To explore the functional relationships among psychological flexibility (i.e., variation and rigidity) and positive and negative change processes (i.e., cognition, affect) in young adults, we utilized a time-series network approach. We examined both the temporal and contemporaneous network structures involving variation, rigidity, and negative and positive cognitive-affective processes.
In the temporal network, psychological flexibility in terms of rigidity exhibited the highest out-strength. It predicted future experiences of negative cognitive-affective processes while inversely predicting future experiences of positive cognitive-affective processes as well as variation. This suggests that an individual’s overall psychological flexibility at one point may be associated with the subsequent experiences of specific cognitive-affective processes. This finding aligns with our hypothesis and previous literature, which has underscored the pivotal role of rigidity in psychopathology 30,40,49,60 and aligns with our assumption that rigidity (OS = 0.33) would have a more central role compared to variation (OS = 0.14). However, this cannot be stated for in-strength, with respect to which variation (IS = 0.24) and rigidity (IS = 0.22) are roughly equal. However, the interpretation of the centrality estimates should be approached cautiously, given their similarity and the uncertainty in the estimation procedure.
Interestingly, the node representing variation showed the least connectivity with other nodes in the network. It had bidirectional connections only with rigidity and positive cognition. Positive affect also predicted variation. In view of the comparatively high in-strength, variation might be more likely to be considered an endpoint of connections in the network.
In the contemporaneous network, nodes related to positive or negative behavior exhibited positive correlations with each other (e.g., positive cognition, affect, and variation), and nodes with opposite valence showed negative associations (e.g., positive cognition and negative affect). Furthermore, the results support our assumption that rigidity exhibits stronger associations with negative processes, whereas variation demonstrates stronger associations with positive processes. The positive associations within positive and negative processes, respectively, align with prior research, which has demonstrated robust positive associations among processes of the same valence and negative relationships between processes of opposite valence 24,38,67,68.
The findings offer valuable insights into the dynamic interplay between psychological flexibility and cognitive-affective processes in young adults. The centrality of rigidity emphasizes its potential relevance in shaping subsequent psychological experiences. The results suggest that rigidity may play a relevant role in driving the progression of psychological processes over time. Constricted psychological flexibility, characterized by feeling stuck and unable to change ineffective behaviors, may lead to subsequent maladaptive cognitive-affective processes. This underscores the potential relevance of impaired psychological flexibility for mental health.
As expected, both the contemporaneous and temporal networks display extensive connections between nodes, highlighting the highly interconnected nature of psychological processes 52,69. In the temporal network, numerous feedback loops with nodes showing reciprocal connections to one another are evident. These feedback loops can contribute to system stability or instability 70–72. They can lead to the stabilization and maintenance of both adaptive and maladaptive states. It is well-established that feedback loops between nodes significantly influence system stability, which may explain the persistence of mental disorders 73,74. The identification of psychological flexibility as a core process integrated within feedback loops with psychological processes such as cognition and affect holds great relevance for researchers and practitioners. Consequently, a key implication could be to prioritize the examination of psychological flexibility in future studies, given its pronounced associations with the entire system of cognitive-affective processes.
The findings of this study hold significant relevance for young adults in their everyday lives as they provide valuable insights into the relationships between psychological processes that may impact their emotions, thoughts, and behaviors. Results show that the psychological processes experienced by young adults are closely connected within short time intervals. The central role of rigidity indicates its pivotal role in shaping subsequent psychological experiences and underscores its importance in understanding mental health in this population. Young adults who tend to exhibit rigidity, feeling stuck and unable to change ineffective behaviors, may be more prone to experiencing negative psychological states, especially in light of this critical developmental period 2,75,76. Recognizing the significance of psychological flexibility can empower young adults to cultivate more adaptive, flexible coping strategies, which may also improve mental health.
As previously mentioned, there is a need for the simultaneous examination of both positive and negative manifestations of psychological flexibility and identification of its primary determinants 38,77. Additionally, the development of effective measures for assessing psychological flexibility in longitudinal studies is crucial for identifying meaningful processes of change at an individual level 78,79. A key objective for researchers and practitioners in clinical settings is to manipulate elements within the network to steer the system toward a trajectory leading to a desired target state 80,81. This necessitates identifying elements within the network that can efficiently drive functional changes. The present study explores how rigidity and variation as determinants of psychological flexibility impact cognitive-affective processes. It suggests that a more nuanced approach to understanding psychological flexibility should be considered in future research and therapy. This newfound understanding has the potential to improve the development of more effective interventions targeting the capability to flexibly change behavior, thereby positively influencing psychological processes, such as cognition and affect. However, future studies in clinical settings will be necessary to confirm these assumptions and explore the impact of psychological flexibility in areas beyond cognition and affect as well.
One limitation of this study is the restricted sample, which consisted solely of students from a single institution. Consequently, future research should aim to explore associations between psychological flexibility, cognition, and affect in a more diverse and representative sample encompassing a broader range of mental disorders. Another limitation pertains to the reliance on self-report measures for assessing psychological constructs. Such self-report data may be influenced by social desirability or lack of awareness, potentially impacting the observed relationships’ strength. Furthermore, we assessed the stability of centrality measures with a case-drop bootstrap. It is unclear how well this method performs in stability assessment, and there are no clear guidelines on how to best assess uncertainty in centrality estimates in dynamic networks 82. A third and important limitation is that mlVAR is a multilevel model that assumes that network edges of different individuals come from a common distribution. It is possible that there are subgroups, or that individual-level effects are so different from one another that the use of more idiographic techniques (such as uSEM or GIMME 83) would be more appropriate. Ideally, such subgroup analyses would involve large data sets to find robust subgroups. As a first step, however, it seemed important to examine the dynamic network in a fashion that is more similar to current mainstream analytic practice.
While our hypothesis posits that incorporating the temporal dimension will enhance our comprehension of the temporal relationships among psychological flexibility, cognition, and affect, it is important to recognize that temporal associations and node centrality measures do not equate to causality 84–86. Therefore, cautious interpretation is warranted, and future research should strive to establish causal relationships using longitudinal data and assess causal inference assumptions 87.
Moreover, it is vital to consider that most network analyses, including the current study, operate under the assumption of a constant network structure, disregarding potential changes of mean or variance over time (i.e., stationarity). However, this assumption does not align with the dynamic nature of interventions and psychotherapeutic processes, where individuals’ experiences and responses evolve over time. To address the assumption of stationarity, future studies could employ innovative time-varying network models, capturing fluctuations in associations between variables across time points 88, thus providing a more accurate representation of the evolving psychological processes. However, these analysis techniques need a large amount of data 89 and are therefore often infeasible in typical psychological applications. Time-varying network models become particularly pertinent when examining the experimental influence of psychological flexibility on cognitive-affective processes.