Psychological Flexibility: Metalinguistic Awareness, ADHD Symptoms, Assessment, and Training belongs in serious BCBA study because it shapes whether behavior-analytic decisions stay useful once they leave a clean training example and enter adult services and community participation, clinic sessions and day-to-day service delivery. In Metalinguistic Awareness, ADHD Symptoms, Assessment, and Training, for this course, the practical stakes show up in feasible school-based support, stronger collaboration, and better student participation, not in abstract discussion alone.
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Join Free →This symposium will discuss psychological flexibility, a behavioral repertoire that allows an individual to build and respond to helpful private verbal rules while decreasing the control of other behavior of unhelpful or rigid rule governance. This symposium will take a deep dive into different aspects of an individual's interactional history that make this repertoire more or less effectively accessible as intervening behavior, and presenters will discuss assessment methods that allow clinicians to map the complex interplay between rule-governance and direct acting contingencies. The first presenter (Andrés Beltrán) will examine the relationship between different aspects of linguistic proficiency and ability, and their influence on psychological flexibility. Our next presenters (Morgan Palmer, B.A. & Callum Smith, M.A.) will explore the role of psychological flexibility in predicting adult ADHD symptom severity and its implications for behavioral intervention involving the creation of effective intervening verbal rules. Third (Madison Dirickson, M.S., BCBA) will explore the feasibility of a novel, computer-generated network analysis for assessing the complex interplay between rule-governance and direct acting contingencies, contrasting it with the medical model approach to diagnosis. The last presenter (Sarah Dacey, M.S., BCBA, LBA) will describe the specific elements of a psychological flexibility intervention aimed at increasing special educator's self-care behavior. Paper 1: Bilingualism and Psychological Flexibility: The Role of Metalinguistic Awareness and Cognitive Defusion. Andrés Beltrán This study investigates the relationship between bilingualism, metalinguistic awareness, psychological flexibility—specifically focusing on defusion skills—and psychological distress. Utilizing a descriptive, comparative design, the research examines both bilingual and monolingual individuals to evaluate how linguistic competence influences psychological flexibility, metalinguistic awareness, and defusion skills. A total of 170 students, comprising both monolingual and bilingual participants, completed standardized questionnaires to assess these relationships. In this framework, linguistic competence is treated as the independent variable, while defusion skills serve as the dependent variable. We hypothesize that the bilingual group will demonstrates greater proficiency in defusion skills, with metalinguistic awareness acting as a mediating factor. This research aims to enhance our understanding of the interplay between psychological flexibility and bilingualism. Paper 2: Exploring Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) Repertoires in Relation to ADHD Symptoms in College Students: A Predictive and Mediation Analysis. Morgan Palmer, Callum Smith This study investigates the role of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) in predicting ADHD symptoms among college students through the lens of psychological flexibility. Focusing on the six interacting repertoires of ACT—acceptance, defusion, present moment awareness, self-as-context, values clarification, and committed action—the researchers identified which repertoires were most relevant for this population. A factor analysis confirmed that these repertoires are distinct from ADHD symptomatology, supporting their use as predictors. Significant effects were found for present moment awareness, defusion, and committed action in stepwise regression analyses. Notably, defusion was identified as a mediator between academic satisfaction and ADHD symptoms, highlighting its relevance within the traditional cognitive-behavioral model of ADHD, linking failure experiences (direct acting contingencies) and negative thoughts (covert behavior) to impaired functioning (overt behavior) in adults with ADHD. These findings suggest that ACT interventions could enhance psychosocial treatments for ADHD, and the study underscores the need for future research to integrate ACT repertoires into targeted interventions aimed at improving psychological flexibility and related outcomes for individuals with ADHD. Paper 3: Process-Based Assessment: Evidence for the Acceptability of a Process-Based Case Conceptualization using a Computer-Generated Network Analysis. Madison Madison Dirickson, The traditional medical model for assessing and treating mental health challenges has faced increasing criticism due to issues such as heterogeneity, high comorbidity, and a lack of specificity in both treatment and diagnosis. Essentially, it lacks a functional analysis of the behavioral variables that create the clinically relevant problems. In response, a process-oriented approach has emerged that allows clinicians to identify functionally relevant aspects of a client's interactional history and map them in a way that highlights the interplay between direct acting contingencies and rule-governance. This map has been termed the Network Analysis, and involves the assessment of nine areas of functioning—Attentional Flexibility (rules about past/future), Cognition (rules about the world), Self-Concept (rules about self), Affect (covert emotional experiences), Behavior, Motivation, Biophysiological, Context, and Sociocultural variables—that are strong predictors of well-being. However, there remains a gap in standardized, evidence-based assessment methods for mapping these processes, leading clinicians to rely on personal judgment. This research aims to address this gap by evaluating the feasibility of an idiographic computer-generated network analysis that draws on participants' responses to assessments of these nine domains. Utilizing a within-person reliability design, the study will involve twenty undergraduate students who will complete a computer-based assessment and select the network analysis they feel best represents their experiences. The research will assess satisfaction and agreement levels with the network analysis, ultimately comparing the acceptability and effectiveness of this approach against traditional diagnostic methods. Paper 4: Promoting Self-Care for Special Education Personnel: The Effects of a Single-Session ACT Workshop. Sarah Dacey Individuals working in education—particularly those working in special education settings—face immense challenges. There is a growing body of literature on psychosocial interventions to promote wellbeing and reduce stress, burnout, and mental health problems (e.g., anxiety and depression) in teachers. However, fewer studies have examined brief psychosocial interventions that promote wellbeing in individuals working in special education settings. This study employs statistical analyses of pre- and post-session questionnaires administered when a training intervention was delivered to an Intermediate School District (ISD) servicing special education students in the United States. Teachers, administrators, paraprofessionals, ancillary (non-teaching) staff, and school-based service providers (e.g., SLP, BCBA, OT) participated in the training as a part of their ongoing professional development offered by the district. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of a single-session, remotely delivered ACT workshop on attendees' self-reported motivation and perceived ability to engage in values-directed and realistic self-care routines. Results indicated that the training increased attendees' motivation to engage in self-care, their self-reported ability to detect and address obstacles to self-care, and their knowledge of ACT strategies taught in the training. In addition, participant responses to a satisfaction questionnaire indicated that they were satisfied with the training and found the learnings useful in their everyday lives.
| Certification Body | Credits | Type |
|---|---|---|
| BACB® | 1 | General |
| COA | 1 | — |
Abbey Airo is a graduate student in the Clinical Psychology Program at Western Michigan University. Her research interests pertain to Acceptance and Commitment Therapy's (ACT) psychological (in)flexibility and the techniques used to influence flexibility. She has done work looking at how a yoga training and psychological flexibility are related as well as if the flexibility processes have a relationship to the yoga limbs. She has supported other work related to ACT and is interested in applying this to a clinical population.
Dig into the research behind this topic — plain-English summaries written for BCBAs.
280 research articles with practitioner takeaways
279 research articles with practitioner takeaways
258 research articles with practitioner takeaways
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All behavior-analytic intervention is individualized. The information on this page is for educational purposes and does not constitute clinical advice. Treatment decisions should be informed by the best available published research, individualized assessment, and obtained with the informed consent of the client or their legal guardian. Behavior analysts are responsible for practicing within the boundaries of their competence and adhering to the BACB Ethics Code for Behavior Analysts.