Health Psychology Research / HPR / Online First / DOI: 10.14440/hpr.2597803
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RESEARCH ARTICLE

The Effect of Marital Satisfaction and Experiential Avoidance on Parental Psychological Flexibility among Mothers of Preschool Children

Bingkun Zhang1* ,  Chunlei Fan1
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1 Key Laboratory of Mental Health, Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China
HPR, e81240010 https://doi.org/10.14440/hpr.2597803
Submitted: 11 February 2025 | Accepted: 6 April 2025 | Published: 25 July 2025
© 2025 by the Author(s). This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution -Noncommercial 4.0 International License (CC-by the license) ( https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ )
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Abstract

Background

Decreased marital satisfaction among mothers with preschool children in China may increase their risk of reduced parental psychological flexibility. Enhancing maternal marital satisfaction could improve this flexibility, thereby promoting the development of physically and mentally healthier preschool children.

Objective

This study investigates the association between the marital satisfaction of preschoolers’ mothers and their parental psychological flexibility, as well as the mediating role of maternal experiential avoidance.

Methods

A total of 335 Chinese mothers of preschoolers from three kindergartens participated in this study and completed the Chinese versions of the Olson Marital Satisfaction Questionnaire, the Acceptance and Action Questionnaire (II), and the Parental Psychological Flexibility Questionnaire in January 2022.

Results

This study revealed that higher marital satisfaction of preschoolers’ mothers was associated with greater parental psychological flexibility. Moreover, maternal experiential avoidance was found to mediate the relationship between marital satisfaction and parental psychological flexibility.

Conclusion

It is essential to explore effective strategies to enhance the marital satisfaction of preschoolers’ mothers and reduce their experiential avoidance. For instance, support from the mother’s family of origin and in-laws, as well as greater childcare involvement from the husband, may enhance maternal marital satisfaction. This, in turn, may reduce experiential avoidance and improve parental psychological flexibility, ultimately having a positive impact on parenting. In addition, mothers can reduce experiential avoidance through acceptance and commitment therapy and mindfulness practices.

Keywords
Maternal marital satisfaction
Experiential avoidance
Parental psychological flexibility
Preschoolers’ mothers
Acceptance and commit¬ment therapy
Funding
None.
Conflict of interest
The authors declare that they have no competing interests.
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