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Updated: Dec 21, 2025

Assessment of Stress Effects on Cognitive Flexibility using an Operant Strategy Shifting Paradigm
Published on: May 4, 2020
Mindful awareness moderates the association between psychological inflexibility and distress variables: A
Akihiko Masuda1, John P Barile1, Samuel D Spencer1
1Psychology, University of Hawaii at Manoa, Honolulu, Hawaii, USA.
Objective:
Informed by the contextual behavioral science (CBS) model of behavioral health, the present cross-sectional study examined whether mindful awareness moderated the associations between psychological inflexibility and four distress variables.
Participants:
Cross-sectional data were collected from 402 ethnically diverse undergraduate college students from September 2015 to October 2015.
Methods:
Participants competed an online self-report survey.
Results:
Mindful awareness moderated the associations between psychological inflexibility and distress variables, with stronger associations for somatization and anxiety, and weaker associations for general distress and depression. Specifically, the strength of the positive associations between psychological inflexibility and these distress variables were substantially greater among those low in mindful awareness.
Conclusion:
These findings suggest that a greater degree of mindful awareness may buffer the effects of psychological inflexibility on distress variables, particularly somatization and anxiety. Theoretical and applied implications as well as limitations of the study are discussed.
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