Exploring The Effects of Physical Activity and Gratitude Journaling on Daily Psychological Flexibility: An EMA Study Among Students and Young Professionals

Abstract

Background: Psychological flexibility (PF)—the capacity to stay open, aware, and engaged in value-guided behaviour—is essential for young adults’ mental health (Hayes et al., 2012; Park et al., 2020). Previous research demonstrated that regular physical activity (PA) and gratitude journaling (GJ) independently benefit PF‐related processes, yet their combined effects in daily PF remain unexplored (Fekete & Deichert, 2022; Shen et al., 2024).

Methods: Eighty-five students and early-career professionals (Mage = 24.6 years) participated a 10-day ecological momentary assessment study. Participants were randomised to a GJ condition (n = 46), writing three daily gratitude items each evening, or a digital-diary control condition (n = 39). Twice-daily short questionnaires sent through smartphones recorded daily PF (Psy-Flex) scores, PA and GJ entries. Daily PA was self-reported, and individuals were classified according to baseline PA as physically active (≥200 min moderate or ≥90 min vigorous PA/10 days) or inactive. Between-group differences were tested with independent or Welch’s t-tests; within-person and interaction effects were examined with multilevel models.

Results: Physically active participants displayed higher mean PF than inactive peers (d = 0.57, p < .001). Day-to-day PA did not predict same-day PF across the whole sample (p = .064). GJ alone did not raise PF relative to the control (p = .832). However, a significant PA × GJ interaction (B = 3.56, p = .001) indicated that PA’s positive impact on PF was amplified on days when participants engaged in gratitude journaling.