The study examined the impact of cognitive fusion and experiential avoidance on academic success, behavioral problems, and school engagement in urban middle school girls. It found that cognitive fusion/experiential avoidance and internalizing symptoms did not significantly predict variance in academic performance, behavioral problems, or school engagement. Future studies should use other GPA measures to minimize self-report bias and examine these variables in clinical samples where they may be more predictive of outcomes.

1. * correspondence <aesena@suffolk.edu
Introduction
The Impact of Cognitive Fusion and Experiential Avoidance on Academic Success in a
Sample of Diverse, Urban Middle School Girls
Ammy Sena, Vincent Carta, Keeyon Olia, Jadig Garcia, M.A, & Lisa Coyne, PhD
Suffolk University
Measures:
Revised Avoidance and Fusion Questionnaire for Youth (AFQ-Y):
Experiential avoidance & cognitive fusion
Youth Self Report (YSR): Internalizing symptoms
Self reported GPA: Academic achievement
Self reported suspensions: Behavioral problems
Self reported absences: School engagement
Participants:
Methods Results
Summary and Future Directions
The current study did not find significant enough variance
between cognitive fusion and experiential avoidance on
adolescents’ academic performance, behavioral problems, and
school engagement. Future studies should further explore other
measures of GPA in order to minimize self-report bias. In
addition, cognitive fusion/experiential avoidance may be more
relevant in samples experiencing clinically significant
internalizing symptoms. Given that this study used a community
sample, these variables may be more predictive of academic
performance, behavior problems, and school engagement
among a clinical sample.
Cognitive fusion refers to the state in which one allows
themselves to be controlled by the literal meaning of their
thoughts and is unable to view them in their temporary state
(Greco, Lambert, & Baer, 2008). Individuals experiencing
cognitive fusion cope with negative thoughts by suppressing
them (i.e., experiential avoidance), which leads them to
internalize their feelings. Bound and Bunce (2003) found that
acceptance of one’s thoughts and feelings predicted mental
health and were related to higher levels of work performance
and work satisfaction, thus concluding that the ability to
defuse from your thoughts and accepting the emotions
attached can predict better job performance. Further, a limited
amount of research indicates a positive relationship between
cognitive fusion/experiential avoidance and children and
adolescents’ internalizing and externalizing behaviors (Greco
et al., 2008 & Venta, Sharp, & Hart, 2013). This is problematic
as internalizing and externalizing behaviors are negatively
associated with academic achievement. Specifically,
externalizing behaviors hinders academic achievement and
increases internalized problems (Masten et al., 2005). As
such, children who experience high amounts of cognitive
fusion and experiential avoidance may not have the cognitive
resources to fully engage in school. To date, limited data is
available regarding the effect of cognitive fusion and
experiential avoidance on adolescents’ academic success.
Consequently, we sought to examine the relationship between
cognitive fusion and experiential avoidance on adolescents’
academic performance, behavior problems, and school
engagement.
Hypotheses
•Cognitive fusion/experiential avoidance and internalizing
symptoms would significantly predict academic performance.
• Cognitive fusion/experiential avoidance and internalizing.
symptoms would significantly predict behavior problems.
•Cognitive fusion/experiential avoidance and internalizing
symptoms would significantly predict school engagement.
65.5
3.4
1.7 1.7
Black or African American
American Indian or Alaskan
Native
Asian American or Pacific
Islander
White or Caucasian
Mean Age = 12.26 years
SD = 0.98
Procedure:
Participants were asked to complete the Revised
Avoidance and Fusion Questionnaire for Youth (AFQ-Y), which
measures cognitive fusion and experimental avoidance.
Academic success was measured via self-reported grade-point
average; behavior problems were measured via self reported
suspensions; and absences was a proxy for school
engagement (also self-reported).
Contrary to our hypothesis, regression analyses indicated
that cognitive fusion/experiential avoidance and internalizing
symptoms did not significantly predict the variance in academic
performance (1.4% of the variance; F (2, 53) = 0.36, p = 0.70),
behavior problems (6.6% of the variance, p = 0.23), or school
engagement (5.3% of the variance; F (2, 55) = 1.54, p = 0.22).
YRS
Scores
AFQ-Y
Scores
GPA
B = .09
B = .04
p = .70
YRS
Scores
Absences
AFQ-Y
Scores
AFQ-Y
Scores
YRS
Scores
Suspensions
B = .03
B = .02
p = .23
B = .24
B = .02
p = .22
19%
7%
74%
Clinically Significant
Sub Clinical
Average
Participants’ Internalizing Symptoms
Regression Analysis