The Relationship Between Psychological Flexibility and Depression, Anxiety and Stress: A Latent Profile Analysis

Jing Wang,1 Shuanghu Fang,1 Chunying Yang,2 Xiaobin Tang,3 Luosha Zhu,3 Yu Nie4 1School of Educational Science, Anhui Normal University, Wuhu, People’s Republic of China; 2School of Special Education, Zhengzhou Normal University, Zhengzhou, People’s Republic of China; 3School of Marxism, Anhui Normal University, Wuhu, People’s Republic of China; 4Office of Student Affairs, Anhui Normal University, Wuhu, People’s Republic of ChinaCorrespondence: Shuanghu Fang, Email fsh9075@163.comPurpose: To explore the potential classification of psychological flexibility (PF) among Chinese college students, analyze whether there is group heterogeneity in PF, and discuss the differences in the latent profile of PF in the negative emotions of depression, anxiety, and stress.Methods: A total of 1769 college students were investigated using the Psychological Flexibility Questionnaire and Depression-Anxiety-Stress Self-rating Scale, and heterogeneity was tested by latent profile analysis.Results: The PF of college students can be divided into three latent profiles: self-contradiction group (19.2%), high PF group (34.1%), and low PF group (46.7%). The scores of depression, anxiety, and stress are significantly different among the groups.Conclusion: There is obvious group heterogeneity in the PF of college students, and they can be divided into the self-contradiction group, the high PF group, and the low PF group. The self-contradiction and low PF groups score significantly higher on the negative emotions of depression, anxiety, and stress than the high PF group.Keywords: acceptance and commitment therapy, psychological flexibility, negative emotions, latent profile analysis