study is to explore the interrelationships between students’ psychological flexibility, cognitive-attributional strategies and academic emotions, and their relationship to study success. Further, the study compares students with low, middle and high scores on psychological flexibility. A total of 247 arts students participated in the study. The interrelationships between psychological flexibility, cognitive-attributional strategies, academic emotions, study success and study pace were analysed with correlational analyses and structural equation modelling. Comparisons of different score groups were analysed with one-way ANOVA and Tukeýs tests. The results showed that psychological flexibility, cognitive-attributional strategies and academic emotions are closely related to each other. Psychological flexibility was positively related to success expectations and positive emotions and negatively related to task avoidance and negative emotions.
Метою статті є теоретичне обґрунтування та емпіричне дослідження взаємозв’язку між рисами характеру, толерантністю до невизначеності та компонентами особистісного благополуччя сту-
дентів-психологів.
Методи. У дослідженні використано такий діагностичний інструментарій, як: «Шкала психологіч-
ного благополуччя К. Ріфф» (адаптація Т.Д. Шевеленкова, Т.П. Фесенко); П’ятифакторний опитуваль-
ник (The Big Five Inventory, BFI, автори: Олівер Джон, Крістофер Сото (Oliver P. John, Christopher J. Soto,
2015; адаптація С.А. Щебетенко, А.Ю. Калугіна, А.М. Мишкевича, 2018); «Шкала загальної толерант-
ності до невизначеності МакЛейна» (адаптація Е.Г. Луковицької, 1998, ревалідизація Е.М. Осіна, 2004).
Результати.
У статті теоретично обґрунтовано та викладено результати емпіричного дослідження
взаємозв’язку між рисами характеру, толерантністю до невизначеності та компонентами особистісного
благополуччя студентів-психологів. Дослідження проведено зі 311 студентами Київського університету
імені Бориса Грінченка за спеціальністю «Психологія». Досліджено взаємозв’язки між показниками
благополуччя особистості, толерантності до невизначеності та рисами характеру. Виявлено значущий
зв’язок між загальним показником благополуччя особистості та толерантності до невизначеності. Про-
ведено наскрізний аналіз та виявлено значущий зв’язок між компонентною «Особистісне зростання»
(психологічне благополуччя), субшкалами «Ставлення до невизначених ситуацій», «Перевага новизни»,
«Ставлення до складних задач» (шкала МакЛейна) та рисами характеру «Екстраверсія-Наполегливість»,
«Сумлінність-Відповідальність», «Відкритість досвіду» (BFI).
Висновки.
У статті наведено стислий огляд зарубіжних підходів до становлення дослідження фено-
менів благополуччя особистості та толерантності до невизначеності, узагальнено та сформульовано
визначення понять «особистісне благополуччя» і «толерантність до невизначеності». Проаналізовано
кореляційні зв’язки між показниками особистісного благополуччя, толерантності до невизначеності
та рисами характеру. Виявлено характерологічні диспозиції толерантності до невизначеності у сис-
темі особистісного благополуччя студентів-психологів. Визначено перспективи подальших досліджень
впливу на стан особистісного благополуччя студентів-психологів.
Ключові слова:
психологічне благополуччя, особистісне благополуччя, невизначеність,
толерантність до невизначеності, толерування ситуації, риси характеру.
Background
Evidence suggests that psychedelic-assisted therapy carries transdiagnostic efficacy in the treatment of mental health conditions characterized by low mood and the use of avoidance coping strategies.
Aims
While preliminary evidence suggests that psychological flexibility and emotion regulation processes play an important role within psychedelic therapy, this prospective study addressed methodological gaps in the literature and examined the ability of ayahuasca to stimulate acute states of cognitive reappraisal and long-term changes in psychological flexibility and mood. The study also explored whether moderating factors predisposed participants to experience therapeutic changes.
Methods
Participants ( N = 261) were recruited from three Shipibo ayahuasca retreat centers in Central and South America and completed assessments on mood, psychological flexibility, and acute ceremonial factors. Expectancy, demand characteristics, and invalid responding were controlled for with several validity scales.
Results/Outcomes
Participants reported significant reductions in negative mood after three months, as well as increases in positive mood and psychological flexibility. Acute experiences of reappraisal during the ayahuasca ceremony exerted the strongest moderating effects on increases in positive mood and psychological flexibility. Increases in psychological flexibility statistically mediated the effects of acute psychological factors, including reappraisal, on changes in positive mood.
Conclusions/Interpretation
These results highlight the role of acute psychological processes, such as reappraisal, and post-acute increases in psychological flexibility as putative mechanisms underlying positive outcomes associated with psychedelics. These results also provide support for the integration of third-wave and mindfulness-based therapy approaches with psychedelic-assisted interventions.
This study examines relationships between emotion beliefs and emotion regulation strategy use among people with social anxiety disorder (SAD) and a psychologically healthy control group. Using experience-sampling methodology, we tested group differences in 2 types of emotion beliefs (emotion control values and emotion malleability beliefs) and whether emotion beliefs predicted trait and daily use of cognitive reappraisal and emotion suppression. People with SAD endorsed higher emotion control values and lower emotion malleability beliefs than did healthy controls. Across groups, emotion control values were positively associated with suppression (but unrelated to reappraisal), and emotion malleability beliefs were negatively associated with suppression and positively associated with reappraisal. We also addressed 2 exploratory questions related to measurement. First, we examined whether trait and state measures of emotion regulation strategies were related to emotion control values in different ways and found similar associations across measures. Second, we examined whether explicit and implicit measures of emotion control values were related to daily emotion regulation strategy use in different ways-and found that an implicit measure was unrelated to strategy use. Results are discussed in the context of growing research on metaemotions and the measurement of complex features of emotion regulation. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).
Psychological inflexibility and experiential avoidance are key constructs in the Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) model of behavior change. Wolgast (2014) questioned the construct validity of the Acceptance and Action Questionnaire-II (AAQ-II), the most used self-report instrument to assess the efficacy of ACT interventions. Wolgast suggested that the AAQ-II measured psychological distress rather than psychological inflexibility and experiential avoidance. The current study further examined the construct validity of the AAQ-II by conducting an online cross-sectional survey (n = 524), including separate measures of experiential avoidance and psychological distress. Confirmatory factor analyses indicated that items from the AAQ-II correlated more highly with measures of depression, anxiety, and stress than the Brief Experiential Avoidance Questionnaire (BEAQ). Implications include that, as broad measures of experiential avoidance, the AAQ-II and BEAQ may not measure the same construct. In terms of psychological distress, the BEAQ has greater discriminant validity than the AAQ-II, and perhaps an alternative instrument of psychological inflexibility might be needed to assess core outcomes in ACT intervention research.
Psychological flexibility is the act of being open to internal experiences while pursuing valued life directions and has been implicated in positive mental health. A lack of psychological flexibility has been implicated in a wide range of mental health problems. In most research, assessment of psychological (in) flexibility has been done with the Acceptance and Action Questionnaire – II (AAQ-II), yet researchers have noted that items on the AAQ-II may not adequately discriminate between responses to experiences and the experiences themselves. Furthermore, little research has examined whether items on the AAQ-II function as intended in terms of assessing psychological (in) flexibility and whether items function differently across populations. The present study used an item response theory framework to examine item functioning in the AAQ-II across items (within the measure) and across non-distressed student, distressed student, outpatient, and residential samples. The analyses identified differences in functioning between items, with some items being more sensitive to differences in psychological inflexibility. No items performed well in assessing psychological flexibility (as opposed to inflexibility) or positive functioning. Items functioned similarly across samples, yet patterns of responding differed in the non-distressed student versus residential and outpatient samples. Implications for use of the AAQ-II in clinical and research contexts are discussed.
Clinical science seems to have reached a tipping point. It appears that a new paradigm is beginning to emerge that is questioning the validity and utility of the medical illness model, which assumes that latent disease entities are targeted with specific therapy protocols. A new generation of evidence-based care has begun to move toward process-based therapies to target core mediators and moderators based on testable theories. This could represent a paradigm shift in clinical science with far-reaching implications. Clinical science might see a decline of named therapies defined by set technologies, a decline of broad schools, a rise of testable models, a rise of mediation and moderation studies, the emergence of new forms of diagnosis based on functional analysis, a move from nomothetic to idiographic approaches, and a move toward processes that specify modifiable elements. These changes could integrate or bridge different treatment orientations, settings, and even cultures.
This study sought to develop and validate a domain-specific measure of psychological inflexibility for university students, the acceptance and action questionnaire for university students (AAQ-US). Generic versions of the AAQ tend to not be as sensitive to changes in campus-specific functioning —a key outcome of interest in this population. An online survey was conducted with 425 undergraduate students. Psychometric analyses led to the refinement of a 12-item, single factor scale with strong internal consistency. Evidence for convergent validity was found with moderate to large correlations between the AAQ-US and measures of academic outcomes, mental health, and psychological inflexibility. The AAQ-US was a stronger predictor of academic outcomes than the AAQ-II (a general measure of psychological inflexibility) whereas the AAQ-II was more strongly related to mental health outcomes than the AAQ-US. Incremental validity for the AAQ-US was found for predicting both academic and mental health outcomes while controlling for the AAQ-II, though effects were stronger for academic outcomes. Overall, results indicate that the AAQ-US is a reliable and valid measure of psychological inflexibility among university students and may be particularly relevant in the context of academic outcomes.
The Big Five Inventory–2 (BFI-2) uses 60 items to hierarchically assess the Big Five personality domains and 15 more-specific facet traits. The present research develops two abbreviated forms of the BFI-2—the 30-item BFI-2-S and the 15-item BFI-2-XS—and then examines their measurement properties. At the level of the Big Five domains, we find that the BFI-2-S and BFI-2-XS retain much of the full measure’s reliability and validity. At the facet level, we find that the BFI-2-S may be useful for examining facet traits in reasonably large samples, whereas the BFI-2-XS should not be used to assess facets. Finally, we discuss some key tradeoffs to consider when deciding whether to administer an abbreviated form instead of the full BFI-2.
People regulate their emotions not only for hedonic reasons but also for instrumental reasons, to attain the potential benefits of emotions beyond pleasure and pain. However, such instrumental motives have rarely been examined outside the laboratory as they naturally unfold in daily life. To assess whether and how instrumental motives operate outside the laboratory, it is necessary to examine them in response to real and personally relevant stimuli in ecologically valid contexts. In this research, we assessed the frequency, consistency, and predictors of instrumental motives in negative emotion regulation in daily life. Participants (N = 114) recalled the most negative event of their day each evening for 7 days and reported their instrumental motives and negative emotion goals in that event. Participants endorsed performance motives in approximately 1 in 3 events and social, eudaimonic, and epistemic motives in approximately 1 in 10 events. Instrumental motives had substantially higher within- than between-person variance, indicating that they were context-dependent. Indeed, although we found few associations between instrumental motives and personality traits, relationships between instrumental motives and contextual variables were more extensive. Performance, social, and eudaimonic motives were each predicted by a unique pattern of contextual appraisals. Our data demonstrate that instrumental motives play a role in daily negative emotion regulation as people encounter situations that pose unique regulatory demands. (PsycINFO Database Record
Grit has been presented as a higher order personality trait that is highly predictive of both success and performance and distinct from other traits such as conscientiousness. This paper provides a meta-analytic review of the grit literature with a particular focus on the structure of grit and the relation between grit and performance, retention, conscientiousness, cognitive ability, and demographic variables. Our results based on 584 effect sizes from 88 independent samples representing 66,807 individuals indicate that the higher order structure of grit is not confirmed, that grit is only moderately correlated with performance and retention, and that grit is very strongly correlated with conscientiousness. We also find that the perseverance of effort facet has significantly stronger criterion validities than the consistency of interest facet and that perseverance of effort explains variance in academic performance even after controlling for conscientiousness. In aggregate our results suggest that interventions designed to enhance grit may only have weak effects on performance and success, that the construct validity of grit is in question, and that the primary utility of the grit construct may lie in the perseverance facet.
Flexibility in self-regulatory behaviors has proved to be an important quality for adjusting to stressful life events and requires individuals to have a diverse repertoire of emotion regulation abilities. However, the most commonly used emotion regulation questionnaires assess frequency of behavior rather than ability, with little evidence linking these measures to observable capacity to enact a behavior. The aim of the current investigation was to develop and validate a Flexible Regulation of Emotional Expression (FREE) Scale that measures a person's ability to enhance and suppress displayed emotion across an array of hypothetical contexts. In Studies 1 and 2, a series of confirmatory factor analyses revealed that the FREE Scale consists of 4 first-order factors divided by regulation and emotional valence type that can contribute to 2 higher order factors: expressive enhancement ability and suppression ability. In Study 1, we also compared the FREE Scale to other commonly used emotion regulation measures, which revealed that suppression ability is conceptually distinct from suppression frequency. In Study 3, we compared the FREE Scale with a composite of traditional frequency-based indices of expressive regulation to predict performance in a previously validated emotional modulation paradigm. Participants' enhancement and suppression ability scores on the FREE Scale predicted their corresponding performance on the laboratory task, even when controlling for baseline expressiveness. These studies suggest that the FREE Scale is a valid and flexible measure of expressive regulation ability. (PsycINFO Database Record
We examined whether individual differences in susceptibility to the illusion of control predicted differential vulnerability to depressive responses after a laboratory failure and naturally occurring life stressors. The illusion of control decreased the likelihood that subjects (N= 145) would (a)show immediate negative mood reactions to the laboratory failure, (b) become discouraged after naturally occurring negative life events, and (c) experience increases in depressive symptoms a month later given the occurrence of a high number of negative life events. In addition, the stress-moderating effect of the illusion of control on later depressive symptoms appeared to be mediated in part by its effect on reducing the discouragement subjects experienced from the occurrence of negative life events. These findings provide support for the hopelessness theory of depression and for the optimistic illusion-mental health link.
Cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) is considered effective for chronic pain, but little is known about active treatment components. Although acceptance correlates with better health outcomes in chronic pain patients, no study has examined its mediating effect in an experimental design.
The aim of the present study is to investigate acceptance as a mediator in acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT), a third wave CBT intervention, for chronic pain.
A bootstrapped cross product of coefficients approach was used on data from a previously published RCT evaluating ACT for chronic pain. To address the specificity of acceptance as a mediator, anxiety and depression were also tested as mediators. Outcome variables were satisfaction with life and physical functioning. Two change scores, pre-assessment to 6-month follow-up (n = 53) and pre-assessment to 12-month follow-up (n = 32), were used.
Acceptance was found to mediate the effect of treatment on change in physical functioning from pre-assessment to follow-up at 6 months. Further, a trend was shown from pre-assessment to follow-up at 12 months. No indirect effect of treatment via acceptance was found for change in satisfaction with life.
This study adds to a small but growing body of research using mediation analysis to investigate mediating factors in the treatment of chronic pain. In summary, the results suggest that acceptance may have a mediating effect on change in physical functioning in ACT for persons with chronic pain. However, given the small sample size of the study, these findings need to be replicated.
People respond to stressful events in different ways, depending on the event and on the regulatory strategies they choose. Coping and emotion regulation theorists have proposed dynamic models in which these two factors, the person and the situation, interact over time to inform adaptation. In practice, however, researchers have tended to assume that particular regulatory strategies are consistently beneficial or maladaptive. We label this assumption the fallacy of uniform efficacy and contrast it with findings from a number of related literatures that have suggested the emergence of a broader but as yet poorly defined construct that we refer to as regulatory flexibility. In this review, we articulate this broader construct and define both its features and limitations. Specifically, we propose a heuristic individual differences framework and review research on three sequential components of flexibility for which propensities and abilities vary: sensitivity to context, availability of a diverse repertoire of regulatory strategies, and responsiveness to feedback. We consider the methodological limitations of research on each component, review questions that future research on flexibility might address, and consider how the components might relate to each other and to broader conceptualizations about stability and change across persons and situations.
© The Author(s) 2013.
How do people flexibly regulate their emotions in order to manage the diverse demands of varying situations? This question assumes particular importance given the central role that emotion regulation (ER) deficits play in many forms of psychopathology. In this review, we propose a translational framework for the study of ER flexibility that is relevant to normative and clinical populations. We also offer a set of computational tools that are useful for work on ER flexibility. We specify how such tools can be used in a variety of settings, such as basic research, experimental psychopathology, and clinical practice. Our goal is to encourage the theoretical and methodological precision that is needed in order to facilitate progress in this important area.
People perceive psychological situations on the “Situational Eight” DIAMONDS characteristics (Duty, Intellect, Adversity, Mating, pOsitivity, Negativity, Deception, Sociality; Rauthmann et al., 2014). To facilitate situational assessment and economically measure these dimensions, we propose four ultra-brief one-item scales (S8-I, S8-II, S8-III-A, S8-III-P) validated against the already existing 24-item S8*. Convergent/discriminant validity of the four S8-scales was examined by analyses of the multi-characteristics multi-measures matrix, and their nomological associations with external criteria were compared. Application areas of the scales are discussed.
Emotion regulation research links regulatory responding to important outcomes in psychological well-being, physical health, and interpersonal relations, but several fundamental questions remain. As much of the previous research has addressed generalized regulatory habits, far less is known about the ways in which individuals respond to emotions in daily life. The literature is particularly sparse in explorations of positive emotion regulation. In the current study, we provide an assessment of naturalistic experiences and regulation of emotion, both positive and negative in valence. Using an electronic experience sampling methodology, participants reported on their use of 40 regulatory strategies in response to 14 emotions for 10 consecutive days. On average, participants used 15 different regulatory strategies in response to negative emotions over this time, most frequently relying on acceptance, behavioral activation, and rumination. Participants used a similarly large repertoire of strategies, approximately 16 total, in response to positive emotions, particularly savoring, future focus, and behavioral activation. Participants' mood ratings following strategy use, however, indicated that the most frequently used strategies were often not the most effective strategies. The results of this study provide estimates of the frequency and effectiveness of a large number of emotion regulation strategies in response to both negative and positive emotions. Such findings characterize naturalistic emotion regulation, and estimates of normative emotion regulation processes are imperative to determining the ways in which deviations (e.g., small emotion regulation repertoires, insufficient attention to regulation of positive emotions) impact emotional functioning. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2014 APA, all rights reserved).
Objective
To assess the relationship between session-by-session mediators and treatment outcomes in traditional cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) and acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) for social anxiety disorder.
Method
Session-by-session changes in negative cognitions (a theorized mediator of CBT) and experiential avoidance (a theorized mediator of ACT) were assessed in 50 adult outpatients randomized to CBT (n = 25) or ACT (n = 25) for DSM-IV social anxiety disorder.
Results
Multilevel modeling analyses revealed significant non-linear decreases in the proposed mediators in both treatments, with ACT showing steeper decline than CBT at the beginning of treatment and CBT showing steeper decline than ACT at the end of treatment. Curvature (or the non-linear effect) of experiential avoidance during treatment significantly mediated post-treatment social anxiety symptoms and anhedonic depression in ACT, but not in CBT, with steeper decline of AAQ at the beginning of treatment predicting fewer symptoms in ACT only. Curvature of negative cognitions during both treatments predicted outcome, with steeper decline of negative cognitions at the beginning of treatment predicting lower post-treatment social anxiety and depressive symptoms.
Conclusions
Rate of change in negative cognitions at the beginning of treatment is an important predictor of change across both ACT and CBT whereas rate of change in experiential avoidance at the beginning of treatment is a mechanism specific to ACT.
Structural equation modeling (SEM) is a vast field and widely used by many applied researchers in the social and behavioral sciences. Over the years, many software pack-ages for structural equation modeling have been developed, both free and commercial. However, perhaps the best state-of-the-art software packages in this field are still closed-source and/or commercial. The R package lavaan has been developed to provide applied researchers, teachers, and statisticians, a free, fully open-source, but commercial-quality package for latent variable modeling. This paper explains the aims behind the develop-ment of the package, gives an overview of its most important features, and provides some examples to illustrate how lavaan works in practice.
The 62-item Multidimensional Experiential Avoidance Questionnaire (MEAQ) was recently developed to assess a broad range of experiential avoidance (EA) content. However, practical clinical and research considerations made a briefer measure of EA desirable. Using items from the original 62-item MEAQ, a 15-item scale was created that tapped content from each of the MEAQ's six dimensions. Items were selected on the basis of their performance in 3 samples: undergraduates (n = 363), psychiatric outpatients (n = 265), and community adults (n = 215). These items were then evaluated using 2 additional samples (314 undergraduates and 201 psychiatric outpatients) and cross-validated in 2 new, independent samples (283 undergraduates and 295 community adults). The resulting measure (Brief Experiential Avoidance Questionnaire; BEAQ) demonstrated good internal consistency. It also exhibited strong convergence with respect to each of the MEAQ's 6 dimensions. The BEAQ demonstrated expected associations with measures of avoidance, psychopathology, and quality of life and was distinguishable from negative affectivity and neuroticism. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2013 APA, all rights reserved).
Despite the increased attention that researchers have paid to social anxiety disorder (SAD), compared with other anxiety and mood disorders, relatively little is known about the emotional and social factors that distinguish individuals who meet diagnostic criteria from those who do not. In this study, participants with and without a diagnosis of SAD (generalized subtype) described their daily face-to-face social interactions for 2 weeks using handheld computers. We hypothesized that, compared with healthy controls, individuals diagnosed with SAD would experience fewer positive emotions, rely more on experiential avoidance (of anxiety), and have greater self-control depletion (feeling mentally and physically exhausted after socializing), after accounting for social anxiety, negative emotions, and feelings of belonging during social interactions. We found that compared with healthy controls, individuals with SAD experienced weaker positive emotions and greater experiential avoidance, but there were no differences in self-control depletion between groups. Moreover, the differences we found could not be attributed to comorbid anxiety or depressive disorders. Our results suggest that negative emotions alone do not fully distinguish normal from pathological social anxiety, and that assessing social anxiety disorder should include impairments in positive emotional experiences and dysfunctional emotion regulation (in the form of experiential avoidance) in social situations. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2013 APA, all rights reserved).
Background:
There is limited research on the applicability and effectiveness of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) for people experiencing psychotic disorders. Clinical trials suggest ACT may be efficacious in reducing distress and rehospitalization rates in psychosis. Mindfulness and reduced literal believability of thought content have been associated with reduced distress for this population.
Aims:
To better understand ACT for psychosis, this study investigated clients' perspectives of the hypothesized active therapeutic processes of ACT.
Method:
Semi‑structured interviews, conducted with nine adults diagnosed with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder and persistent positive symptoms, were analysed thematically.
Results:
Four themes emerged: Usefulness of therapy; Changes attributed to ACT; Understanding of therapy; and Non-specific therapy factors. All participants found therapy useful and recommended ACT. Mindfulness, defusion, acceptance and values work were described as the most useful therapy components and contributing to positive changes. Self-rated frequency of symptoms did not change; however a reduction in the intensity and distress associated with symptoms was reported. Non-specific therapy factors were deemed useful by participants but not directly related to outcome.
Conclusions:
These findings are consistent with the theoretically defined underlying active processes of ACT and are relevant for this population. The findings also indicate important clinical implications for ACT for this client group: greater attention to the client connecting metaphors and concepts to the intended meaning may be valuable; caution should be used with some mindfulness and defusion techniques for intense experiences; and values work may be particularly useful for this population.
Syndromal classification is a well-developed diagnostic system but has failed to deliver on its promise of the identification of functional pathological processes. Functional analysis is tightly connected to treatment but has failed to develop testable, replicable classification systems. Functional diagnostic dimensions are suggested as a way to develop the functional classification approach, and experiential avoidance is described as 1 such dimension. A wide range of research is reviewed showing that many forms of psychopathology can be conceptualized as unhealthy efforts to escape and avoid emotions, thoughts, memories, and other private experiences. It is argued that experiential avoidance, as a functional diagnostic dimension, has the potential to integrate the efforts and findings of researchers from a wide variety of theoretical paradigms, research interests, and clinical domains and to lead to testable new approaches to the analysis and treatment of behavioral disorders. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
The psychometric adequacy of the Social Interaction Anxiety Scale (SIAS; R. P. Mattick & J. C. Clark, 1989), a measure of social interaction anxiety, and the Social Phobia Scale (SPS; R. P. Mattick & J. C. Clark, 1989), a measure of anxiety while being observed by others, was evaluated in anxious patients and normal controls. Social phobia patients scored higher on both scales and were more likely to be identified as having social phobia than other anxious patients (except for agoraphobic patients on the SPS) or controls. Clinician-rated severity of social phobia was moderately related to SIAS and SPS scores. Additional diagnoses of mood or panic disorder did not affect SIAS or SPS scores among social phobia patients, but an additional diagnosis of generalized anxiety disorder was associated with SIAS scores. Number of reported feared social interaction situations was more highly correlated with scores on the SIAS, whereas number of reported feared performance situations was more highly correlated with scores on the SPS. These scales appear to be useful in screening, designing individualized treatments, and evaluating the outcomes of treatments for social phobia. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
This article introduces a single-item scale, the Affect Grid, designed as a quick means of assessing affect along the dimensions of pleasure–displeasure and arousal–sleepiness. The Affect Grid is potentially suitable for any study that requires judgments about affect of either a descriptive or a subjective kind. The scale was shown to have adequate reliability, convergent validity, and discriminant validity in 4 studies in which college students used the Affect Grid to describe (a) their current mood, (b) the meaning of emotion-related words, and (c) the feelings conveyed by facial expressions. Other studies (e.g., J. Snodgrass et al; see record
1989-13842-001) are cited to illustrate the potential uses of the Affect Grid as a measure of mood. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Counseling psychologists often work with clients to increase their well-being as well as to decrease their distress. One important aspect of well-being, highlighted particularly in humanistic theories of the counseling process, is perceived meaning in life. However, poor measurement has hampered research on meaning in life. In 3 studies, evidence is provided for the internal consistency, temporal stability, factor structure, and validity of the Meaning in Life Questionnaire (MLQ), a new 10-item measure of the presence of, and the search for, meaning in life. A multitrait-multimethod matrix demonstrates the convergent and discriminant validity of the MLQ subscales across time and informants, in comparison with 2 other meaning scales. The MLQ offers several improvements over current meaning in life measures, including no item overlap with distress measures, a stable factor structure, better discriminant validity, a briefer format, and the ability to measure the search for meaning.
One potential factor that could influence how individuals with at least moderate symptoms of depression cope with upsetting events in their daily lives is the beliefs that these individuals hold about whether emotions are malleable or fixed. The current study adopted an experience sampling approach to examine how the beliefs about emotion’s malleability related to daily positive and negative affect and daily emotion regulation efforts among individuals with at least moderate symptoms of depression (N = 84). Results demonstrated that individuals having at least moderate symptoms of depression who held more malleable beliefs about emotions reported decreased negative affect both overall during the day and specifically in response to daily upsetting events. Additionally, these individuals who held more malleable beliefs about their emotions also reported more daily use of cognitive reappraisal to regulate their emotions in response to upsetting daily events. Results from the current study extend previous work examining the relationship between emotion malleability beliefs, emotional experiences, and emotion regulation to examine these relationships in people who are moderately depressed as they navigate the emotional landscape of their daily lives.
Cognitive reappraisal is a common form of emotion regulation that often centers on reframing how one thinks about an emotional situation so that one feels better. Given its demonstrated widespread benefits, two conclusions have been drawn about reappraisal: People can use it easily, and people should use it frequently. We critically examine these conclusions and highlight two fundamental drawbacks of reappraisal: First, people are often unable to use reappraisal successfully, and second, even when successful, using reappraisal to feel better is not always functional. To synthesize current research and inspire future research, we present a conceptual framework that systematically considers these drawbacks and how they may be influenced by individual-centered factors (e.g., the individual’s skill) and situation-centered factors (e.g., a stressor’s intensity) to shape outcomes across time. We then summarize the current literature and highlight the importance of considering reappraisal’s costs and benefits in future research.
The world is complicated, and we hold a large number of beliefs about how it works. These
beliefs are important because they shape how we interact with the world. One particularly impactful set of beliefs centers on emotion, and a small but growing literature has begun to document the links between emotion beliefs and a wide range of emotional, interpersonal, and clinical outcomes. Here we review the literature that has begun to examine beliefs about emotion, focusing on two fundamental beliefs, namely whether emotions are good versus bad and whether emotions are controllable versus uncontrollable. We then consider one underlying mechanism that we think may link these emotion beliefs with downstream outcomes, namely emotion regulation. Finally, we highlight the role of beliefs about emotion across various psychological disciplines and outline several promising directions for future research.
Objective: Researchers conceptualize grit as the combination of two facets: perseverance of effort and consistency of interests toward long‐term goals. We tested the reliability of grit facet scores across the globe and examined how differently each grit facet related to well‐being and personality strengths.
Method: An international sample of 7,617 participants from 6 of the 7 continents (excluding Antarctica) completed an online survey.
Results: Confirmatory factor analyses and omega reliability coefficients indicated that the 12 items from the original Grit Scale were multidimensional and reliably measured perseverance of effort and consistency of interests. Concurrent validity analyses showed that perseverance of effort was moderately to strongly related to subjective well‐being, beliefs about well‐being, and personality strengths, whereas consistency of interests had weak or negative correlations with these outcomes. The stronger relations with perseverance of effort were replicated across 7 regions of the world. The presence of overall grit was supported in individualistic countries, but not collectivistic countries (Latin America, Asia).
Conclusions: We discuss the multidimensionality of grit, including a conceptual understanding of overall grit and how it may differ across cultures. We suggest well‐being and strengths researchers study grit facets separately due to their differential validity. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.
Experiential avoidance (also referred to as acceptance or psychological flexibility) is a core construct of third-wave behavior therapies. It is the tendency to avoid uncomfortable thoughts or feelings, even when doing so has negative long-term consequences. In order for developments in experiential avoidance and third-wave behavior therapies to continue, it is imperative to examine the construct validity of the most widely used measures of this construct, the Acceptance and Action Questionnaire-II (AAQ-II) and the Multidimensional Experiential Avoidance Questionnaire (MEAQ). In Amazon's Mechanical Turk (N = 1,052) and college (N = 364) samples, we evaluated the construct validity of these measures. The AAQ-II demonstrated suboptimal patterns of convergent and discriminant validity with measures of neuroticism/negative affect (Big Five Inventory, Big Five Aspects Scale, Positive and Negative Affect Schedule), the MEAQ, and mindfulness (Five Factor Mindfulness Questionnaire). In contrast, the MEAQ demonstrated optimal convergent and discriminant validity. Factor analyses at the scale, subscale, and item levels demonstrated that the AAQ-II loads with indicators of neuroticism/negative affect and not with other constructs at the core of third-wave behavior therapies. In contrast, the MEAQ loads on factors with mindfulness or forms its own factors. These findings suggest the AAQ-II functions as a measure of neuroticism/negative affect, whereas the MEAQ functions as an indicator of experiential avoidance. These findings have substantial implications for research on experiential avoidance and third-wave behavior therapies. Therefore, in order to improve the theory, research, and practice of third-wave behavior therapies, we recommend using the MEAQ to assess experiential avoidance.
Since the original publication of this seminal work, acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) has come into its own as a widely practiced approach to helping people change. This book provides the definitive statement of ACT—from conceptual and empirical foundations to clinical techniques—written by its originators. ACT is based on the idea that psychological rigidity is a root cause of a wide range of clinical problems. The authors describe effective, innovative ways to cultivate psychological flexibility by detecting and targeting six key processes: defusion, acceptance, attention to the present moment, self-awareness, values, and committed action. Sample therapeutic exercises and patient–therapist dialogues are integrated throughout.
New to This Edition
*Reflects tremendous advances in ACT clinical applications, theory building, and research.
*Psychological flexibility is now the central organizing focus.
*Expanded coverage of mindfulness, the therapeutic relationship, relational learning, and case formulation.
*Restructured to be more clinician friendly and accessible; focuses on the moment-by-moment process of therapy.
To succeed in self-regulation, people need to believe that it is possible to change behavior and they also need to use effective means to enable such a change. We propose that this also applies to emotion regulation. In two studies, we found that people were most successful in emotion regulation, the more they believed emotions can be controlled and the more they used an effective emotion regulation strategy – namely, cognitive reappraisal. Cognitive reappraisal moderated the link between beliefs about the controllability of emotion and success in emotion regulation, when reappraisal was measured as a trait (Study 1) or manipulated (Study 2). Such moderation was found when examining the regulation of disgust elicited by emotion-inducing films (Study 1), and the regulation of anger elicited by real political events (Study 2). We discuss the implications of our findings for research and practice in emotion regulation.