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Objective: Examine the relationship between internalized stigma, experiential avoidance (EA), and suicidal thoughts and behaviors (STBs) in a sample of college students, and explore whether EA accounts for part of the relationship between internalized stigma, EA, and STBs. Participants: College students (N=78) completed online questionnaires about demographic information, internalized stigma, EA, and STBs. Results: A simple mediation model evaluated the indirect effect of internalized stigma on STBs through EA, controlling for the presence of a mental health disorder diagnosis. Results: Internalized stigma, STBs, and EA were all positively correlated. EA partially mediated the relationship between internalized stigma and STBs. Conclusion: Despite decades of research and prevention efforts, STBs remain a pervasive problem. There is an urgent need to identify modifiable predictors of STBs. Internalized stigma is a risk factor for STBs, and recent research suggests EA might be a mechanism linking internalized stigma and STBs. Our findings suggest EA might represent a modifiable mechanism of change in the context of both anti-stigmatization and suicide prevention programs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite the substantial evidence that supports the efficacy of cognitive-behavioral therapy for the treatment of anxiety and related disorders, our understanding of mechanisms of change throughout treatment remains limited. The goal of the current study was to examine changes in experiential avoidance across treatment in a sample of participants (N = 179) with heterogeneous anxiety disorders receiving various cognitive-behavioral therapy protocols. Univariate latent growth curve models were conducted to examine change in experiential avoidance across treatment, followed by parallel process latent growth curve models to examine the relationship between change in experiential avoidance and change in anxiety symptoms. Finally, bivariate latent difference score models were conducted to examine the temporal precedence of change in experiential avoidance and change in anxiety. Results indicated that there were significant reductions in experiential avoidance across cognitive-behavioral treatment, and that change in experiential avoidance was significantly associated with change in anxiety. Results from the latent difference score models indicated that change in experiential avoidance preceded and predicted subsequent changes in anxiety, whereas change in anxiety did not precede and predict subsequent changes in experiential avoidance. Taken together, these results provide additional support for reductions in experiential avoidance as a transdiagnostic mechanism in cognitive-behavioral therapy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]