Negative affect and 24-hour ambulatory physiological recordings as predictors of spontaneous improvement of medically unexplained symptoms

Just how miserable is work? A meta-analysis comparing work and non-work affect

Although we spend much of our waking hours working, the emotional experience of work, versus non-work, remains unclear. While the large literature on work stress suggests that work generally is aversive, some seminal theory and findings portray working as salubrious and perhaps as an escape from home life. Here, we examine the subjective experience of work (versus non-work) by conducting a quantitative review of 59 primary studies that assessed affect on working days. Meta-analyses of within-day studies indicated that there was no difference in positive affect (PA) between work versus non-work domains. Negative affect (NA) was higher for work than non-work, although the magnitude of difference was small (i.e., .22 SD, an effect size comparable to that of the difference in NA between different leisure activities like watching TV versus playing board games). Moderator analyses revealed that PA was relatively higher at work and NA relatively lower when affect was measured using “real-time” measurement (e.g., Experience Sampling Methodology) versus measured using the Day Reconstruction Method (i.e., real-time reports reveal a more favorable view of work as compared to recall/DRM reports). Additional findings from moderator analyses included significant differences in main effect sizes as a function of the specific affect, and, for PA, as a function of the age of the sample and the time of day when the non-work measurements were taken. Results for the other possible moderators including job complexity and affect intensity were not statistically significant.

Momentary assessment technology as a tool to help patients with depression help themselves

OBJECTIVE

Given high relapse rates and residual symptoms in depression, new strategies to increase treatment effectiveness are required. A promising avenue is to investigate how electronic momentary assessment technology may contribute to clinical assessment and interventions in depression.

METHOD

A literature search was conducted focusing on the potential contribution of momentary assessments to clinical applications in depression.

RESULTS

Momentary assessments are able to reveal subtle, small but repetitive and relevant patterns of emotional expression that predict future course of depression. A momentary assessment tool may expose manageable pieces of daily life behaviour contributing to the depressive experience that patients can influence. The use of this explicit knowledge of daily life experience is understudied with regard to its contribution to diagnostic assessment, monitoring of treatment effects and feedback interventions in depressed patients. The clinical application of momentary assessments may stimulate a shift from passive consumption of treatment to an active role for patients in their recovery and increased patient ownership.

CONCLUSION

The precise, prospective and fine-grained information that momentary assessment technology provides may contribute to clinical practice in various ways. Future studies should examine the clinical impact of its use and the feasibility of its implementation in mental health care.