Measuring occurrences of self and other discriminations in relation to mental health in adolescent textual responses

Abstract

The importance of a healthy sense of self for adolescent mental health is well documented. According to Relational Frame Theory there are three distinct self-discriminations, as well as three corresponding senses of other. Recent evidence suggests that in naturally occurring speech these discriminations are predictive of lower distress, as well as increased well-being, and psychological flexibility. The present study investigates these self and other discriminations in a sample of 76 adolescents using a mixed methods design with opened-ended questions and quantitative measures of mental health, well-being, and experiential avoidance. Participants’ responses to the open ended questions were coded for occurrences of the three senses of self, other, and rule governed behavior using the Functional Self-Discrimination Measure (Atkins & Styles, 2016). The findings indicated that different patterns of relating to the self and others were associated with higher levels of well being, better mental health and higher psychological flexibility. The findings are considered in relation to the benefits of using a behavioral measure of self-relating in adolescents.