Psychological flexibility and global health in young adults with and without a self-reported functional somatic syndrome: a preliminary investigation

ABSTRACT

Functional somatic syndromes (FSS) are associated with functional impairments and distress. FSSs are common among young adults, and psychological flexibility may be a transdiagnostic process appropriate for treatment of FSS in this population. The objective of the current study was to compare physical and mental health in young adults with and without a self-reported FSS and examine which psychological flexibility processes are associated with better physical and mental health in the FSS subset. A total of 447 young adults participated in the current study. Individuals who reported an FSS diagnosis were coded as having a self-reported FSS. Physical and mental health and psychological flexibility were measured via self-report. FSS and non-FSS groups were compared regarding demographic characteristics and on the primary outcomes. Hierarchical regression analyses were conducted to examine the role of the psychological flexibility processes in physical and mental health in the FSS subset. Findings revealed that the FSS group scored significantly lower on measures of physical health and demonstrated less behavioral awareness than the non-FSS group. No differences regarding mental health were found. All three psychological flexibility processes were associated with physical and mental health, accounting for 26–49% of the variance in these outcomes. In conclusion, young adults with FSS experience more physical health difficulties than those without FSS. Psychological flexibility processes were related to better physical and mental health in those with FSS. These findings add to the literature and provide preliminary support for psychological flexibility as a future target for intervention development and implementation aimed at young adults with FSS.

KEYWORDS:

• Functional somatic syndromes
• psychological flexibility
• openness
• awareness
• engagement

Acknowledgments

We would like to acknowledge Manny Stegall, as well as the rest of the Thrive Lab at the University of Iowa, for their help in this study.

Declaration of conflicts of interest

The work was supported in part by NIH, but NIH had no role in study procedures, analysis, or publication. The authors have no other competing interests to declare.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Data sharing statement

Data are available upon reasonable request.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported in part by the National Institute of Health T32 pre-doctoral training grant: T32GM108540 (J.L.A). The NIH had no role in the study design, collection, analysis, or interpretations of the data, writing of the manuscript, or the decision to submit the paper for publication.