THE IMPACT OF STRESS EXPOSURE ON PSYCHOLOGICAL OUTCOMES DURING EMERGING ADULTHOOD: THE BUFFERING ROLE OF PSYCHOLOGICAL FLEXIBILITY
type: CreativeWork
description: 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 exp…
abstract: 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 exp…
author: Dunning, Erin Elizabeth
language: eng
keywords: Clinical psychology
license: http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/
date published: 2023-08
date modified: 2026-07-27T21:22:14Z
provider: Temple University
publisher: Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations
type: WebPage
source organization: Temple University. Libraries

PropertyValue
property ID: Handle
value: http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12613/8970