Three psychological flexibility profiles linked to medical student well-being

Medical students in China showed three distinct psychological flexibility profiles associated with significant differences in subjective well-being, according to a study of 3,565 full-time medical students. Students in the high-flexibility profile reported the highest well-being scores, while those in the psychological-inflexibility profile reported the lowest. A mediation analysis also identified significant indirect associations between psychological flexibility and subjective well-being through neuroticism.

Researchers recruited the participants between September 2022 and March 2023 using convenience sampling. The sample consisted mainly of female and undergraduate students. Psychological flexibility, neuroticism, and subjective well-being were assessed with validated self-report measures.

The investigators used correlation and regression analyses to examine relationships among the variables, latent profile analysis to identify psychological flexibility profiles, and mediation analysis to assess the indirect association through neuroticism. The latent profile analysis classified 44.2% of participants as having moderate psychological flexibility, 29.6% as having high psychological flexibility, and 26.2% as psychologically inflexible. Subjective well-being differed significantly across these three profiles.

The high-flexibility group had the highest scores, and the psychologically inflexible group had the lowest. These are statistical associations observed within the study sample and do not demonstrate that psychological flexibility caused the differences in well-being. The mediation analysis found that neuroticism carried a statistically significant indirect association between psychological flexibility and subjective well-being.

The result does not show that changing neuroticism would change a student’s well-being, nor does it establish a clinical effect. The authors said the findings support the need for psychological support for students with low psychological flexibility, while the use of convenience sampling and self-report measures limits how broadly the results can be generalized. The open-access research appeared in BMC Psychology on September 14, 2026; the supplied version identifies itself as an early peer-reviewed article subject to further edits and replacement by the final Version of Record.

Subject of Research: Associations among psychological flexibility, neuroticism, and subjective well-being among Chinese medical students

Article Title: Psychological flexibility, neuroticism, and subjective well-being among medical students: a latent profile and mediation analysis

Article References: Zhao, W., Guo, Q., Zhang, Y., Zhou, J., Ding, W., Ma, S., Li, X., & Zhang, Y. (2026). Psychological flexibility, neuroticism, and subjective well-being among medical students: a latent profile and mediation analysis. BMC Psychology. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40359-026-05551-w

Image Credits: AI Generated

DOI: 10.1186/s40359-026-05551-w

Keywords: medical students, psychological flexibility, subjective well-being, neuroticism, latent profile analysis, mediation analysis, self-report measures, China, Psychological, flexibility, subjective, well-being