Psychological flexibility, mindfulness and psychological well-being: Exploring the role of psychological flexibility and mindfulness as predictors of psychological well-being

Abstract

Since the birth of psychology one question has been troubling researchers and practitioners: Why do people who are exposed to a certain stimuli develop symptoms while others who are exposed to the same stimuli overcome the difficulties and move on? They key according to many was the perception of the stimuli. As psychology became more evidence based and supported by neurobiology, the body’s mechanisms of reacting or not to threatening stimuli appeared to play an instrumental role to the development of psychological and physiological symptoms and so did the focus on how one perceives threatening stimuli. The past 5 years, attention has shifted to 2 emotion regulation processes, mindfulness and psychological flexibility, although not a lot of attention has been issued regarding the influence of both these processes in the psychological wellness of the individual. The aim of the present study was to explore the impact of mindfulness and psychological flexibility, independently and jointly, on psychological well-being. The current findings appear to support previous studies regarding the individual implication of these two processes in aspects of psychopathology. The findings also appear to support previous research regarding their joint implication on specific aspects of psychopathology (Somatization, Obsessive Compulsive, Depression, and Anxiety), however the analyses did not provide statistically evidence that the two process have a jointly significant impact on previously unexplored aspects of psychopathology such as Psychoticism or Anger. The implications of the findings of the study are of considerable importance because they expand the current literature regarding the architectonics of the link between two important psychological processes and well-being, in addiction, the obtained findings could support the development of psychotherapeutic practices that aim at augmenting the capabilities of coping skills of patients that suffer from a wider range of psychological symptoms.