The Role of Acceptance, Mindfulness, and the Sensitivity of Behavioral Inhibition/Activation Systems in Predicting Emotional Distress

Aim and Emotional disturbances are caused by various factors that include two general biological and cognitive components. Understanding the factors affecting emotional disturbances is important in improving the quality of life of individuals. This study was aimed to determine the role of acceptance, mindfulness, and the sensitivity of behavioral inhibition/activation systems in predicting emotional distress among university students.
Methods and Materials: In this descriptive correlational research, the statistical population included all students in Tabriz Branch, Islamic Azad University, Iran. Among them, 380 subjects (190 girls and 190 boys) were selected through cluster random sampling. To collect the data, Carver and White's Behavioral Inhibition and Behavioral Activation Scale (BIS/BAS), Bond et al. Acceptance and Action Questionnaire-second version (AAQ-II), Baer et al. Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire (FFMQ), and Depression Anxiety and Stress Scale-21, were used. To analyze the data, Pearson Correlation Coefficient and Multiple Regression were used.
Findings: The behavioral inhibition/activation systems, acceptance, and mindfulness could significantly predict about 45% of depression variance, 53% of anxiety variance, and 41% of stress variance related to emotional distress.
According to the findings, it could be concluded that stress, anxiety, and depression as emotional distress are the result of the behavioral inhibition/activation systems, acceptance, and mindfulness effect. To emotion regulation, attention should be paid to behavioral inhibition/activation systems, and mindfulness