Does psychological flexibility mediate the relation of social support with psychological distress?

Both social support (SS) and Psychological Flexibility (PF) have been negatively related to psychological distress (PD) in patients with cancer. Previous research also reported on positive relations between PF and SS. These findings may suggest a mediational interplay between SS and PF to explain PD. Accordingly, the present study explored whether PF would mediate the relation of SS with PD in patients with cancer. 98 patients with cancer (86.7% females; Mean age= 50.3) participated in the study. Patients completed measures of PF, SS and PD following a cross-sectional design. Results from hierarchical regression analyses showed that SS scores did significantly predict PF and PD. When both SS and PF were included in the equations as predictors, only PF did significantly predict PD. Findings suggest that increasing PF is one of the mechanism through which SS is able to reduce PD.