Chaotic-Enmeshment and Anxiety: The Mediating Role of Psychological Flexibility and Self-Compassion

With anxiety becoming the most prevalent mental health issue among the college student population, it is important to understand the factors that are associated with symptomology. This study aims to expand the research on the interrelationship between family functioning, intrapsychic factors, and anxiety. Guided by the circumplex model of family systems, the current study explores the link between college student (N?=?500) chaotically-enmeshed family functioning and anxiety, and whether psychological flexibility and self-compassion mediate this relationship. Multiple-sample latent structural equation modeling results revealed that higher levels of chaotically-enmeshed family functioning was significantly associated with lower levels of psychological flexibility and self-compassion levels, and that psychological flexibility and self-compassion mediated the relationship between chaotic-enmeshment and anxiety. Implications for family therapists who provide services to this population are discussed.