The COVID-19 pandemic has contributed to an increase in psychological distress. However, protective factors such as social support, psychological flexibility, and coping mechanisms can help individuals cope with the effects of psychological distress. This study aimed to test a recent hypothesis suggesting that psychological flexibility is not necessarily a coping strategy but a mechanism that can influence the coping strategies an individual employs during stressful events. We tested a mediation model that COVID-19 concerns would contribute to higher levels of perceived social support, which would directly increase psychological flexibility, and finally test if the effect of psychological flexibility on distress was mediated by approach and avoidant coping strategies. The results show that social support facilitates higher levels of psychological flexibility. Further, that psychological flexibility indirectly reduces psychological distress by reducing avoidant coping and increasing approach coping strategies. Within the context of COVID-19, we have shown the importance of social support and psychological flexibility for reducing distress. We have provided further evidence that psychological flexibility might not be a coping mechanism but a strategy that leads individuals to engage in more approach coping strategies and fewer avoidant coping strategies.

Continuous exposure to stress has psychological and physiological consequences for employees, especially for mental health professionals whose professions are known as demanding and stressful. The current study focuses on the relationship between role stress and burnout in the contemporary school counselors' role. We also aimed to examine whether professional identity might serve as a protective mechanism against burnout. School counselors (N = 205, 96% female, mean age = 43.03) currently practicing in the Israeli education system filled out questionnaires assessing their perceived role stress, burnout, and professional identity. Results indicated that school counselors perceived noncounseling role stressors as more stressful than counseling role stressors. Noncounseling role stressors contributed to burnout more than counseling role stressors. Professional identity was negatively correlated with burnout. Last, professional identity moderated the relationship between role stress and burnout. Findings highlight the negative impact of noncounseling stressors on burnout and the importance of professional identity as a protective factor against burnout among school counselors.

The high level of uncertainty brought about by the COVID‐19 pandemic has affected the general population's well‐being and capacity for adaptive responding. Studies indicate that flexibility, defined as the ability to choose and employ a variety of emotional, cognitive and behavioural strategies in accordance with changing contextual demands, may significantly contribute to adaptive responding to long‐term stressors such as COVID‐19. In the current study, we aimed to investigate which facets of flexibility predict different latent profiles of adaptive responding to the COVID‐19 pandemic in Israel and Germany. A total of 2330 Israelis and 743 Germans completed online questionnaires measuring cognitive and coping regulatory flexibility and cognitive, emotional and behavioural responding to the COVID‐19 pandemic. Analyses revealed three distinct response profiles in each country (high, medium and low). These profiles differed in both anxiety and depression symptoms with the non‐adaptive response group experiencing clinically relevant symptoms both in Israel and Germany. Additionally, cognitive flexibility and coping flexibility emerged as significant predictors of response profiles in both countries. Training cognitive and coping flexibility may thus help individuals respond more adaptively to psychosocial stressors such as COVID‐19. Such training could be selectively administered to less flexible subpopulations as well as adapted to the specific population characteristics.

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Educators are exposed to various stressful events as part of their ongoing work, including violence, sexual assaults, suicidal behavior, and loss or illness of students or their family members. Previous studies revealed an increased risk of developing PTSD symptoms in healthcare and supportive professionals exposed to repeated stress as part of their work. Cognitive flexibility might be a protective factor against the negative effect of such stress. The current study aimed to examine the interactive effects of school-related stress exposure and cognitive flexibility on the tendency to develop Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) symptoms and the coping abilities of educators. One hundred and fifty educators (86.5% female; Mage = 43.08, Mteaching_experience= 12.90) volunteered to participate in this study. They completed questionnaires measuring levels of stress exposure, cognitive flexibility, coping ability, and PTSD symptoms. Analyses revealed that cognitive flexibility moderated the relationship between school-related stress exposure and both PTSD symptoms severity and maladaptive coping. Specifically, whereas educators with low cognitive flexibility exhibited positive associations between continuous stress exposure and both levels of PTSD symptoms and maladaptive coping, no such association was found among educators with high cognitive flexibility. The results highlight the importance of cognitive flexibility as a protective factor against the harmful effects of possible stress exposure in school environments. Awareness of the crucial role of cognitive flexibility as a protective factor for educators can be a breakthrough in improving educators' well-being and adaptive functioning.

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