Conflict of interest: Ian Tyndall declares that he has no conflict of interest. Daniel Waldeck declares that he has no conflict of interest. Robert Whelan declares that he has no conflict of interest. Bryan Roche declares that he has no conflict of interest. David Dawson declares that he has no conflict of interest. Luca Pancani declares that he has no conflict of interest.

The purpose of this multi-study article was to investigate the roles of adaptability and social support in predicting a variety of psychological outcomes. Data were collected from Year 12 college students (N = 73; Study 1), university students (N = 102; Study 2), and non-studying members of the general public (N = 141; Study 3). Findings showed that, beyond variance attributable to social support, adaptability made a significant independent contribution to psychological wellbeing (life satisfaction, psychological wellbeing, flourishing, and general affect) and psychological distress across all studies. Beyond the effects of adaptability, social support was found to make a significant independent contribution to most wellbeing outcomes (but not psychological distress in university students). In a multi-group analysis comparing predictors of psychological wellbeing in university students and non-studying adults, where the same outcome measures were used (Study 4; N = 243), it was found that adaptability played a stronger role (relative to social support) for university students, whereas social support played a stronger role for non-studying adults. Finally, (contrary to expectations) there was no evidence of an interaction between adaptability and social support predicting psychological outcomes—adaptability and social support operated as independent main effects. These findings demonstrate the importance of adaptability and social support in uniquely predicting psychological wellbeing in different sample groups. It is argued here that these two factors, should be given greater consideration in discussions of psychological wellbeing, and are relevant to psychological wellbeing at different major developmental life stages.

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How do we cope with ostracism? Psychological flexibility moderates the relationship between everyday ostracism experiences and psychological distress,

There exists uncertainty for clinicians over how the separate subcomponent processes of psychological flexibility, a core construct of the Acceptance and Commitment Therapy model, interact and influence distress experienced. The present study ( N = 567) employed latent class analysis to (a) identify potential classes (i.e., subgroups) of psychological flexibility based on responses on measures of key subcomponent process and (b) examine whether such classes could reliably differentiate levels of self-reported psychological distress and positive and negative emotionality. We found three distinct classes: (a) High Psychological Flexibility, (b) Moderate Psychological Flexibility, and (c) Low Psychological Flexibility. Those in the Low Psychology Flexibility class reported highest levels of psychological distress, whereas those in the High Psychological Flexibility class reported lowest levels of psychological distress. This study provides a clearer view to clinicians of the profile of the broader spectrum of the psychological flexibility model to facilitate change in clients.

Ostracism is a painful event, which may lead to prolonged psychological distress. However, little is known about the mechanisms which may help people recover from such events. This study explored how people who are not chronically ostracised describe processing and coping with ostracism. Using a qualitative methodology, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 21 participants (age group: 18-59; 12 female) from different occupational status groups. Thematic analyses revealed four major themes within the data: participants' immediate reaction to ostracism (“reflex”), subsequent reflections (“reflection”), efforts to manage their behaviour (“regulation”), and capacities to cope following ostracism (“adjustment”). Intensity emerged as a superordinate theme whereby the closer the ostraciser was to the participant, the greater the negative impact. The findings suggested that although most people will experience pain or stress following ostracism, it is how such events are reflected upon and managed that will determine when it leads to distress. Furthermore, some people may be resilient to ostracism. However, this resistance may weaken if the ostraciser(s) are considered close to the person.

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University entry represents a period of significant change for students. The extent to which students are able to effectively navigate this change (e.g., via their personal adaptability and social support) will likely impact upon their psychological wellbeing (a finding corroborated by recent studies). However, no study to date has examined these relations among overseas, international students, who represent an increasing proportion of university students in the UK and where the degree of change, novelty, and uncertainty is often exacerbated. In the present study, 325 Chinese international (overseas) students at UK universities, were surveyed for their adaptability and social support as well as their psychological wellbeing outcomes (e.g., life satisfaction, flourishing, and distress). A series of moderated regression analyses revealed that adaptability and social support operate largely as independent predictors of psychological wellbeing (all outcomes). Further, social support was found to moderate the association between adaptability and two of the psychological wellbeing outcomes: life satisfaction and psychological distress. These findings have important implications for educators and researchers, who are seeking to support the transition of international (overseas) students to university and optimize their experience.