Future anxiety refers to a state of worry, uncertainty, and fear about potential negative changes in one’s future.
It involves concerns about upcoming events or circumstances that may be perceived as threatening or undesirable.
Psychological flexibility is the ability to adapt to changing situations, remain present-focused, and act in alignment with one’s values.
It involves accepting thoughts and feelings without being overly influenced by them, allowing individuals to respond more effectively to life’s challenges.
Öztekin, G. G., & Yıldırım, M. (2025). Future anxiety, depression and stress among undergraduate students: Psychological flexibility and emotion regulation as mediators. Frontiers in Psychology, 16, 1517441. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1517441
Key Points
- Future anxiety was negatively associated with psychological flexibility and cognitive reappraisal, and positively associated with expressive suppression, depression, and stress.
- Psychological flexibility and cognitive reappraisal were negatively related to depression and stress, while expressive suppression was positively related.
- Psychological flexibility, cognitive reappraisal, and expressive suppression mediated the relationship between future anxiety, depression, and stress.
Rationale
Mental health and wellbeing are fundamental components of healthy functioning, with psychological resources significantly contributing to their maintenance and enhancement (Masoom Ali et al., 2020; Yıldırım, 2020; Yıldırım et al., 2023a).
Depression, anxiety, and stress are common mental health problems that significantly affect wellbeing and health (Karyotaki et al., 2020; Rashid et al., 2023; Yıldırım & Özaslan, 2022).
Future anxiety, characterized by worry and uncertainty about negative future changes, has been linked to various psychological issues (Zaleski, 1996).
Previous research has highlighted the protective role of psychological flexibility (Tanhan et al., 2024; Yıldırım et al., 2024a, 2024b) and emotion regulation strategies (Cardi et al., 2021; Chervonsky & Hunt, 2019) in mental health.
However, there is a gap in understanding how these factors mediate the relationship between future anxiety and mental health outcomes, particularly among university students who face unique challenges and uncertainties.
Method
Procedure
Cross-sectional survey design
- Participants completed an online survey including measures of future anxiety, psychological flexibility, emotion regulation, depression, and stress.
- Data was collected using a web-based survey distributed through snowball sampling.
- Informed consent was obtained from all participants.
Sample
528 undergraduate students (315 women, 213 men) with a mean age of 20.14 years (SD = 1.76).
Participants included freshmen (34.3%), sophomores (29.9%), juniors (20.5%), and seniors (15.3%).
Measures
- Dark Future Scale: 5-item measure of future anxiety
- Psy-Flex Scale: 6-item measure of psychological flexibility
- Emotion Regulation Questionnaire-Short Form (ERQ-S): 6-item measure of cognitive reappraisal and expressive suppression
- Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale (DASS21)-Short Form: 21-item measure (only depression and stress subscales used)
Statistical measures
Descriptive statistics, correlation analysis, and mediation analysis using Hayes’ PROCESS-Macro v4.2 (Model 4) with bootstrapping (5,000 resamples, 95% confidence intervals).
Results
H1: Future anxiety will have a negative association with psychological flexibility and cognitive reappraisal, and a positive association with expressive suppression, depression and stress.
Results: Supported. Future anxiety was negatively correlated with psychological flexibility (r = -0.58) and cognitive reappraisal (r = -0.36), and positively correlated with expressive suppression (r = 0.59), depression (r = 0.56), and stress (r = 0.55).
H2: Psychological flexibility and cognitive reappraisal will be negatively related to depression and stress, and expressive suppression will be positively related to depression and stress.
Results: Supported. Psychological flexibility and cognitive reappraisal were negatively correlated with depression (r = -0.56 and r = -0.51, respectively) and stress (r = -0.52 and r = -0.50, respectively). Expressive suppression was positively correlated with depression (r = 0.45) and stress (r = 0.47).
H3: Psychological flexibility, cognitive reappraisal, and expressive suppression will mediate the association between future anxiety depression and stress.
Results: Supported. Significant indirect effects were found for all three mediators in the relationship between future anxiety and both depression and stress outcomes.
Insight
This study provides valuable insights into the complex relationships between future anxiety, psychological flexibility, emotion regulation, and mental health outcomes among university students.
The findings extend previous research by demonstrating that psychological flexibility and emotion regulation strategies serve as important mediators in the relationship between future anxiety and mental health outcomes.
This suggests that individuals with higher levels of future anxiety may be more vulnerable to depression and stress, partly due to lower psychological flexibility and less adaptive emotion regulation strategies.
The study highlights the potential protective role of psychological flexibility and cognitive reappraisal in buffering the negative effects of future anxiety on mental health.
Conversely, the use of expressive suppression as an emotion regulation strategy appears to exacerbate the negative impact of future anxiety.
Future research could explore the effectiveness of interventions targeting psychological flexibility and emotion regulation skills in reducing the impact of future anxiety on mental health outcomes.
Additionally, longitudinal studies could help establish causality and examine how these relationships may change over time, particularly during transitional periods in students’ lives.
Implications
The findings of this study have several important implications for practitioners and policymakers working with university students:
- Mental health interventions: Develop and implement programs that specifically target psychological flexibility and emotion regulation skills among university students. These programs could include mindfulness-based interventions, acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT), or cognitive-behavioral approaches that focus on enhancing adaptive coping strategies.
- Early identification and support: Implement screening measures for future anxiety and maladaptive emotion regulation strategies to identify at-risk students early. Provide targeted support and resources to these students to prevent the development or exacerbation of mental health issues.
- Academic and career counseling: Integrate strategies for managing future anxiety and enhancing psychological flexibility into academic and career counseling services. This could include helping students develop realistic expectations, set achievable goals, and cultivate a growth mindset.
- Campus-wide initiatives: Promote a campus culture that values psychological flexibility and healthy emotion regulation. This could involve awareness campaigns, workshops, or integrating these concepts into existing student support services.
- Training for faculty and staff: Provide training to university faculty and staff on recognizing signs of future anxiety and promoting psychological flexibility among students. This can help create a more supportive academic environment.
- Policy development: Develop policies that prioritize student mental health and wellbeing, including allocating resources for mental health services and creating academic policies that reduce unnecessary stress and uncertainty.
- Peer support programs: Implement peer support programs that encourage students to share experiences and strategies for managing future anxiety and developing psychological flexibility.
Challenges in implementing these recommendations may include limited resources, potential stigma around mental health issues, and the need for specialized training for staff.
However, the potential benefits of improved student mental health, academic performance, and overall wellbeing make these efforts worthwhile.
Strengths
This study had several methodological strengths, including:
- Large sample size (N = 528) providing adequate statistical power
- Use of validated measures with good reliability
- Comprehensive examination of multiple mediating factors
- Application of robust statistical techniques (bootstrapping for mediation analysis)
- Inclusion of participants from various academic years, providing a broad representation of the undergraduate experience
Limitations
This study also had several methodological limitations, including:
- Cross-sectional design limiting causal inferences
- Reliance on self-report measures, potentially subject to social desirability bias
- Sample drawn from a single public university, limiting generalizability
- Lack of control for potential confounding variables (e.g., socioeconomic status, prior mental health history)
- Exclusion of other potentially relevant factors (e.g., social support, academic stress)
References
Primary reference
Öztekin, G. G., & Yıldırım, M. (2025). Future anxiety, depression and stress among undergraduate students: Psychological flexibility and emotion regulation as mediators. Frontiers in Psychology, 16, 1517441. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1517441
Other references
Cardi, V., Albano, G., Gentili, C., & Sudulich, L. (2021). The impact of emotion regulation and mental health difficulties on health behaviours during COVID19. Journal of Psychiatric Research, 143, 409-415. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpsychires.2021.10.001
Chervonsky, E., & Hunt, C. (2019). Emotion regulation, mental health, and social wellbeing in a young adolescent sample: A concurrent and longitudinal investigation. Emotion, 19(2), 270–282. https://doi.org/10.1037/emo0000432
Karyotaki, E., Cuijpers, P., Albor, Y., Alonso, J., Auerbach, R. P., Bantjes, J., Bruffaerts, R., Ebert, D. D., Hasking, P., Kiekens, G., Lee, S., McLafferty, M., Mak, A., Mortier, P., Sampson, N. A., Stein, D. J., Vilagut, G., & Kessler, R. C. (2020). Sources of Stress and Their Associations With Mental Disorders Among College Students: Results of the World Health Organization World Mental Health Surveys International College Student Initiative. Frontiers in Psychology, 11, 553936. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.01759
Masoom Ali, S., Yildirim, M., Abdul Hussain, S., & Vostanis, P. (2020). Self-reported mental health problems and post-traumatic growth among children in Pakistan care homes. Asia Pacific Journal of Social Work and Development, 30(1), 62-76. https://doi.org/10.1080/02185385.2019.1710726
Rashid, S., Qureshi, A. G., Noor, T. A., Yaseen, K., Sheikh, M. A. A., Malik, M., & Malik, J. (2023). Anxiety and Depression in Heart Failure: An Updated Review. Current Problems in Cardiology, 48(11), 101987. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cpcardiol.2023.101987
Tanhan, F., Özok, H. İ., Kaya, A., & Yıldırım, M. (2024). Mediating and moderating effects of cognitive flexibility in the relationship between social media addiction and phubbing. Current Psychology, 43(1), 192-203. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-023-04242-8
Yıldırım, M. (2020). Optimism as a predictor of flourishing over and above the big five among youth. Paper presented at the International Academic Studies Conference, Turkey.
Yıldırım, M., Çağış, Z. G., & Williams, G. (2023). Fear of COVID-19, intolerance of uncertainty, psychological capital, and positive future expectations: Tests of mediating relationships with healthcare workers. Archives of Psychiatric Nursing, 45, 158-163. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apnu.2023.06.016
Yildirim, M., Dilekçi, Ü., & Manap, A. (2024). Mediating roles of meaning in life and psychological flexibility in the relationships between occupational stress and job satisfaction, job performance, and psychological distress in teachers. Frontiers in Psychology, 15, 1349726. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1349726
Yıldırım, M., & Özaslan, A. (2022). Worry, severity, controllability, and preventive behaviours of COVID-19 and their associations with mental health of Turkish healthcare workers working at a pandemic hospital. International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction, 20(4), 2306-2320. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11469-021-00515-0
Zaleski, Z. (1996). Future Anxiety: Concept, measurement, and preliminary research. Personality and Individual Differences, 21(2), 165-174. https://doi.org/10.1016/0191-8869(96)00070-0
Socratic Questions
- How might the relationship between future anxiety and mental health outcomes differ across various cultural contexts or educational systems?
- In what ways could the cross-sectional nature of this study limit our understanding of the causal relationships between the variables examined?
- How might the findings of this study be applied to develop effective interventions for university students struggling with future anxiety and mental health issues?
- What other factors, not examined in this study, might play a role in mediating the relationship between future anxiety and mental health outcomes among university students?
- How might the experience of future anxiety and its impact on mental health differ between undergraduate and graduate students?
- In what ways could the measurement of psychological flexibility and emotion regulation be improved to capture these constructs more comprehensively?
- How might the COVID-19 pandemic have influenced the levels of future anxiety and mental health outcomes among university students, and how could this impact the generalizability of the study’s findings?
- What ethical considerations should be taken into account when implementing interventions based on the findings of this study?
- How might the relationship between future anxiety, psychological flexibility, and mental health outcomes change over the course of a student’s academic career?
- In what ways could the findings of this study inform broader educational policies and practices to support student mental health and well-being?
