The Relationship Between Psychological Inflexibility and Well-Being in Adults: A Meta-Analysis of the Acceptance and Action Questionnaire.
Behav Ther
; 55(1): 26-41, 2024 Jan.
Article
in En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-38216235
ABSTRACT
Psychological inflexibility is defined as the rigid responding to stimuli (e.g., unpleasant thoughts and feelings) that interferes with well-being and valued actions. It is the treatment target in acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT). Despite the centrality of the link between inflexibility and well-being to ACT theory, an empirical review clarifying the nature of this relationship has not been conducted. As such, the current meta-analysis examined the meta-correlation between psychological inflexibility, measured by the Acceptance and Action Questionnaire (AAQ) and its variants, and well-being. A systematic review yielded 151 studies, including 25 versions of the AAQ and 43 well-being measures. Consistent with ACT theory, higher psychological inflexibility was associated with worse well-being (râ¯=â¯-.47, 95% CI[-.49, -.45]). In addition, sample diagnosis, type of AAQ, and type of well-being measure significantly moderated this relationship. Overall, our findings support the hypothesized link between psychological inflexibility and worse well-being. Limitations include reliance on cross-sectional data, precluding causal interpretation.
Key words
Full text:
1
Collection:
01-internacional
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy
Type of study:
Observational_studies
/
Prevalence_studies
/
Risk_factors_studies
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Systematic_reviews
Limits:
Adult
/
Humans
Language:
En
Journal:
Behav Ther
Year:
2024
Document type:
Article
Country of publication:
Reino Unido