Climate distress describes a complex array of emotional responses to climate change, which may include anxiety, despair, anger and grief. This paper presents a conceptual analysis of how acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) is relevant to supporting those with climate distress. ACT aims to increase psychological flexibility, consisting of an open and aware orientation to one’s experiences, and an engaged approach to living, guided by personal values. We discuss the pertinence of each of these processes for adapting to the challenging reality of climate change. By embracing climate distress as a natural human experience and promoting value-guided action, ACT offers a promising approach that brings co-benefits to individuals and wider society.

1. (1) To understand the concept of climate distress and its various emotional responses.

2. (2) To explore the relevance of acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) in addressing climate distress and promoting psychological well-being.

3. (3) To examine the importance of psychological flexibility in coping with climate change.

4. (4) To analyse the role of ACT in embracing climate distress as a natural human experience.

5. (5) To investigate how ACT can encourage pro-environmental behaviours and climate change mitigation efforts.

This paper focuses on the experiences of bereavement guilt among young adults bereaved by a caregiver’s cancer, examining associations with attachment style, experiential avoidance, and psychological flexibility with the aim of informing psychosocial interventions for this population.

Ninety-seven young adults (18–25 years) bereaved by a parent/guardian’s cancer completed an online survey, including measures of bereavement guilt, attachment style, experiential avoidance, and psychological flexibility. Mediation analyses explored the associations between attachment style (anxious, avoidant) and bereavement guilt, and if these associations were mediated by experiential avoidance or psychological flexibility.

Bereavement guilt was significantly positively associated with anxious, but not avoidant, attachment to the deceased; the relationship between anxious attachment and bereavement guilt was partially mediated by experiential avoidance. Bereavement guilt was also negatively associated with psychological flexibility and engagement with bereavement counseling.

Given the limited literature on cancer-related bereavement in young adulthood, this study offers important theoretical and clinical insights into factors associated with more complex aspects of grief in this population. Specifically, this work identified that anxious attachment is associated with ongoing bereavement complications in the years following the death of a caregiver to cancer, with experiential avoidance partially mediating this relationship. While further research is needed to better understand the interaction between these factors and other related constructs, such as psychological flexibility, these findings may be helpful in selecting therapeutic approaches to use with this population.

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic deleteriously impacted physical and mental health. In the summer of 2020, return-to-learn plans were enacted, including virtual, hybrid, and in-person plans, impacting educators and students. We examined (1) how return-to-learn plan was related to depressive and social anxiety symptoms among educators and (2) how psychological flexibility related to symptoms.

Educators (N = 853) completed a survey via Qualtrics that assessed internalizing symptoms, psychological flexibility, and occupational characteristics. Two one-way analyses of variance (ANOVAs) examined between-group differences in return-to-learn plans across depression and social anxiety. Two hierarchical linear regressions examined the relation between psychological flexibility components and depressive and social anxiety symptoms.

Median T-scores were well above the national normative means for General Depression (median T-score: 81) and Social Anxiety (median T-score: 67). There were no significant differences between reopening plans in general depression nor social anxiety T-scores. Psychological flexibility accounted for 33% of the variance in depressive symptoms and 24% of the variance in social anxiety symptoms.

Results indicated high levels of psychiatric symptoms among educators during COVID-19, and psychological flexibility was associated with lower symptoms. Addressing educator mental health is of utmost importance in future research.

1. (1) Current evidence on the efficacy of psychological interventions for stroke survivors is limited.

2. (2) This case study describes the assessment, treatment and outcomes of post-stroke adjustment difficulties in a working-aged man using an ACT approach.

3. (3) Following six sessions of ACT delivered via telerehabilitation, the client no longer met clinical cut-off for psychological distress and depression. Moreover, his levels of psychological flexibility were comparable to non-clinical norms.

4. (4) Further exploration of psychological processes that facilitate post-stroke adjustment difficulties is recommended.

Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) has, in the space of 50 years, evolved into the dominant modality in psychological therapy. Mechanism/s of change remain unclear, however.

In this paper, we will describe key features of CBT that account for the pace of past and future developments, with a view to identifying candidates for mechanism of change. We also highlight the distinction between ‘common elements’ and ‘mechanisms of change’ in psychological treatment.

The history of how behaviour therapy and cognitive therapy developed are considered, culminating in the wide range of strategies which now fall under the heading of cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT). We consider how the empirical grounding of CBT has led to the massive proliferation of effective treatment strategies. We then consider the relationship between ‘common factors’ and ‘mechanisms of change’, and propose that a particular type of psychological flexibility is the mechanism of change not only in CBT but also effective psychological therapies in general.

Good psychological therapies should ultimately involve supporting people experiencing psychological difficulties to understand where and how they have become ‘stuck’ in terms of factors involved in maintaining distress and impairment. A shared understanding is then evaluated and tested with the intention of empowering and enabling them to respond more flexibly and thereby reclaim their life.

Experiencing racial microaggressions has clear effects on physical and psychological health, including obsessive-compulsive disorder symptoms (OCS). More research is needed to examine this link. Psychological flexibility is an important process to examine in this work.

This study aimed to examine if, while controlling for depression and anxiety, experiences of microaggressions and psychological flexibility helped explain OCD symptoms within a university-affiliated sample (undergraduate, graduate and law students). This was a pilot exploration of the relationships across themes.

Initial baseline data from a longitudinal study of psychological flexibility, OCD symptoms, depression, anxiety and experience of microaggressions was utilized. Correlations and regressions were utilized to examine which OCD symptom dimensions were associated with experiencing racial microaggressions in addition to anxiety and depression, and the added role of psychological flexibility was examined.

OCD symptoms, experiences of microaggressions and psychological flexibility were correlated. Experiences of racial microaggressions explained responsibility for harm and contamination OCD symptoms above and beyond psychological distress. Exploratory results support the relevance of psychological flexibility.

Results support other work that experiences of racial microaggressions help explain OCS and they add some support for psychological flexibility as a relevant risk or protective factor for mental health in marginalized populations. These topics should be studied longitudinally with continued consideration of all OCD themes, larger sample sizes, intersecting identities, clinical samples, and continued exploration of psychological flexibility and mindfulness and values-based treatments.

To gain a better understanding about which aspects of the treatment work for obsessive-compulsive disorders (OCD), the investigation of possible change factors is essential. Psychological flexibility (PsyF) has been of interest in research on successful OCD therapy for some time. Exposure interventions and cognitive strategies in cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) for OCD may enhance PsyF. To date, however, no process studies have been published that clarify the role of PsyF as a possible change factor for the reduction of OCD symptoms.

This study investigates whether PsyF works as a mediator in successful CBT treatment of OCD.

The study recruited 112 adults diagnosed with OCD in a multi-modal in-patient treatment with specific CBT including exposure and response prevention (ERP). The Yale-Brown Obsessive-Compulsive Scale (Y-BOCS) was used to measure OCD symptoms and three self-constructed items to assess PsyF. PsyF was conceptualised as the capability of patients to accept stressful feelings and thoughts. Data were collected weekly. For statistical analysis at the process level, longitudinal multi-level models (MLMs) with random intercepts and linear growth curves were estimated to test for mediation of PsyF on Y-BOCS.

OCD symptoms decreased significantly and PsyF increased in patients throughout the course of therapy. MLM revealed that higher average values in PsyF were associated with lower Y-BOCS sum values, but only values between subjects significantly predicted the degree of obsessions and compulsions.

Although research shows that PsyF is enhanced by CBT and also shows a connection with Y-BOCS values, its role as a mediator could not be confirmed.

Personality is known to be a reliable predictor of well-being. However, it is rather difficult to influence the personality of individuals in order to improve their well-being. Therefore, it is important to examine possible underlying mechanisms or indirect effects. Consequently, the aim of the current study was to investigate whether psychological flexibility is a mechanism explaining the relationship between personality and well-being. Given the evidence that age-related differences exist in personality, flexibility, and well-being, we also investigated whether our indirect effects model differed in both older and younger adults.

We used a cross-sectional design.

Participants were asked to fill in questionnaires at home.

We recruited 138 younger (25–50 years) and 120 older (65+) adults from a community-dwelling population.

Self-report questionnaires were used to assess (mal)adaptive personality traits (Big Five), psychological flexibility, and affective and general subjective well-being.

Similar indirect effects were found in older and younger adults: Psychological flexibility is a mechanism explaining the link between personality and well-being. In nearly half of the models, psychological flexibility even fully accounted for the effect of personality on well-being.

These results have important implications for clinical practice, since psychological flexibility, contrary to personality traits, is malleable. Interventions to increase psychological flexibility already exist and are validated in both older and younger samples. They may hold promise to improve well-being.

Despite the promising results related to intuitive eating, few studies have attempted to explain the processes encouraging this adaptive eating behaviour. The focus of the present study was on exploring mechanisms of change in intuitive eating and weight in acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) interventions. Mediation provides important information regarding the treatment processes and theoretical models related to specific treatment approaches. The study investigates whether psychological flexibility, mindfulness skills and sense of coherence mediated the interventions’ effect on intuitive eating and weight.

Secondary analysis of a randomized control trial. Mediation analysis compared two ACT interventions – face-to-face (in a group) and mobile (individually) – with a control group using a latent difference score model.

Data were collected in three Finnish towns.

The participants were overweight or obese (n 219), reporting symptoms of perceived stress.

The effect of the interventions on participants’ (i) BMI, (ii) intuitive eating and its subscales, (iii) eating for physical rather than emotional reasons and (iv) reliance on internal hunger and satiety cues was mediated by changes in weight-related psychological flexibility in both ACT groups.

These findings suggest that ACT interventions aiming for lifestyle changes mediate the intervention effects through the enhanced ability to continue with valued activities even when confronted with negative emotions and thoughts related to weight.