Betweenness and influence of psychological flexibility in social anxiety and fear of public speaking: A network analysis in a sample of Spanish university students

The increasing prevalence of social anxiety and fear of public speaking (FPS) among university students underscores the need to examine the psychological processes underpinning these difficulties. This study aimed to explore the functional organization of psychological inflexibility (PI) and related processes, including cognitive fusion (CF), self‑efficacy, and self‑statements. A sample of 575 university students completed an online battery of validated self‑report measures, and the relationships among variables were examined using network analysis. The resulting network revealed two distinct communities: one comprising PI, CF, negative self‑statements, and social anxiety, and another consisting of self‑efficacy, positive self‑statements, and FPS. Self‑efficacy emerged as the node with the greatest strength, while PI showed the highest betweenness and expected influence, indicating its central regulatory role across the system. Overall, the findings highlight the complex interdependence among cognitive and process-based variables in FPS, supporting the relevance of contextual–functional models and network approaches for understanding these phenomena. These results provide a theoretical and empirical basis for designing process‑based interventions that target structurally influential components within the network, such as PI and CF, to enhance psychological well‑being in university populations.