Psychological flexibility and inflexibility in people with cancer: a meta-analysis of associations with distress and quality of life, and a cross-sectional study exploring psychological flexibility in relation to psychological adjustment, distress and health-related quality of life among people with breast cancer

Background and objectives

Psychological adjustment to cancer remains an area of clear clinical relevance, with substantial proportions of people experiencing distress and reduced quality of life. Although psychological flexibility, is increasingly viewed as a transdiagnostic construct and a key mechanism targeted across process-based therapies, its relationships with cancer-related adjustment responses, distress and quality of life remain underexplored. Understanding these pathways will contribute to the development of targeted, evidence-informed interventions that address the individualistic and contextual nature of cancer-related psychological adjustment. This portfolio comprises two independent studies: the first explores the distinct relationships between psychological flexibility and inflexibility with distress and health-related quality of life, and the second examines whether psychological flexibility may act as a buffering or associational variable between maladaptive adjustment responses, distress, and health-related quality of life.