THE IMPACT OF STRESS EXPOSURE ON PSYCHOLOGICAL OUTCOMES DURING EMERGING ADULTHOOD: THE BUFFERING ROLE OF PSYCHOLOGICAL FLEXIBILITY
A robust literature has shown that stress exposure increases risk for deleterious psychological outcomes, including depression and anxiety. Studies also demonstrate, however, that not all individuals exposed to stress experience poor psychological outcomes. It is likely that these individuals possess protective factors that confer resilience to stress. Psychological flexibility--the ability to remain in contact with unwanted internal experiences in order to engage in behavior that is consistent with one's values and long-term goals—may be one such protective factor. The current studies utilized cross-sectional (Study 1) and daily-diary (Study 2) methodology to examine whether (1) emerging adults with greater stress exposure have poorer psychological outcomes and (2) psychological flexibility buffered against the deleterious impacts of stress exposure.A sample of 432 emerging adults (M age = 19.69 years [SD = 1.54]; 84.2% female; 56.7% white) participated in Study 1 and completed a self-report battery assessing early adversity, recent life stress, psychological flexibility, depressive and anxiety symptoms, and psychological well-being. A subset of participants from Study 1 (N = 52; M = 19.42 years [SD = 1.55], 90.4% female; 55.8% white) completed Study 2. These participants completed a 14-day daily diary protocol measuring daily stress, depressive and anxiety symptoms, and negative affect. Findings demonstrated that stress exposure was associated with increased risk for poor psychological outcomes. Specifically, greater early adversity was associated with higher depressive and anxiety symptoms; greater recent life stress was associated with higher depressive and anxiety symptoms and lower psychological well-being; and greater within-person daily stress was associated with higher same-day depressive and anxiety symptoms and negative affect. Contrary to hypotheses, there was no evidence of psychological flexibility buffering against the deleterious impact of stress exposure. Overall, these results contribute to the extant literature and provide further evidence that stress exposure is a transdiagnostic risk factor for psychopathology among emerging adults. Given that emerging adulthood is characterized by heightened instability, uncertainty, and the accumulation of stressors, future research is needed to identify malleable characteristics that protect against the consequences of stress exposure during this developmental period.
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