Negative Affect in Adults' Daily Lives: Examining the Effects of Stress, Personality, and Age

AbstractA better understanding of emotion regulation (ER) within daily life is a growing focus of research. This study evaluated the average use of two ER strategies (cognitive reappraisal and expressive suppression) and concurrent and lagged relationships between these two ER strategies and affect (positive and negative affect) in the daily lives of adolescents. We also investigated the role of the same strategies at the trait level on these within-person relationships. Thirty-three adolescents provided 1,258 reports of their daily life by using the Experience Sampling Method for one week. Regarding the relative use of ER strategies, cognitive reappraisal (M = 2.87, SD = 1.58) was used more often than expressive suppression (M = 2.42, SD = 1.21). While the use of both strategies was positively correlated when evaluated in daily life (p = .01), the same did not occur at the trait level (p = .37). Multilevel analysis found that ER strategies were concurrently related to affect (p < .01), with the exception of cognitive reappraisal-positive affect relationship (p = .11). However, cognitive reappraisal predicted higher positive affect at the subsequent sampling moment ( β = 0.07, p = .03). The concurrent associations between cognitive reappraisal and negative affect vary as function of the use of this strategy at the trait level (β = 0.05, p = .02). Our findings highlighted the complex associations between daily ER strategies and affect of a normative sample of adolescents.

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Disentangling dynamic affect trajectories for distinct depression courses during the COVID-19 pandemic

10.31234/osf.io/hv4cb ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Gabriela Lunansky ◽

Ria H. A. Hoekstra ◽

Tessa Blanken

Keyword(s):

Negative Affect ◽

Positive Affect ◽

Network Models ◽

Well Being ◽

Positive And Negative Affect ◽

Single Measurement ◽

Daily Lives ◽

Boston College ◽

Measurement Moment ◽

Affect States

Background. Why does adversity lead to mental health complaints in some, but not others? Individual differences in the development of depressive complaints are related to the regulation of affect states. The COVID-19 pandemic has caused a prolonged period of perturbations to the daily lives of people across the globe, providing an unparalleled opportunity to investigate how fluctuations in positive and negative affect relate to the evolution of mood complaints.Methods. 228 participants from the Boston College daily sleep and well-being survey completed at least 20 assessments of positive and negative affect and depression complaints between March 20th 2020 and June 26th 2020. We explored affect trajectories throughout this period and estimated longitudinal multilevel network models. Furthermore, we investigated how individual network structures relate to changes in depression severity over time.Results. On average, positive affect was reported somewhat higher than negative affect. However, when separating affect trajectories based on the individuals’ depressive complaints, we identified that individuals consistently experiencing depressive complaints report higher levels of negative affect compared with positive affect. Contrary, individuals consistently reporting no depressive complaints show opposite results. Furthermore, we found many and strong associations in the multilevel network between the distinct affect states and depressive complaints. Lastly, we established that the higher the connectivity of an individual’s network, the larger their change in depressive complaints is.Conclusions. We conclude that affect fluctuations are directly related to the development of depressive complaints, both within- and across individuals, and both within a single measurement moment and over time.

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The Effects of Stress Beliefs on Daily Affective Stress Responses

Annals of Behavioral Medicine ◽

10.1093/abm/kaz046 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 54 (4) ◽

pp. 258-267 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Johannes A C Laferton ◽

Susanne Fischer ◽

David D Ebert ◽

Nikola M Stenzel ◽

Johannes Zimmermann

Keyword(s):

Negative Affect ◽

University Students ◽

Stress Responses ◽

Life Stress ◽

Social Stress ◽

Real Life ◽

Daily Diary ◽

Psychological Mechanisms ◽

Simple Slope ◽

Effects Of Stress

Abstract Background Negative beliefs about the effects of stress have been associated with poorer health and increased mortality. However, evidence on the psychological mechanisms linking stress beliefs to health is scarce, especially regarding real-life stress. Purpose The aim of the current study was to investigate the effects of stress beliefs on affect in the daily stress process in a population prone to health-impairing effects of stress: university students. Methods Using daily diaries, 98 university students reported on daily perceived social and work-related stressors as well as positive and negative affect for 10 consecutive days. Stress beliefs, depressive and anxiety symptoms, neuroticism, and demographic variables were assessed prior to the daily diary phase. Results Hierarchical linear models revealed a significant cross-level interaction between negative stress beliefs and the association of daily social stressors with negative affect (B = 0.24; 99% confidence interval [CI] = 0.08–0.41, p < .001). When experiencing social stress, participants who held high negative stress beliefs had higher daily negative affect (simple slope = 4.09; p < .001); however, for participants who held low negative stress beliefs the association between daily social stress and daily negative affect was considerably smaller (simple slope = 2.12; p < .001). Moreover, individuals believing stress to be controllable showed higher positive affect throughout the 10-day daily diary phase. Conclusions Negative stress beliefs were found to moderate the affective response to daily real-life stressors. Given the established relationship between affect and health, this study provides initial evidence of psychological mechanisms linking stress beliefs to health.

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Momentary associations between affect and alcohol use in the daily lives of college students

10.31234/osf.io/a7cgu ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Farah Sayed ◽

Amanda Lee McGowan ◽

Mia Jovanova ◽

Danielle Cosme ◽

Yoona Kang ◽

...

Keyword(s):

College Students ◽

Alcohol Use ◽

Negative Affect ◽

Positive Affect ◽

Ecological Momentary Assessment ◽

Social Contexts ◽

Drinking Motives ◽

Daily Lives ◽

Ecological Momentary ◽

Momentary Assessment

Objective: Alcohol is theorized to be motivated by desires to regulate negative affect and/or to enhance positive affect. We tested the association between momentary affect and alcohol use in the daily lives of college students, hypothesizing that alcohol use would be more likely to follow increases in positive affect and that alcohol use would not be strongly associated with negative affect. Method: Using two ecological momentary assessment (EMA) studies consisting of two prompts per day for 28 days, we used multilevel hurdle models to test for lagged associations between positive and negative affect and alcohol use. There were 108 participants (60.19%; mean age = 20.20, SD=1.69) in EMA study 1 and 268 participants (60.03%women, mean age = 20.22, SD=1.96) in EMA study 2. To provide context for the affect-alcohol associations, we collected data on whether participants drank alone or with others at each drinking occasion and the drinking motives of participants using the Drinking Motives Questionnaire. Results: Alcohol use was more likely to occur following increases in positive affect. No significant associations emerged between fluctuations in negative affect and alcohol use. This pattern of findings was observed across both ecological momentary assessment studies. The majority of alcohol use occurred in social contexts. Conclusions: College students who report primarily social and enhancement motives for drinking and who seldom drink alone are more likely to drink following increases in positive affect.

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Controllability of structural brain networks and the waxing and waning of negative affect in daily life

10.31234/osf.io/792g8 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Amanda Lee McGowan ◽

Linden Parkes ◽

Xiaosong He ◽

Ovidia Stanoi ◽

Yoona Kang ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Negative Affect ◽

Brain Structure ◽

Daily Life ◽

Structural Connectivity ◽

Network Control ◽

Imaging Data ◽

Daily Lives ◽

Diffusion Spectrum Imaging ◽

Cortical Regions ◽

Structural Networks

The waxing and waning of negative affect in daily life is normative, reflecting an adaptive capacity to respond flexibly to changing circumstances. Here, we provide insight into facets of brain structure that may enable negative affect variability in daily life. We use diffusion spectrum imaging data from 95 young adults (Mage = 20.19 years, SDage = 1.80; 56 women) to construct structural connectivity networks that map white matter fiber connections between 200 cortical and 14 sub-cortical regions. We apply network control theory to these structural networks to estimate the degree to which each brain region’s pattern of structural connectivity facilitates the spread of activity to other brain systems (i.e., the region’s average controllability). We examine how the average controllability of functional brain systems relates to negative affect variability, computed by taking the standard deviation of negative affect self-reports collected via smartphone-based experience-sampling twice per day over 28 days as participants went about their daily lives. We find that high average controllability of the cingulo-insular system is associated with increased negative affect variability. Our results highlight the role brain structure plays in affective dynamics as observed in the context of daily life.

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A transdiagnostic investigation of amygdala-vmPFC resting state functional connectivity and emotional distress in daily lives

10.32469/10355/66774 ◽

2018 ◽

Author(s):

◽

Anne M. Merrill

Keyword(s):

Functional Connectivity ◽

Negative Affect ◽

Emotional Distress ◽

Resting State ◽

Resting State Functional Connectivity ◽

Daily Lives ◽

Behavioral Dysregulation ◽

Affective Instability ◽

And Behaviors ◽

The Relationship

Mood disorders, anxiety disorders and borderline personality disorder overlap in symptom criteria, are highly comorbid with one another, and group together in factor models of psychopathology (Kotov et al., 2011). These disorders of emotional distress are characterized by increased frequency and duration of intense negative affect, large abrupt shifts in affect (i.e., affective instability), and behavioral dysregulation (Selby, Anestis, Bender, and Joiner, 2009). Functional connectivity between the amygdala and the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC) has been proposed as a possible endophenotype for emotion dysregulation. However, the relationship between amygdala-vmPFC connectivity and transdiagnostic symptoms of emotional distress is largely unknown. The present study used two powerful methodologies, fMRI and Ecological Momentary Assessment, to examine the relationship between amygdala-vmPFC resting state functional connectivity (rs-FC) and dysregulated moods and behaviors in daily lives. Twenty-seven women in treatment for a disorder of emotional distress completed clinical interviews, self-report questionnaires on symptoms and emotion regulation, resting state scans, and two weeks of frequent surveys assessing moods and behaviors. Results found that amygdala-vmPFC rs-FC was (a) correlated with frequency of behavioral dysregulation, including drinking alcohol to cope with distress, binge eating, and impulsivity, and (b) differentially correlated with anxiety and depression, replicating the results of previous research (Burghy et al., 2012). Results also found that another emotion circuit, the dACC-amygdala, was associated with negative affect and affective instability. The current research found evidence for neural mechanisms related to emotional and behavioral dysregulation in daily lives of women with transdiagnostic disorders of emotional distress.

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