Does Executive Functioning predict Psychological Flexibility
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Is there a significant relationship between psychological flexibility, executive functioning and psychological distress in a population with acquired neurological conditions?
IRAS ID
297768
Contact name
Richard House
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Teesside University
Clinicaltrials.gov Identifier
N/A, N/A
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 4 months, 30 days
Research summary
Executive functions are everyday skills involved in planning, organising and carrying out tasks. These are often associated with frontal brain regions and commonly negatively affected for individuals with acquired neurological conditions. Neurological conditions affect one in six people, who also report the lowest health-related quality of life and experience the highest levels of mental health conditions of all long-term conditions. Forty per cent of individuals with a neurological condition report that their mental health needs are not being met. Therapeutic interventions that aim to increase an individual’s psychological flexibility are specifically relevant for those who have life-altering conditions, helping to improve quality of life and reduced psychological distress. Psychological flexibility refers to a set of six processes that help us to be open to our thoughts and feelings and take action in line with our values. Someone referred to as psychologically flexible, is likely more able to make use of their executive functions to respond to needs as they arise rather than relying on automatic responses or impulsive decisions. Much of the literature agrees executive functioning and psychological flexibility are linked, however, to date this has not been directly explored. It is hoped understanding the relationship between executive functioning, psychological flexibility and psychological distress will help improve future therapeutic intervention. Psychological flexibility, executive functioning and psychological distress will be compared through questionnaire measures for individuals with acquired neurological conditions, long-term health conditions and a control group who do not have either condition. The inclusion of three groups aims to help us tease apart if psychological flexibility is related to the onset of a long-term condition or if it is associated with the executive functioning deficits which are commonly reported in individuals with neurological conditions.
REC name
East Midlands - Nottingham 1 Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
21/EM/0267
Date of REC Opinion
2 Dec 2021
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion