Exploring the contribution of psychological flexibility processes and self-compassion to depression, anxiety and adjustment in parents of preterm infants

Background: The preterm birth and subsequent hospitalisation of an infant is a challenging time for parents, leaving many parents vulnerable to depression, anxiety and difficulties with adjustment. Psychological flexibility and self-compassion have been theorised to enable effective functioning in such challenging contexts, which may help us understand variation in parental experiences and adjustment. Purpose: To investigate the extent to which psychological flexibility sub-processes (valued action, behavioural awareness, and openness to experience) and self-compassion explain variation in depression and anxiety and individual and relational adjustment among parents of preterm infants. Methods: A sample of 215 parents of preterm infants were recruited via a charity for children born preterm. Data was collected via online survey and analysed using multiple hierarchical regressions. Results: Psychological flexibility and self-compassion were significant predictors of depression and anxiety in parents of preterm infants. Components of psychological flexibility were significant predictors of individual and relational adjustment while self-compassion was predictive of relational but not individual adjustment. However, the portion of variance accounted for by self-compassion after controlling for psychological flexibility was modest. Components of psychological flexibility but not self-compassion retained their predictive value for individual and relational adjustment when controlling for depression and anxiety. Conclusions: This study provides preliminary evidence that psychological flexibility and self-compassion are helpful for understanding depression, anxiety and adjustment difficulties in parents of preterm infants and provides support for future development of acceptance-based interventions for this population.