Abstract
BackgroundPsychological inflexibility is a core concept in the acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) model. The current study hypothesized and tested two models in which psychological inflexibility was linked with higher levels of depressive symptoms and sleep difficulty.ResultsTo attain data, Japanese university students (N = 633) completed questionnaires related to psychological inflexibility, depressive symptoms, and sleep difficulty. Psychological inflexibility was significantly correlated with higher levels of both depressive symptoms (r = 0.61) and sleep difficulty (r = 0.39). Structural equation modeling showed that psychological inflexibility was associated with higher levels of depressive symptoms after controlling for the effect of sleep difficulty. Additionally, psychological inflexibility was correlated with higher levels of sleep difficulty after controlling for the effect of depressive symptoms. These findings might assist with motivating clinicians to use ACT for insomnia.ConclusionsThe current study found that greater psychological inflexibility was linked with high levels of depressive symptoms and sleep difficulties. These findings might assist with motivating clinicians to use ACT for insomnia.
Highlights
Psychological inflexibility is a core concept in the acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) model
Psychological inflexibility scores were significantly correlated with higher Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ) scores and Sleep Difficulty Scale (SDS) scores
The direct effect of psychological inflexibility on sleep difficulty was significant (β = 0.095, p < 0.01) when the PHQ-9 scores were added to the model, as were the differences between path r and path r′ (t(661) = 27.44, p < 0.001) and the indirect effect of psychological inflexibility on sleep difficulty via depressive symptoms (β = 0.299; Sobel test, z = 10.42, p < 0.001)
Summary
Psychological inflexibility is a core concept in the acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) model. The current study hypothesized and tested two models in which psychological inflexibility was linked with higher levels of depressive symptoms and sleep difficulty. Psychological inflexibility is a core concept in the acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) model (Hayes et al 1999, 2006), which hypothesizes that psychological inflexibility leads to increased psychological dysfunction. Psychological inflexibility can serve as a risk factor for several disorders including insomnia (Hayes et al 2006) and depression (Chawla and Ostafin 2007; Ruiz 2010). The current study focused on psychological inflexibility, and examined the relationships between psychological inflexibility, depressive symptoms, and sleep difficulty
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