The Mediating Role of Psychological Inflexibility between Psychotic Experiences and Mental Well-being in University Students

Psychotic experiences are manifestations involving subclinical alterations in thought and perception that have been associated with adverse mental health outcomes. University students are in a vital transitional stage characterized by high exposure to internal and external challenges, making them a population at greater risk for mental health problems and with a significant prevalence of psychological difficulties. The probability of presenting psychotic experiences is higher in young people; in university populations, their presence has been associated with lower life satisfaction and self-esteem. However, the mechanisms involved in the relationship between psychotic experiences and mental well-being are not clear. To understand this association, it is useful to explore the role of transdiagnostic factors such as psychological inflexibility, which is defined as the rigid dominance of psychological reactions over chosen values and contingencies in guiding action. This study aimed to explore the mediating role of psychological inflexibility between different subtypes of psychotic experiences (paranoid ideation, bizarre experiences, and perceptual anomalies) and mental well-being in a sample of university students. It was found that psychological inflexibility fully mediates the association of psychotic experiences and their subtypes with mental well-being. These results suggest that the presence of psychotic experiences and the use of psychological inflexibility strategies to cope with them are vulnerability factors linked with lower mental well-being. Interventions that encourage psychological flexibility could promote greater mental well-being in university students with psychotic experiences.