Psychological Inflexibility, Ruminative Thinking, Worry and Self- Compassion in Relation to College Adjustment

Abstract

The mental health of college students has received more attention due to the increase in psychological distress starting from the beginning of university life. Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) is one of the third wave Cognitive Behavioral approaches, focuses on behavior change by emphasizing acceptance and awareness with its core concept of psychological inflexibility. This study aimed to investigate the role of psychological inflexibility, rumination, worry, and self-compassion on college adjustment within a path analysis by implementing structural equation modeling. 657 (486 female, 171 male) freshman students at a state university participated in the study. In terms of data collection tools, The University Life Scale, Acceptance and Action Questionnaire-II, the Ruminative Thought Style Questionnaire, The Penn State Worry Questionnaire, and The Self-Compassion Scale were used. The results indicated that psychological inflexibility significantly predicted students’ self-compassion, rumination, worry, and college adjustment levels. On the other hand, the results also revealed that while self-compassion significantly predicted college adjustment, rumination and worry levels did not significantly predict the college adjustment of freshman students. The discussions and implications of the study were presented, as well as suggestions for further studies.