The Impact of Psychological Flexibility on Psychological Well-Being in Adults With Obesity

Anna Guerrini Usubini; Giorgia Varallo; Valentina Granese; Roberto Cattivelli; Simone Consoli; Ilaria Bastoni; Clarissa Volpi; Gianluca Castelnuovo; Enrico Molinari

doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2021.636933

The Impact of Psychological Flexibility on Psychological Well-Being in Adults With Obesity

Front Psychol. 2021 Mar 22:12:636933. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.636933. eCollection 2021.

Authors

Anna Guerrini Usubini^{1

2}, Giorgia Varallo^{1

2}, Valentina Granese^{1

2}, Roberto Cattivelli^{1

2}, Simone Consoli¹, Ilaria Bastoni¹, Clarissa Volpi¹, Gianluca Castelnuovo^{1

2}, Enrico Molinari^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ Istituto Auxologico Italiano, Psychology Research Laboratory, Milan, Italy.
² Department of Psychology, Catholic University of Milan, Milan, Italy.

Abstract

Obesity is a global health problem that affects both physical and psychological health and well-being. Psychological flexibility is one of the key components related to psychological health. This cross-sectional study aims to investigate the impact of psychological flexibility on psychological well-being in a sample of 220 individuals with obesity. Multivariate analysis was performed to investigate the role of psychological flexibility in explaining psychological well-being, controlling for confounding factors (sex, age, and Body Mass Index). According to the results, psychological flexibility significantly explained psychological well-being. Our study provides additional evidence of the impact of psychological flexibility on psychological well-being. It also provides further support for the importance of integrating psychological flexibility in the psychological interventions for obesity.

Keywords: Acceptance and Commitment Therapy; health psychology; obesity; psychological flexibility; psychological well-being; rehabilitation.