Psychological Flexibility as a Mediator and Moderator in the Relationship Between Childhood Maltreatment and Flourishing

ABSTRACT Childhood emotional maltreatment is related to an increase in negative psychological outcomes in adulthood, such as psychopathology; however, less research has examined how emotional maltreatment leads to a decrease in positive outcomes, such as flourishing. This study examines psychological flexibility, which is operationalized as the ability to overcome negative emotions to accomplish valued goals, as a potential mediator and moderator in the relationship between emotional maltreatment in childhood and flourishing. College student participants (N = 262) were given the Personalized Psychological Flexibility Index (PPFI), the emotional abuse and neglect subscales of the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ), and the Flourishing Scale (FS). Psychological flexibility was found to be a mediator and moderator in the relationship between emotional maltreatment and flourishing. The specific subscales of the PPFI were examined and acceptance and lack of avoidance were significant moderators in the relationship between emotional maltreatment and flourishing, while harnessing was not. Identified goals were examined but did not have a significant effect on flourishing. Therapies that emphasize psychological flexibility, such as Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), can be an effective treatment to reduce the effect of emotional maltreatment on an individual's ability to flourish.