Positive affect state is a good predictor of movement and stress: combining data from ESM/EMA, mobile HRV measurements and trait questionnaires

Personality describes the average behaviour and responses of individuals across situations; but personality traits are often poor predictors of behaviour in specific situations. This is known as the “personality paradox”.We evaluated the interrelations between various trait and state variables in participants’ everyday lives. As state measures, we used 1) experience sampling methodology (ESM/EMA) to measure perceived affect, stress, and presence of social company; and 2) heart-rate variability and real-time movement (accelerometer data) to indicate physiological stress and physical movement. These data were linked with self-report measures of personality and personality-like traits.Trait variables predicted affect states and multiple associations were found: neuroticism and rumination decreased positive affect and increased negative affect. Positive affect state, in turn, was the strongest predictor of observed movement. Positive affect was also associated with heart rate and heart rate variability (HRV). Negative affect, in turn, was not associated with neither movement, HR or HRV.The study provides evidence on the influence of personality-like traits and social context to affect states, and, in turn, their influence to movement and stress variables.

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Association Between Maternal Mood State and Glycemic Response to a Mixed-Meal Among Latina Pregnant Women With Overweight and Obesity

Current Developments in Nutrition ◽

10.1093/cdn/nzab046_072 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 5 (Supplement_2) ◽

pp. 775-775

Author(s):

Karen Lindsay ◽

Lauren Gyllenhammer ◽

Mirian Kang ◽

Christine Ha ◽

Sonja Entringer ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Negative Affect ◽

Positive Affect ◽

Pregnant Women ◽

Gestational Age ◽

Mood State ◽

Insulin Response ◽

Overweight And Obesity ◽

Future Research ◽

Positive And Negative Affect ◽

Affect State

Abstract Objectives To investigate if maternal positive and negative affect state is associated with the glucose and insulin response to a standardized breakfast shake among Latina pregnant women with overweight and obesity. Methods N = 31 non-diabetic Latina pregnant women, at gestational age 28–30 weeks, with a pre-pregnancy BMI 25–35 Kg/m,2 consumed a standardized breakfast shake in the morning after an overnight fast of at least 10 hours. The Positive and Negative Affect Scale was completed while consuming the drink. Blood samples collected at fasting and 6 postprandial time points (15, 30, 45, 60, 90,120 mins) were assayed for glucose and insulin and values were log-transformed for normality. The area-under-the-curve (AUC) for glucose, insulin, glucose: insulin ratio were computed as well as the Matsuda index of insulin sensitivity (SI). Results The median (IQR) values for positive and negative affect scores were 33 (27–40) and 11 (10–14) respectively. Categorizing the affect scores as high or low based on the median value, the mean AUC for glucose, insulin, and SI did not differ according to affect state (p > 0.05). However, women with a lower positive affect score had lower insulin AUC (F-1.2, p = 0.063), and consequently, a greater AUCglucose: insulin (F = 3.9, p = 0.007), which persisted after adjustment for maternal age, gestational age and BMI. A post-hoc analysis revealed significantly higher glucose: insulin ratio values at fasting (F = 0.58, p = 0.013) and 15min (F = 10.37, p = 0/008) and 60min (F = 2.65, p = 0.021) postprandial timepoints in those with low vs high positive affect. No differences in the glucose/insulin ratio were detected across levels of negative affect. Conclusions Contrary to expectations, higher positive affect in late pregnancy (i.e., more positive mood state) was associated with a less favorable postprandial insulin response in this cohort, contributing to a higher ratio of glucose: insulin, which is a sensitive predictor of insulin resistance. There is potential for unmeasured confounding which may have contributed to this unexpected direction of association between maternal affect state and insulin response in pregnant Latina women, which deserves further attention in future research. Funding Sources National Institute of Child Health and Human Development.

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Idiographic Dynamics of Positive Affect in GAD

European Journal of Psychological Assessment ◽

10.1027/1015-5759/a000580 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 36 (3) ◽

pp. 500-509

Author(s):

Hannah G. Bosley ◽

Devon B. Sandel ◽

Aaron J. Fisher

Keyword(s):

Positive Affect ◽

Structural Equation ◽

Alternative Hypothesis ◽

Equation Model ◽

Aggregated Data ◽

Regulatory Strategy ◽

Constant State ◽

Automatic Search ◽

Time Lagged ◽

Exploratory Procedure

Abstract. Generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) is associated with worry and emotion regulation difficulties. The contrast-avoidance model suggests that individuals with GAD use worry to regulate emotion: by worrying, they maintain a constant state of negative affect (NA), avoiding a feared sudden shift into NA. We tested an extension of this model to positive affect (PA). During a week-long ecological momentary assessment (EMA) period, 96 undergraduates with a GAD analog provided four daily measurements of worry, dampening (i.e., PA suppression), and PA. We hypothesized a time-lagged mediation relationship in which higher worry predicts later dampening, and dampening predicts subsequently lower PA. A lag-2 structural equation model was fit to the group-aggregated data and to each individual time-series to test this hypothesis. Although worry and PA were negatively correlated in 87 participants, our model was not supported at the nomothetic level. However, idiographically, our model was well-fit for about a third (38.5%) of participants. We then used automatic search as an idiographic exploratory procedure to detect other time-lagged relationships between these constructs. While 46 individuals exhibited some cross-lagged relationships, no clear pattern emerged across participants. An alternative hypothesis about the speed of the relationship between variables is discussed using contemporaneous correlations of worry, dampening, and PA. Findings suggest heterogeneity in the function of worry as a regulatory strategy, and the importance of temporal scale for detection of time-lagged effects.

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Dispositional Properties of Metaphor

Journal of Individual Differences ◽

10.1027/1614-0001/a000234 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 38 (3) ◽

pp. 175-188 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Adam K. Fetterman ◽

Brian P. Meier ◽

Michael D. Robinson

Keyword(s):

Positive Affect ◽

Food Preferences ◽

Self Control ◽

Taste Preferences ◽

Conceptual Metaphor Theory ◽

Prosocial Motivation ◽

Sweet Food ◽

Metaphor Theory ◽

Sweet Foods ◽

Dispositional Properties

Abstract. Metaphors often characterize prosocial actions and people as sweet. Three studies sought to explore whether conceptual metaphors of this type can provide insights into the prosocial trait of agreeableness and into daily life prosociality. Study 1 (n = 698) examined relationships between agreeableness and food taste preferences. Studies 2 (n = 66) and 3 (n = 132) utilized daily diary protocols. In Study 1, more agreeable people liked sweet foods to a greater extent. In Study 2, greater sweet food preferences predicted a stronger positive relationship between daily prosocial behaviors and positive affect, a pattern consistent with prosocial motivation. Finally, Study 3 found that daily prosocial feelings and behaviors varied positively with sweet food consumption in a manner that could not be ascribed to positive affect or self-control. Altogether, the findings encourage further efforts to extend conceptual metaphor theory to the domain of personality processes, in part by building on balance-related ideas.

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Social and Temporal Comparisons as Moderators of Psychological Resources Associations With Wellbeing

Journal of Individual Differences ◽

10.1027/1614-0001/a000193 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 37 (2) ◽

pp. 96-104 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Hasida Ben-Zur

Keyword(s):

Life Satisfaction ◽

Positive Affect ◽

Subjective Wellbeing ◽

Social Comparisons ◽

Self Esteem ◽

Psychological Resources ◽

Low Levels ◽

Age Range ◽

General Wellbeing

Abstract. The current study investigated the associations of psychological resources, social comparisons, and temporal comparisons with general wellbeing. The sample included 142 community participants (47.9% men; age range 23–83 years), who compared themselves with others, and with their younger selves, on eight dimensions (e.g., physical health, resilience). They also completed questionnaires assessing psychological resources of mastery and self-esteem, and three components of subjective wellbeing: life satisfaction and negative and positive affect. The main results showed that high levels of psychological resources contributed to wellbeing, with self-enhancing social and temporal comparisons moderating the effects of resources on certain wellbeing components. Specifically, under low levels of mastery or self-esteem self-enhancing social or temporal comparisons were related to either higher life satisfaction or positive affect. The results highlight the role of resources and comparisons in promoting people’s wellbeing, and suggest that self-enhancing comparisons function as cognitive coping mechanisms when psychological resources are low.

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