Relationship Between Daily Psychological (In)flexibility and Affect Following Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation

Area of Science:

• Psychology
• Oncology
• Health Psychology

Background:

• Psychological flexibility (PF) and inflexibility (PI) are crucial for emotional well-being post-cancer treatment.
• Limited understanding exists regarding the daily impact of PF/PI on cancer survivors' lives.
• Hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) survivors face unique challenges in daily emotional regulation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To distinguish within- and between-person associations between PF/PI subprocesses and daily affect in HCT survivors.
• To investigate how specific components of PF (present moment awareness, self as context, acceptance, defusion, values, committed actions) relate to daily emotional states.
• To examine the impact of PI subprocesses on daily affect in this population.

Main Methods:

• 155 HCT survivors completed daily assessments for 14 days post-discharge.
• Measures included daily PF/PI subprocesses and positive/negative affect.
• Multilevel structural equation modeling analyzed within- and between-person associations.

Main Results:

• PF subprocesses: committed action (within-person) and acceptance (between-person) linked to better affect.
• Contact with values associated with better affect at both levels.
• PI subprocesses: fusion, inaction, and lack of present moment contact linked to worse affect.
• Fusion and lack of values contact (between-person) associated with higher negative and lower positive affect, respectively.

Conclusions:

• PF and PI subprocesses exhibit diverse, level-specific associations with emotional well-being in HCT survivors.
• Findings highlight specific PF/PI components that may be targeted for interventions.
• Further research is warranted to explore these processes as potential intervention targets for improving survivor well-being.