Protecting mental health through psychological flexibility while working under abusive leadership: evidence from healthcare workers

This study aims to examine the mediating role of psychological flexibility in the relationship between abusive leadership and employees' mental health, drawing on the Conservation of Resources Theory and Acceptance and Commitment Theory (ACT). A quantitative, cross-sectional design was employed with a sample of 400 healthcare workers in Turkey. Data were analysed using SPSS 27 for descriptive and frequency statistics and Mplus 8 for mediation modelling. The results revealed that abusive leadership negatively affects mental health, while psychological flexibility has a positive impact. Moreover, psychological flexibility fully mediates the association between abusive leadership and mental health, indicating that psychological flexibility substantially reduces the adverse effects of abusive leadership.