A procedure for evaluating sensitivity to within-person change: can mood measures in diary studies detect change reliably?

Momentary cannabis use motives and associated affective changes in daily life

OBJECTIVE

Cannabis use is prevalent and increasing among adults in the United States. Individuals who use cannabis commonly endorse using cannabis to enhance positive affect (PA) or cope with negative affect (NA). Importantly, enhancement motives are associated with greater frequency of use, and coping motives are associated with cannabis-related problems. We used ecological momentary assessment to test whether daily-life reports of enhancement- and coping-motivated use are associated with improved affective states.

METHOD

Participants (N = 48, Mage = 24.15, 81.3% White, 50.0% female, 45.8% male, 4.2% nonbinary) who reported using cannabis 3+ times per week completed 14 days of ecological momentary assessment, which included random and self-initiated cannabis use surveys. Participants reported PA and NA at every survey and cannabis use motives any time they reported using cannabis. Multilevel models adjusted for last-prompt PA/NA, person-level motives, alcohol use, social context, weekend, time of day, age, and gender.

RESULTS

Higher momentary enhancement motives predicted increased PA from the last survey (b = 0.28, SE = 0.07, p < .001), and higher momentary coping motives predicted increased NA from the last survey (b = 0.07, SE = 0.02, p = .003).

CONCLUSIONS

Findings highlight positive reinforcement purposes of cannabis use and suggest that endorsement of coping motives for cannabis use may be accompanied by exacerbated NA rather than improved NA. Future work should examine the generalizability of these findings in samples with greater representation of diverse ethnic and cultural backgrounds and among individuals who are in or seeking treatment for cannabis-related problems. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Daily associations between resilience factors, substance use, and affect among sexual minority youth

OBJECTIVE

Past research has highlighted that sexual minority youth (SMY) are at particular risk for heightened substance use compared to their heterosexual peers; however, few studies have investigated the associations between resilience factors and substance use among SMY. In the present preregistered study, we examined the associations among three different forms of resilience factors (i.e., general social support, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ)-identity affirmation, LGBTQ community involvement) and alcohol, nicotine, and cannabis use, as well as on positive and negative affect.

METHOD

SMY (n = 82, ages 15-19, 56.1% cisgender women, 84.4% White) completed a baseline assessment then a 30-day ecological momentary assessment study. Multilevel regression models evaluated within-day and between-person associations between resilience factors and odds of substance use (alcohol, nicotine, cannabis), substance use quantity on use days (alcohol, cannabis), positive affect, and negative affect.

RESULTS

On the day level, general social support was associated with greater positive affect, lesser negative affect, and greater drinks on drinking days. LGBTQ-identity affirmation was associated with greater positive affect, lesser negative affect, and greater odds of nicotine use. LGBTQ community involvement was associated with greater positive affect.

CONCLUSIONS

These results highlight the nuanced ways that resilience may engender more positive affect and reduce negative affect while simultaneously promoting substance use. Future research disentangling the mechanisms connecting resilience and substance use among SMY is necessary. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Yearly and Daily Discrimination-Related Stressors and Mexican Youth's Mental Health and Sleep: Insights From the First Wave of a Three-Wave Family Study

OBJECTIVE

Research is needed to examine discrimination-related stressors and their social and psychological shaping of mental health and sleep outcomes of Latinx youth. The background, design, and methodology of a longitudinal study of Mexican families in Indiana and the initial findings of associations between discrimination-related stressors and youth mental health and sleep outcomes are presented.

METHOD

Initiating wave 1 of a 3-wave (yearly) longitudinal study, investigators surveyed an ethnically homogeneous sample of 344 Mexican-origin adolescents (ages 12-15) and their primary caregivers, assessing risks and protective factors for mental health and sleep outcomes. Youth also completed a one-time 21-day daily diary after wave 1. Self-reported measures of youth mental health, sleep, and discrimination across wave 1 and the daily diary were evaluated to compare the cross-sectional (wave 1) and daily associations between discrimination and youth mental health and sleep outcomes.

RESULTS

Of youth, 88.1% reported at least one incident of lifetime discrimination. Almost one-third had elevated depressive symptoms, 44.5% had probable generalized anxiety disorder, and 50.9% had poor sleep quality. Between-youth correlations at wave 1 and in the daily diary were consistent in that perceived racial discrimination was positively correlated with worse mental health and poorer sleep quality. Smaller within-youth correlations were observed in the daily diary, but there was striking variability in the effect of discrimination across youth.

CONCLUSION

The present results illustrate the powerful methods of combining yearly and daily time data to investigate how and for whom discrimination-related stressors lead to adverse outcomes.

PLAIN LANGUAGE SUMMARY

Latinx youth are the largest and fastest growing minoritized youth group in the United States. This study surveyed 344 Mexican-origin adolescents and their primary caregivers to assess risk and protective factors for mental health and sleep outcomes. The authors found that 88.1% of youth reported at least one incident of lifetime discrimination, 29.7% reported elevated depressive symptoms, 44.5% reported elevated anxiety symptoms, and 50.9% reported poor sleep quality. Youth who experienced racial discrimination were more likely to have worse mental health and lower sleep quality than those who did not experience racial discrimination.

DIVERSITY & INCLUSION STATEMENT

We worked to ensure that the study questionnaires were prepared in an inclusive way. One or more of the authors of this paper self-identifies as a member of one or more historically underrepresented racial and/or ethnic groups in science. One or more of the authors of this paper self-identifies as a member of one or more historically underrepresented sexual and/or gender groups in science. We actively worked to promote inclusion of historically underrepresented racial and/or ethnic groups in science in our author group. While citing references scientifically relevant for this work, we also actively worked to promote inclusion of historically underrepresented racial and/or ethnic groups in science in our reference list.

CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION INFORMATION

Seguimos Avanzando - Latino Youth Coping With Discrimination; https://clinicaltrials.gov/; NCT04875208.

Use and co-use of alcohol and cannabis following physical pain in the daily life of community adults engaged in regular substance use

OBJECTIVE

Alcohol and cannabis are often perceived as pain-relieving. However, minimal work has examined whether people use and co-use these substances following pain in daily life.

METHOD

Forty-six adults reporting weekly use of alcohol and/or cannabis completed a 60-day ecological momentary assessment protocol, answering at least four daily reports on their alcohol and cannabis use and pain (nassessments = 10,769 over 2,656 days). We examined whether self-reported pain so far that day (cumulative-average pain) was associated with subsequent alcohol and cannabis use and same-occasion co-use. Models also addressed whether associations differed for initiating versus continuing a use episode. Hypotheses were preregistered.

RESULTS

A multinomial multilevel model found that cumulative-average pain was associated with a greater likelihood of same-occasion co-use in the continuation phase but not the initiation phase, compared to no use (OR = 1.48,95% CI [1.06, 2.06], p = .023) and alcohol use (OR = 1.52, CI [1.03, 2.26], p = .037). Cumulative-average pain was largely not associated with alcohol-only and cannabis-only use. After alcohol use, greater pain was associated with cannabis use (OR = 1.37, CI [1.11, 1.70], p = .004), but not the reverse. Secondary analyses found greater previous-occasion (not cumulative) pain was associated with initiation of alcohol use and number of drinks, and initiation and continuation of cannabis use, but not number of cannabis hits.

CONCLUSIONS

Although not all hypotheses were supported, pain was associated with subsequent substance use in this sample engaged in regular substance use and not recruited for chronic pain. Cumulative pain may be particularly related to alcohol-cannabis same-occasion co-use, which may increase the risk of substance use-related problems over time. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

The temporal trajectories of habit decay in daily life: An intensive longitudinal study on four health-risk behaviors

Habits are cue-behavior associations learned through repetition that are assumed to be relatively stable. Thereby, unhealthy habits can pose a health risk due to facilitating relapse. In the absence of research on habit decay in daily life, we aimed to investigate how habit decreases over time when trying to degrade a habit and whether this differs by four health-risk behaviors (sedentary behavior, unhealthy snacking, alcohol consumption, and smoking). This 91-day intensive longitudinal study included four parallel non-randomized groups (one per behavior; N = 194). Habit strength was measured daily with the Self-Report Behavioral Automaticity Index (11,805 observations) and modelled over time with constant, linear, quadratic, cubic, asymptotic, and logistic models. Person-specific modelling revealed asymptotic and logistic models as the most common best-fitting models (54% of the sample). The time for habit decay to stabilize ranged from 1 to 65 days. Multilevel modelling indicated substantial between-person heterogeneity and suggested initial habit strength but not the decay process to vary by behavioral group. Findings suggest that habit decay when trying to degrade a habit typically follows a decelerating negative trend but that it is a highly idiosyncratic process. Recommendations include emphasizing the role of person-specific modelling and data visualization in habit research.

HabitWalk: A micro-randomized trial to understand and promote habit formation in physical activity

Habit is a key psychological determinant for physical activity behavior change and maintenance. This study aims to deepen the understanding of habit formation in physical activity and identify promotion strategies. We examined the habit formation trajectory and its relationships with cue-behavior repetition (a cue-triggered 15-minute brisk walk) and unconditional physical activity (daily steps). We also tested whether the behavior change techniques (BCTs) 'commitment' and 'prompts and cues' promote habit, cue-behavior repetition, and daily steps within persons. This micro-randomized trial included a 7-day preparatory and a 105-day experimental phase delivered via the HabitWalk app. Participants (N = 24) had a 50% probability of receiving each BCT daily, leading to four conditions. Habit strength was assessed daily using the Self-Report Behavioral Automaticity Index, while cue-behavior repetition and steps were measured via an activity tracker. Person-specific growth functions indicated that habit strength trajectories were highly idiosyncratic. Multilevel models indicated a positive effect of cue-behavior repetition on habit strength, but not vice versa. The effect of habit strength on daily steps varied by the operationalization of cue-behavior repetition. Tentative findings suggest that commitment and prompts and cues are effective habit-promotion strategies when delivered together.

From the COVID-19 lockdown to the new normal: Two-year changes in daily stress and positive event processes

The emergence of the novel COVID-19 disease and the social distancing measures implemented to curb its spread affected most aspects of daily life. Past work suggests that during times of more severe stress, people respond to daily stressors with relatively higher negative affect. However, little is known about how people responded to daily stressors and positive events at different moments in time during the COVID-19 pandemic. Thus, we examined longitudinal changes in daily event-related affect (covariation of daily stressors or positive events with same-day affect) from Spring 2020 (wave 1) to 2022 (wave 2). The sample consisted of 324 adults aged 18-80 (mean = 52 years; 89% women) from the US and Canada who completed weeklong daily diaries at both waves. The results revealed improvements in affective well-being, stressor-related affect (i.e., smaller fluctuations in affect on stressor days vs. nonstressor days), and positive event-related affect (i.e., lower negative affect on days with vs. without positive events). Furthermore, as people gradually resumed their social activities from 2020 to 2022, people reported being exposed to an increased frequency of both stressors and positive events. This study highlights the potential influence of socio-historical phenomena, such as an ongoing pandemic, on the events that people encounter and how they emotionally respond to them.

Emotion regulation strategies and coping self-efficacy as moderators of daily associations between transgender and gender diverse (TGD) enacted stigma and affect among TGD young adults assigned female at birth

BACKGROUND

Ecological momentary assessment (EMA) studies have begun to establish links between sexual minority enacted stigma and anxious/depressed affect at the daily level. However, few of these studies have examined the effects of the unique stigma experienced by transgender and gender diverse (TGD) people. Further, the potential moderating roles of emotion regulation strategies (i.e., strategies used to up- or down-regulate emotions) and coping self-efficacy (i.e., individuals' perceptions of their ability to cope effectively with stressors) have been neglected in EMA research on enacted stigma.

METHODS

The current study aimed to extend this literature by examining the moderating roles of six emotion regulation strategies (i.e., reflection, reappraisal, rumination, expressive suppression, distraction, social sharing) and coping self-efficacy on concurrent and prospective associations between TGD enacted stigma and affect using EMA data from 115 sexual minority gender diverse individuals assigned female at birth.

RESULTS

Results indicated that coping self-efficacy buffered prospective associations between TGD enacted stigma and anxious/depressed affect, while rumination exacerbated these effects. Some unexpected buffering effects were identified in concurrent associations between enacted stigma and negative affect, with suppression and distraction temporarily tempering this association. However, suppression also prospectively predicted increases in negative affect, suggesting that any benefit of this emotion regulation strategy is temporary.

CONCLUSIONS

Findings highlight emotion regulation strategies that may be effective in reducing negative affect, identify coping self-efficacy as a promising buffer of effects of enacted stigma, and confirm emotion regulation strategies that may exacerbate effects of enacted stigma.

Religious Coping Is Differentially Associated with Physiological and Subjective Distress Indicators: Comparing Cortisol and Self-Report Patterns

Use of religious coping in response to life stress is associated with improved mental and physical health outcomes. The aim of this study was to examine the influence of religious coping on conscious self-reported and non-conscious physiological stress responses to an acute, real-world stressor to better understand how this benefit may be conferred. This study examined the trajectory of subjective distress and cortisol patterns leading up to and following a stressful college exam using daily diary and ambulatory saliva samples, respectively (N students = 246). Religious coping was not significantly associated with subjective reports of distress. However, prior to the exam, greater use of religious coping was associated with an ostensibly more adaptive accelerated return to a cortisol baseline. This protective effect was no longer significant when the exam was over, suggesting that religious coping acts as a protective buffer against physiological stress responses rather than aiding in subjective recovery from stress.

"What's yours is mine": Partners' everyday emotional experiences and cortisol in older adult couples

The existing literature consistently finds that emotional experiences and cortisol secretion are linked at the within-person level. Further, relationship partners tend to covary in emotional experience, and in cortisol secretion. However, we are only beginning to understand whether and how an individuals' emotions are linked to their relationship partners' cortisol secretion. In this project, we harmonized data from three intensive measurement studies originating from Canada and Germany to investigate the daily dynamics of emotions and cortisol within 321 older adult couples (age range=56-87 years). Three-level multilevel models accounted for the nested structure of the data (repeated assessments within individuals within couples). Actor-Partner Interdependence Models were used to examine the effect of own emotional experiences (actor effects) and partner emotional experiences (partner effects) on momentary and daily cortisol secretion. Adjusting for age, sex, education, comorbidities, assay version, diurnal cortisol rhythm, time spent together, medication, and time-varying behaviors that may increase cortisol secretion, results suggest that higher relationship partner's positive emotions are linked with lower momentary cortisol and total daily cortisol. Further, this association was stronger for older participants and those who reported higher relationship satisfaction. We did not find within-couple links between negative emotions and cortisol. Overall, our results suggest that one's relationship partner's positive emotional experience may be a protective factor for their physiological responding, and that these more fleeting and day-to-day fluctuations may accumulate over time, contributing to overall relationship satisfaction.

Measuring Situational Cognitive Performance in the Wild: A Psychometric Evaluation of Three Brief Smartphone-Based Test Procedures

Mobile devices provide new opportunities to draw conclusions about cognitive performance in everyday situations. To gain insights into cognitive performance patterns in healthy adult populations, we adapted three established cognitive tests for smartphone use: the Digit Symbol Substitution Task (DSST), Sustained Attention to Response Task (SART), and Psychomotor Vigilance Task (PVT). To increase their feasibility for ambulatory assessment, we identified the minimum measurement durations that provide reliable and valid state measures of cognitive performance. Over 2 weeks, 46 participants performed each test once per day at random times, along with self-reports (e.g., on concentration, mood, and mental demands). The validity and reliability of change are promising for the 30-second PVT and 90-second DSST and SART. The DSST and SART provide fruitful outcomes for ambulatory field studies linked to mood, stress, and mental demands. We provide digital versions of the adapted DSST and SART online for free.

Associations between Daily Stressors, Health, and Affective Responses among Older Adults: The Moderating Effect of Age

INTRODUCTION

Reactivity to daily stressors may change as a function of stressor type and age. However, prior research often excludes older adults or compares them to younger age groups (e.g., younger and middle-aged adults). Recognizing older adults as a heterogeneous population with shifting motivations, this study focused on individuals aged ≥65 years and tested age differences in associations between different types of daily stressors, affect, and physical symptoms.

METHODS

A total of 108 older adults aged 65-92 years (M = 73.11, SD = 5.92; 58% women) completed daily dairy questionnaires on daily stressors, positive and negative affect, and physical symptoms for 14 consecutive days. Multilevel models were employed, adjusting for sex, age, education, living situation, and day-in-study.

RESULTS

Findings revealed age-dependent variations in the associations between daily stressors and affect and physical symptoms. Specifically, external stressors (e.g., finance and traffic stressors) and health stressors were more strongly associated with daily affective states and with overall physical symptoms (respectively) among older age adults. Age did not moderate associations between social stressors and affect or physical symptoms.

CONCLUSION

These findings underscore the heterogeneous nature of older adults' responses to daily stressors based on stressor type and age. Specifically, the oldest-old might benefit from personalized support for dealing with challenges such as health and financial stressors.

Subjective sleep may mediate the associations between tomorrow anticipations and next-day affect

This study investigated whether stress and positive anticipations about tomorrow are associated with emotional experiences the following day, mediated by the preceding night's sleep. Data were from 141 full-time nurses, utilizing a 14-day ecological momentary assessment combined with actigraphy sleep monitoring. Each evening, participants rated the anticipated pleasantness or stressfulness of the following day. Each morning, participants reported on their previous night's sleep. Additionally, participants reported their momentary positive affect (PA) and negative affect (NA) three times per day, with daily averages computed. Multilevel mediation models, adjusted for sociodemographics, work shift, workday, and previous day's affect, revealed that days following more stress anticipations were associated with reduced PA and increased NA. Conversely, days following more pleasantness anticipations were associated with increased PA and decreased NA. These within-person associations were mediated by self-reported time-in-bed, sufficiency, and quality, such that less stressful and more pleasant anticipations were associated with better sleep, and better sleep was subsequently associated with increased PA and decreased NA. No mediation was found by the actigraphy sleep parameters. Findings suggest that emotional states may covary not only with present stimuli but also with anticipation of future events and subjective sleep recovery in the context of those anticipations.

Self-Compassion, Stressor Exposure, and Negative Affect: A Daily Diary Study of Older Adults

OBJECTIVES

Self-compassion has been identified as a psychological resource for aging well. To date, self-compassion among older adults has typically been conceptualized as a trait variable. This study examined whether day-to-day (state) variability in self-compassion was associated with negative affective reactivity to daily stressors.

METHODS

Daily diary assessment methods were used to examine the potential moderating role of between- and within-person self-compassion on the relationship between daily stressors and negative affect. A community-based sample of 107 older adults aged 65+ completed questionnaires once daily over 14 days.

RESULTS

Multilevel modeling revealed that 37% of the variance in self-compassion occurred within persons. Daily self-compassion moderated the relationship between daily stressor exposure and daily negative affect. On days with greater stressor exposure than usual, older adults showed less negative affective reactivity on days when self-compassion was higher, compared with days when self-compassion was lower. No moderating effects were observed for between-person (trait) self-compassion.

DISCUSSION

These findings suggest that self-compassion in older adults should be conceptualized as both state and trait variables and that state self-compassion may be protective in the stress-reactivity pathway. Future research should investigate whether brief self-compassion interventions might help older adults to avoid or downregulate negative emotions in response to stressors.

COVID-19 Anti-Chinese Discrimination, Current Pandemic Stress, And Adolescents' Mental Health

The current study investigated adolescents' experiences of COVID-19 anti-Chinese discrimination (i.e., vicariously witnessed, directly experienced), the consequences for mental health, and the moderating role of general pandemic stress. During Summer 2020, 106 adolescents (43% Latino/a/x, 19% Asian American, 13% Black/African American, 26% biracial/multiracial/other; 58% female) participated in a 14-day daily diary study. Path analyses revealed that more experiences of vicarious COVID-19 anti-Chinese discrimination were associated with greater anxious mood, depressed mood, and mental health stress, while direct COVID-19 anti-Chinese discrimination was unrelated to mental health outcomes. The interaction between vicarious COVID-19 anti-Chinese discrimination and general COVID-19 stress was significant for depressed mood; simple slope analyses showed that for adolescents reporting high levels of COVID-19 stress, more frequent experiences of vicarious COVID-19 anti-Chinese discrimination were associated with greater severity in depressed mood, but this link was nonsignificant for those reporting low levels of general pandemic stress. Findings from the current study underscore the pernicious effects of vicarious COVID-19 anti-Chinese discrimination on the mental health of minoritized youth beyond solely Asian Americans. Additionally, the results evince the need for future pandemic-response efforts to craft public health messaging that avoids the racialization of disease and subsequent stigmatization of ethnic-minority communities.

Effects of scaffolding emotion language use on emotion differentiation and psychological health: an experience-sampling study

Emotion differentiation (ED) - complexity in the mental representation and description of one's emotional experiences - is important for mental health. However, less is known whether ED can be enhanced in adults. We investigated if scaffolding emotion language use during affect labelling - initial provision of emotion word prompts (close-ended) followed by free response (open-ended) - impacts ED and psychological health. Utilising a crossover design, 92 college students completed questionnaires assessing psychological health at three time-points and ecological momentary assessment of emotions, affect valence and emotional self-efficacy for 14 days. Participants were randomised to the "scaffolding" group, where they reported emotions using the close-ended (7 days) followed by open-ended (7 days) approach, or the reverse sequence (control group). We extracted two ED indices: traditional intraclass correlation coefficient from close-ended reports and novel specificity index from open-ended reports. Primary analyses examined group differences across weeks while exploratory analyses examined moment-to-moment differences using multilevel modelling. Relative to controls, the scaffolding group demonstrated greater ED during open-ended emotion reporting of negative emotions and associated shifts in negative affect and emotional self-efficacy. There were no significant group differences in psychological symptoms. Results provide preliminary evidence that scaffolding may enhance ED and have implications for psychological intervention.

Stress, repetitive negative thinking, and mental health in Chilean university students: an ecological momentary assessment study

Background

Mental disorders in university students are a growing attention problem in the international community due to their high prevalence and serious consequences. One possible reason is university students' difficulties in coping with stress. Repetitive negative thinking (RNT) is a transdiagnostic process that, when combined with stress, can lead to the development of various disorders. We aim to determine the effect of stress and RNT on predicting various mental health syndromes in university students across 7 days.

Method

Prospective observational study using Momentary Ecological Assessment (EMA) with the OURMIND Mobile App. On day one, 238 university students responded to the SCL-90R questionnaire for symptoms of depression, anxiety, hostility, obsession, psychoticism, paranoia, somatization, and interpersonal sensitivity; RNT styles questionnaires, RRS for rumination and negative reflection, PSWQ for worry; SISCO-II for term academic stress, and sociodemographic. EMA consisted of five assessments a day for 6 days; each time, the students answered items about academic and non-academic stress (EMA-stress), reactive RNT duration and intrusiveness (EMA-RNT process), and reactive RNT rumination, reflection, and worry (EMA-RNT content). On day eight, symptoms were re-assessed. Seven hierarchical stepwise linear regression models were used to test the predictive power of the study variables in the development of SCL-90R symptoms.

Results

When comparing models, adding baseline symptoms increased the models' predictive power in all symptom groups. In most cases, including EMA-stress generated greater predictive power, except for paranoia and interpersonal sensitivity. Adding the EMA-RNT process increased the prediction of paranoia and obsessive symptoms; for hostility symptoms, RNT styles increased predictive power. For the final regression models, considering the initial symptoms, the EMA-RNT process predicted the progression of symptoms in six out of eight groups, while EMA-non-academic stress predicted the remaining two. Additionally, living with other relatives or friends was a predictor of depressive symptoms.

Discussion

The stress of university life impacts the development of psychiatric symptoms in university students. These results provide evidence of RNT as a transdiagnostic process in several syndromic groups. Universal preventive programs should consider the impact of academic and non-academic stress on university students' mental health. Targeting RNT would also benefit selective preventive interventions.

Heterogeneity in Temporal Dynamics of Pain and Affect Among Individuals With Chronic Back Pain and Associations With Risk for Future Opioid-Related Problems

Chronic low back pain (CLBP) is a biopsychosocial phenomenon involving complex relationships between pain and psychosocial factors. In preregistered analyses, we examined dynamic relationships between pain and negative affect among individuals with CLBP (N = 87). We found that increased negative affect was concurrently and prospectively associated with increased pain for individuals on average. However, there was significant and meaningful between-persons variability in these effects such that risk for future opioid-related problems was positively associated with the within-persons correlation between pain and negative affect (β = 0.290, 95% credible interval [CI] = [0.071, 0.485]), the degree to which pain predicted increased negative affect (β = 0.439, 95% CI = [0.044, 0.717]), and the autoregressive effect of negative affect over 4-hr lags (β = 0.255, 95% CI = [0.007, 0.478]). These results suggest that variability in within-persons symptom dynamics may help identify chronic pain patients who are at greater risk of opioid-related problems.

Everyday emotion, naturalistic life stress, and the prospective prediction of adolescent depression

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES

Increasing research underscores low positive emotion (PE) as a vital component of depression risk in adolescence. Theory also suggests that PE contributes to adaptive coping. However, it is unclear whether naturalistic experiences of emotions contribute to long-term depression risk, or whether daily PE levels equip adolescents to cope with later naturalistic stressors, reducing risk for depression. The current study examines whether PE (and negative emotion [NE]) assessed via ecological momentary assessment (EMA) (a) predict prospective increases in depression, and (b) moderate the association between later life stressors and depression.

DESIGN

Longitudinal study of community-recruited adolescents, with EMA at baseline.

METHOD

Adolescents (n = 232) completed contextual threat life stress interviews, interview and self-report measures of depression at baseline and 1.5 year follow-up. At baseline, they completed a seven-day EMA of emotion.

RESULTS

Preregistered analyses showed that daily NE, but not PE, predicted increased depression over time and moderated the association between interpersonal episodic stress and self-reported depression.

CONCLUSIONS

Results did not support daily PE as a buffer against depressogenic effects of life stress, but point to daily NE as a marker of depression risk.

Measuring emotion dysregulation in daily life: an experience sampling study

BACKGROUND

Literature underscores the importance of emotion dysregulation in clinical research. However, one critical limitation of the existing investigations in this area involves the lack of psychometrically valid measures for assessing emotion dysregulation in individuals' daily lives. This study examined the factor structure and psychometric properties of momentary versions of the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale (mDERS) and the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale-Positive (mDERS-P).

METHODS

Participants were 145 community women (M age = 40.66, 40.7% white) experiencing intimate partner violence and using substances who participated in a baseline interview and then completed surveys three times a day for 30 days.

RESULTS

Analyses supported the reliability of the mDERS and the mDERS-P. The two-state, two-trait model, with separate factors for negative and positive emotion dysregulation at both the within-and between-levels, fit the data best. Momentary negative, but not positive, emotions were positively related to the mDERS; both momentary negative and positive emotions were positively related to the mDERS-P. Baseline trait negative, but not positive, emotion dysregulation, was related to greater variability in momentary negative and positive emotion dysregulation.

CONCLUSION

Findings advance our understanding and measurement of emotion dysregulation using intensive longitudinal approaches.

Youth daily stressors predict their parents' wellbeing

The experiences of family members are intertwined and the stressors of one family member may crossover to affect the wellbeing of others in the family as well. Prior studies have established that the stress experienced by one marital spouse can affect the wellbeing of their spouse and that parent stress can affect their children's wellbeing. This study used daily diary data from 318 parent-youth dyads (Mean age parent = 41.34, adolescent = 13.18) to examine whether youth daily stressors (i.e., interpersonal conflicts and demands), were associated with parent wellbeing and cortisol levels. Parents report more negative affect, more physical symptoms (i.e., headaches/fatigue/stomach problems), and exhibit higher bedtime cortisol levels on days when youth experience stressors. These effects were consistent across different types of youth stressors, including parent, family, and non-family stressors. Youth stress may have important implications for parent wellbeing.

Daily Loneliness Affects Quality of Life in Sickle Cell Disease

BACKGROUND

Loneliness is related to psychosomatic challenges in chronic illnesses; however, very little research focuses on loneliness in sickle cell disease (SCD), the most common genetic blood disorder. This study used a daily diary method to illustrate how loneliness and quality of life co-occur in the day-to-day lives of people living with SCD.

METHOD

Seventy-nine adults living with SCD (63 women; mean age = 31.76 years) completed daily electronic surveys comprised of a brief loneliness scale and a single-item measure of quality of life. Participants completed each survey once per day for up to 42 consecutive days. We evaluated the effects of daily changes in loneliness on next-day quality of life through multilevel regression models.

RESULTS

Central findings indicated that there were significant between-person (b = - .993, p < .001, 95% CI = - 1.26, - .725) and within-person (b = - .202, p < .005, 95% CI = .327, - .089) effects. Specifically, participants who reported higher mean levels of loneliness also reported lower quality of life. Further, days on which participants reported higher loneliness were followed by days on which they reported lower quality of life.

CONCLUSIONS

These results may be the first to suggest a connection between loneliness and psychological outcomes in adults living with SCD. Daily fluctuations in loneliness appear to be associated with decrements in next-day quality of life. Future studies should elucidate the clinical relevance and broader health-related implications of these findings.

Feeling more confident to encounter negative emotions: The mediating role of distress tolerance on the relationship between self-efficacy and outcomes of exposure and response prevention for OCD

BACKGROUND

While exposure and response prevention (ERP) is the first-line treatment for obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), up to half of patients do not effectively respond. In an effort to better understand the mechanisms behind ERP, the inhibitory learning model emphasizes the roles of increasing perceived self-efficacy and distress tolerance. While self-efficacy and distress tolerance have separately been shown to predict OCD symptoms and treatment outcomes, no studies have assessed their joint effects in ERP. The current study examined distress tolerance as a mediator of the relationship between self-efficacy and ERP outcomes.

METHODS

Patients in an intensive ERP-based treatment program (N = 116) completed weekly self-report measures.

RESULTS

Over the course of treatment, as OCD symptoms reduced, self-efficacy and distress tolerance both significantly increased. Importantly, increases in self-efficacy and distress tolerance mediated each other in explaining symptom reduction, suggesting a possible bi-directional effect.

LIMITATIONS

The temporal relationship between changes in self-efficacy and distress tolerance is worthy of further investigation. In addition, the current sample had limited racial diversity and might not be representative of patients receiving lower levels of care. Findings merit replication to be ascertained of their reliability.

CONCLUSIONS

Findings suggest that during ERP, patients gain confidence in their abilities both to cope with general challenges and to withstand distress, potentially helping them engage with exposures and overcome initial fears. These findings provide support for the inhibitory learning model and highlight the mechanistic roles of self-efficacy and distress tolerance in ERP. Clinical implications to target both in treatment are discussed.

Change in Adolescents' Perceived ADHD Symptoms Across 17 Days of Ecological Momentary Assessment

OBJECTIVE

To test whether adolescents' perceived ADHD symptoms may improve while monitoring them throughout the day.

METHOD

In a sample of 90 adolescents (Mage = 14.7; 66% boys, 34% girls; 76.7% White, 13.3% Black or African American, 8.9% more than one race, 1.1% "other") treated for ADHD by their pediatricians, this study examined: (1) whether self-rated ADHD symptoms decreased across 17 days of 4 times daily ecological momentary assessment (EMA) of symptoms and (2) whether completing versus missing an EMA survey was associated with lower self-rated ADHD symptoms in the subsequent hours.

RESULTS

Multilevel regression analyses showed that, on average, adolescents' perceived ADHD symptoms (inattention, hyperactivity, impulsivity, and total across domains) decreased across 17 days of EMA. Within person, symptoms were lower following completed versus missed EMA surveys. Significant moderating effects showed that the effect of completing the prior EMA survey weakened across the day and over the course of the 17 days.

CONCLUSIONS

This study is the first to document acute improvements in self-rated ADHD symptoms using EMA in adolescents' naturalistic environments. Symptom monitoring throughout the day may help adolescents improve their day-to-day ADHD, at least acutely, and holds promise as one component of mobile-health ADHD interventions.

Influence of running on incidental and integral vitality and fatigue: An intensive longitudinal intervention in young Women's daily life

Exercise intensity and perceived autonomy are important factors for the affective response toward exercise and adherence. Dual-mode theory suggests an inverted-J response curve of affect with increased exercise intensity, but little is known about how different running programs affect the affective response and subsequent incidental affect in daily life. This ambulatory assessment study examines the short- to long-term effects of two 8-week running interventions (affect-based vs. polarized-prescribed) on subjective vitality and perceived fatigue in young female novices. Participants engaged in 3 × 30 minute running sessions weekly in their natural environments and completed electronic diaries three times daily. Autoregressive multilevel models indicate small effects of training intensity on immediate affective subjective vitality (ß = -2.37; p = .03; f2 = 0.02) but negligible non-significant effects on fatigue (ß = 0.26; p = 0.12; f2 = 0.002). Novices experienced increased vitality throughout the day when their running was evaluated positively (ß = 0.23; p = .03; f2 = 0.04), with effects lasting over two days before returning to baseline (ß = -0.26; p < .001; f2 = 0.004). However, no significant long-term effects were observed over 8 weeks in vitality or fatigue. Results indicate between- and within-person variations, but limited sample power does not allow differentiating between programs. This study supports the dual-mode theory and highlights the importance of distinguishing affective response from incidental affect.

When people start getting real: The Group Living Skills Survey for extreme work environments

Introduction

Group living skills (GLS), that is, being tidy and considerate of others, are an important skillset for teams who live and work together. However, this construct does not have a validated measure to enable an understanding of how group living skills influence team dynamics over time. We developed and validated a short measure of group living skills for teams living in extreme work environments.

Methods

We collected data from 83 individuals in 24 teams living and working in space and spaceflight analog environments on missions of 45-240 days.

Results

We provide evidence of reliability and validity for the GLS Survey over time and identify a two-factor structure. We also demonstrate its use as a measure of team-level dynamics and its utility as a sociometric measure to identify a person's degree of group living skills.

Discussion

We outline recommendations for using this new measure in future research and applied settings to understand this unique aspect of teams living and working together.

Variation in emotion dynamics over time is associated with future relationship outcomes

Romantic relationships are defined by emotion dynamics, or how the emotions of one partner at a single timepoint can affect their own emotions and the emotions of their partner at the next timepoint. Previous research has shown that the level of these emotion dynamics plays a role in determining the state and quality of the relationship. However, this research has not examined whether the estimated emotion dynamics change over time, and how the change in these dynamics might relate to relationship outcomes, despite changes in dynamics being likely to occur. We examined whether the magnitude of variation in emotion dynamics over time was associated with relationship outcomes in a sample of 148 couples. Time-varying vector autoregressive models were used to estimate the emotion dynamics for each couple, and the average and standard deviation of the dynamics over time was related to relationship quality and relationship dissolution 1-2 years later. Our results demonstrate that certain autoregressive and cross-lagged parameters do show significant variation over time, and that this variation is associated with relationship outcomes. Overall, this study demonstrates the importance of accounting for change in emotion dynamics over time, and the relevance of this change to the prediction of future outcomes.

"Some people will tell jokes to you; some people be racist:" A mixed-method examination of racist jokes and adolescents' well-being

This study examined how adolescents make meaning of racist jokes and their impact on daily well-being using a sequential mixed-methods research design with interview (N = 20; 60% girls, 5% gender-nonconforming; 45% Asian American, 40% Latina/o/x, 10% Black, 5% biracial/multiethnic) and daily diary data (N = 168; 54% girls; 57% Latina/o/x, 21% biracial/multiethnic, 10% Asian American, 9% White, 4% Black). Qualitative results revealed that racist jokes were common, distinct from other overt forms of discrimination, and perceived as harmless when perpetrated by friends. Quantitatively, approximately half of adolescents reported hearing at least one racist joke during the study period, and racist jokes by friends were associated with higher daily angry, anxious, and depressed moods and stress. Racist jokes by known others and strangers were also significantly associated with poorer well-being, although less consistently. Findings highlight the hidden harmful effects of racist jokes on adolescents' daily mood and stress.

A socioemotional network perspective on momentary experiences of family conflict in young adults

Family conflict is an established predictor of psychopathology in youth. Traditional approaches focus on between-family differences in conflict. Daily fluctuations in conflict within families might also impact psychopathology, but more research is needed to understand how and why. Using 21 days of daily diary data and 6-times a day experience-sampling data (N = 77 participants; mean age = 21.18, SD = 1.75; 63 women, 14 men), we captured day-to-day and within-day fluctuations in family conflict, anger, anxiety, and sadness. Using multilevel models, we find that days of higher-than-usual anger are also days of higher-than-usual family conflict. Examining associations between family conflict and emotions within days, we find that moments of higher-than-usual anger predict higher-than-usual family conflict later in the day. We observe substantial between-family differences in these patterns with implications for psychopathology; youth showing the substantial interplay between family conflict and emotions across time had a more perseverative family conflict and greater trait anxiety. Overall, findings indicate the importance of increases in youth anger for experiences of family conflict during young adulthood and demonstrate how intensive repeated measures coupled with network analytic approaches can capture long-theorized notions of reciprocal processes in daily family life.

Assessing Between- and Within-Person Reliabilities of Items and Scale for Daily Procrastination: A Multilevel and Dynamic Approach

Intensive longitudinal data (ILD) has been collected to capture the dynamic fluctuations of procrastination; however, researchers have typically measured daily procrastination by modifying trait measures (e.g., adding a time reference "today") without adequately testing their reliabilities. The main purpose of this study was to use an advanced approach, dynamic structural equation modeling, to assess the between- and within-person reliabilities of a widely used six-item measure of daily procrastination. A total of 252 participants completed retrospective measures of various types of trait procrastination and daily measures of procrastination over 34 consecutive days. The results showed that the entire scale for daily procrastination and five of its six items had high between- and within-person reliabilities, but one item had much lower reliabilities, suggesting that this item may be inappropriate in everyday contexts. Furthermore, we found moderate to strong associations between the latent trait factor of procrastination and trait measures of procrastination. In addition, we identified substantial between-person variation in person-specific reliabilities and explored its relevant factors. Overall, this study assessed the reliabilities of a daily measure of procrastination, which facilitated future studies to obtain more reliable and consistent results and to better estimate the reliability of ILD.

Transdiagnostic effects of therapist self-disclosure on diverse emotional experiences of clients with emotional disorders and schizophrenia

OBJECTIVE

Despite the clinical significance of emotional diversity, also known as emodiversity, there has been limited investigation into the therapeutic interventions that influence this construct. In the current study we examined the association between immediate therapist self-disclosure (TSD) and emodiversity among two diagnostic groups who tend to experience emotional difficulties: people with schizophrenia and people with emotional disorders (i.e., depression and/or anxiety).

METHOD

The sample comprised 74 clients (37 diagnosed with schizophrenia and 37 with emotional disorders) treated by 45 therapists in a university clinic setting. Following each session, clients self-reported their emotions, and therapists completed a measure of frequency and centrality of their immediate TSD during the session.

RESULTS

Longitudinal multilevel models indicated that immediate TSD was positively associated with clients' global emodiversity, both at the within- and the between-client levels, as well as with clients' negative emodiversity at the between-client level. Moreover, clients with emotional disorders and clients with schizophrenia did not differ in the association between immediate TSD and emodiversity. In addition, across groups, clients treated by therapists who used more immediate TSD on average showed greater increases in global emodiversity during treatment.

CONCLUSIONS

immediate TSD is associated with clients' ability to experience rich and diverse emotional experiences across different disorders. The theoretical and clinical implications of these findings are discussed.

Peer-based discrimination and adolescent emotional and sleep health: A daily examination of direct and buffering associations

Using 10-day daily diary data collected in 2019 from 10th grade students in southern U.S. (N = 161, 57% Latina/x/o, 21% Biracial, 10% Asian, 9% White, 4% Black; 55% female, Mage  = 15.51), this study examined various forms of peer-based discrimination in adolescents' everyday lives. Results showed that personally experienced discrimination, peer racial teasing, and vicarious discrimination were frequent and impactful events. Results also provided strong evidence for the protective role of psychological resilience and some evidence for the protective-reactive roles of peer support and school climate in moderating the link between peer-based discrimination and daily well-being. The findings highlight the necessity to eliminate peer-based discrimination and shed light on interventions to reduce the harmful effects of peer-based discrimination on adolescents' daily well-being.

Emotion dynamics of clients with test anxiety before and after an imagery-based treatment

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES

Imagery-based techniques have become a promising means in the treatment of test anxiety (TA). Although previous studies have demonstrated the effectiveness of imagery-based treatment, not all clients seem to benefit from it. The present study compares clients' pre- as well as post-treatment emotion dynamics between responders and non-responders. Furthermore, it examines treatment-related changes in emotion dynamics in both subgroups.

METHODS

The results are based on 44 clients suffering from TA who underwent a six-session imagery-based treatment and include Ecological Momentary Assessment (EMA). Emotions were assessed with the Profile of Mood States four times a day over the course of two weeks before and after the treatment. Temporal networks were computed to index emotion dynamics.

RESULTS

Pre-treatment emotion dynamics differed between responders and non-responders. Similarly, post-treatment emotion dynamics differed as well between both groups. Some changes were also observed between pre-treatment and post-treatment networks: for responders, fatigue no longer predicted anger, and depression predicted itself; for non-responders, calmness predicted fatigue, anger, depression, contentment, and anxiety. In addition, fatigue no longer predicted itself and anxiety predicted vigor.

LIMITATIONS

The investigation is marked by several limitations: a liberal inclusion threshold of at least a 50% response to EMA prompts, and a relatively homogenous sample.

CONCLUSION

These results provide first evidence for the idea that emotion dynamics may be associated with response to treatment for TA. Furthermore, effective imagery-based treatments may be tied to changes within these dynamics.

The roles of negative affect and emotion differentiation in the experience of 'feeling fat' among undergraduate students: An ecological momentary assessment study

'Feeling fat' is the somatic experience of being overweight not fully explained by objective body mass. According to the body displacement hypothesis, 'feeling fat' occurs when diffuse negative emotions are projected onto the body in lieu of adaptive emotion regulation. Emotion differentiation, the ability to experience and label discrete emotions, is an important skill for adaptively addressing emotion that may reduce 'feeling fat.' We hypothesized that individuals with better negative emotion differentiation would be less likely to report 'feeling fat' when experiencing high negative emotion. We collected ecological momentary assessment data from 198 undergraduate students (52.24% female). Multilevel modeling revealed that both within-person increases in negative emotions and the tendency to experience greater negative emotion were associated with greater 'feeling fat.' Of the specific types of negative emotion, guilt and sadness predicted 'feeling fat.' Contrary to hypotheses, individuals with better emotion differentiation were more likely to report 'feeling fat' after experiencing elevated negative affect. These findings contradict the primary clinical conceptualization of 'feeling fat,' suggesting that factors beyond displacement of negative emotions onto the body may be responsible for 'feeling fat'. Results in a sample with pronounced shape/weight concern may better support the traditional clinical understanding of 'feeling fat.'

Childhood maltreatment and depressed mood in female college students: A daily diary analysis

BACKGROUND

Childhood maltreatment has well-documented relations with depressed mood. However, few studies have used a daily diary methodology to investigate the association between all five forms of childhood maltreatment (emotional, physical, and sexual abuse, emotional and physical neglect) and depressed mood, and the mechanisms underlying the association remain unclear.

OBJECTIVE

The current study sought to examine the associations of multiple forms of childhood maltreatment with depressed mood via a 14-day daily diary methodology, and investigate the mediating effects of self-compassion and perceived social support.

METHODS

A sample of 220 Chinese female college students (Mage = 19.13 years) participated in this study and completed questionnaires regarding childhood maltreatment, self-compassion, perceived social support and depressed mood.

RESULTS

The multilevel regression analysis indicated that only emotional abuse was slightly associated with depressed mood, while emotional neglect, physical abuse, physical neglect, or sexual abuse were not associated with depressed mood. The multilevel mediation analysis further revealed that self-compassion and perceived social support independently mediated the association of childhood emotional abuse with depressed mood.

CONCLUSIONS

Overall, these results emphasize the specific association between childhood emotional abuse and daily depressed mood, and further support self-compassion and perceived social support as explanatory mechanisms linking childhood emotional abuse with later depressed mood.

The cumulative effects of stigma-related stress: Chronic stigma-related stress exposure exacerbates daily associations between enacted stigma and anxious/depressed affect

PURPOSE

Sexual and gender minority individuals are at elevated risk for mood and anxiety disorders compared to heterosexual and cisgender individuals. Ecological momentary assessments studies have implicated experiences of enacted stigma (i.e., biased treatment) by linking these experiences with elevations in anxious and depressed affect. The current study utilizes a theory from the broader stress and affect literature to determine whether chronic enacted stigma exposure amplifies individuals' negative affective reactions to experiences of enacted stigma at the daily level.

METHODS

We used data from a 30-day ecological momentary assessment study with 429 sexual minority women and gender diverse sexual minorities assigned female at birth (SMWGD) living in the US in 2020-21 to determine whether concurrent and prospective event-level associations between enacted stigma, anxious/depressed affect, and perceived coping efficacy were moderated by chronic enacted stigma exposure.

RESULTS

Results demonstrate that individuals with moderate to high chronic stigma exposure experience larger increases in anxious/depressed affect and larger decreases in perceived coping efficacy following daily experiences of enacted stigma. Further, these effects of daily stigma on anxious/depressed affect persist for longer among individuals with high chronic stigma exposure. Interestingly, chronic stigma exposure did not moderate associations between daily general stressors (i.e., those unrelated to identity) and affect or perceived coping efficacy, suggesting that these effects are specific to stigma-related stressors.

CONCLUSIONS

These results help to advance our understanding of both long-term and daily effects of exposure to enacted stigma, highlighting the potentially profound cumulative effects of stigma exposure and the need to intervene in this cycle.

Doomscrolling: Prospective associations between daily COVID news exposure, internalizing symptoms, and substance use among sexual and gender minority individuals assigned female at birth

Cross-sectional studies have demonstrated associations between COVID news exposure, anxiety, and depression. However, longitudinal research examining the directionality of these associations is extremely limited. Further, most studies have focused on the general population and neglected sexual and gender minority individuals (SGM), a population disproportionately impacted by the pandemic. To address these limitations, the current study utilized data from a 30-day diary study of SGM assigned female at birth (N = 429). We examined concurrent and prospective associations between COVID news exposure, depressed and anxious affect, COVID distress, substance use, and motives for use. Further, we examined associations between cumulative COVID news exposure across the diary period and prospective changes in anxiety, depression, and COVID distress. When participants were exposed to more COVID news, they experienced more depressed and anxious affect, more COVID distress, less positive affect, and were more likely to use alcohol and cannabis to cope. Further, when participants were exposed to more COVID news, they experienced subsequent increases in depressed affect, decreases in positive affect, and increases in the likelihood of using cannabis to cope. Findings also provided evidence of bi-directional prospective associations between COVID news exposure and COVID distress and of a cumulative impact of COVID news exposure on anxiety, depression, and COVID distress. Findings suggest that individuals should balance the need to remain informed about the pandemic and their own mental health when considering how much COVID news to consume.

Just-in-time adaptive ecological momentary assessment (JITA-EMA)

Interest in just-in-time adaptive interventions (JITAI) has rapidly increased in recent years. One core challenge for JITAI is the efficient and precise measurement of tailoring variables that are used to inform the timing of momentary intervention delivery. Ecological momentary assessment (EMA) is often used for this purpose, even though EMA in its traditional form was not designed specifically to facilitate momentary interventions. In this article, we introduce just-in-time adaptive EMA (JITA-EMA) as a strategy to reduce participant response burden and decrease measurement error when EMA is used as a tailoring variable in JITAI. JITA-EMA builds on computerized adaptive testing methods developed for purposes of classification (computerized classification testing, CCT), and applies them to the classification of momentary states within individuals. The goal of JITA-EMA is to administer a small and informative selection of EMA questions needed to accurately classify an individual's current state at each measurement occasion. After illustrating the basic components of JITA-EMA (adaptively choosing the initial and subsequent items to administer, adaptively stopping item administration, accommodating dynamically tailored classification cutoffs), we present two simulation studies that explored the performance of JITA-EMA, using the example of momentary fatigue states. Compared with conventional EMA item selection methods that administered a fixed set of questions at each moment, JITA-EMA yielded more accurate momentary classification with fewer questions administered. Our results suggest that JITA-EMA has the potential to enhance some approaches to mobile health interventions by facilitating efficient and precise identification of momentary states that may inform intervention tailoring.

Prospective examination of mechanisms linking minority stress and anxious/depressed affect at the event level: The roles of emotion regulation strategies and proximal minority stressors

BACKGROUND

While studies have linked sexual minority stress with anxious/depressed affect, few studies have prospectively examined how mechanistic processes linking minority stress and anxious/depressed affect unfold in near-real time. Furthermore, studies of mechanisms have focused exclusively on rumination and proximal minority stressors (e.g., internalized stigma). This limits our understanding of other potential mechanisms, such as decreases in the use of reappraisal and reflection, strategies associated with reducing anxious/depressed affect.

METHOD

We used data from a 30-day ecological momentary assessment study with 429 sexual minority women and gender diverse sexual minorities assigned female at birth to determine whether concurrent and prospective event-level associations between minority stress and anxious/depressed affect were mediated by changes in six emotion regulation strategies, perceived coping efficacy, and proximal stressors.

RESULTS

In partially lagged analyses, when individuals experienced enacted or internalized stigma, they reported increased rumination and expressive suppression on the same day, which predicted increases in anxious/depressed affect into the next day. Decreases in reappraisal also mediated partially lagged associations between internalized stigma and anxious/depressed affect. Fully lagged mediation was only demonstrated for rumination as a mechanism linking internalized stigma with anxious/depressed affect. We found concurrent evidence for other mechanisms (i.e., perceived coping efficacy, reflection, internalized stigma, and rejection sensitivity).

CONCLUSIONS

Results provided support for the roles of rumination and expressive suppression as mechanisms of linking minority stress and anxious/depressed affect. The concurrent evidence for other mechanisms suggests that future research with more temporal resolution is necessary to determine the temporality and directionality of these associations. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Self-control fluctuates from day to day and is linked to subjective well-being within and between persons

The psychological trait of self-control has been linked to interindividual differences in subjective well-being: Individuals with higher self-control report less negative affect, more positive affect, and higher life satisfaction. However, less is known about how much self-control fluctuates from day to day and how these fluctuations are related to subjective well-being. This intensive longitudinal study describes day-to-day fluctuations in self-control and investigates whether and how they are related to subjective well-being. A sample of 64 undergraduate students at the entry phase of university (M = 22.55 years, SD = 6.51, range = 18-53, 97% female) provided 1459 reports of their self-control and subjective well-being, collected every evening across three 9-day measurement bursts over 6 months. Participants' self-control fluctuated substantially from day to day with less than 40% of the variability in daily self-control being attributable to interindividual differences in self-control. On days with higher self-control, participants reported less negative affect, more serenity, and higher life satisfaction. We found no relationship between self-control and vigor. The findings suggest that researchers need to go beyond current assessment practices and theories treating self-control as a stable trait to help develop tailored well-being interventions for everyday life.

Experience sampling methodology study of anxiety and depression in adolescents with epilepsy: The role of metacognitive beliefs and perseverative thinking

Emotional distress is common in young people with epilepsy (YPwE). According to the Self-Regulatory Executive Function (S-REF) model, maladaptive metacognitive beliefs and perseverative thinking are fundamental in the development and maintenance of emotional distress. As emotional distress and perseverative thinking can highly fluctuate over short intervals in YPwE, it is important to account for this variability when testing the utility of psychological models. Experience sampling methodology (ESM) was therefore used to explore the momentary relationship between metacognitive beliefs, perseverative thinking, and emotional distress in YPwE. Eighteen participants diagnosed with epilepsy (aged 12-17 years) completed the 10-day ESM period. Participants were prompted to complete the ESM assessment five times daily. The ESM assessment assessed participant's momentary levels of metacognitive beliefs, perseverative thinking (i.e., worry and rumination), and emotional distress (i.e., anxiety and depression). A series of multilevel regression analyses indicated that metacognitive beliefs were significantly positively associated with worry, rumination, anxiety and depression. After controlling for worry and rumination, respectively, metacognitive beliefs did not account for additional variance in anxiety or depression. Findings provide preliminary support for the utility of the S-REF model for emotional distress in YPwE. Metacognitive therapy, which is underpinned by the S-REF model, may be an appropriate intervention for emotional distress in YPwE. Future studies should assess the mediational relationship between metacognitive beliefs, perseverative thinking, and emotional distress using time-lagged models.

Global stress and daily general and type 1 diabetes stressors and links to daily affect and diabetes outcomes during emerging adulthood

We examined how global stress and general stressors of daily life relate to emotional well-being and type 1 diabetes (T1D) outcomes and amplify the effects of diabetes stressors in emerging adults. Two-hundred and seven 18-19-year-olds with T1D (duration 8.47 years) completed the Perceived Stress Scale (global stress) and a daily diary assessing daily diabetes and general stressors, positive and negative affect, self-care behaviors, and blood glucose (BG). Multi-level analyses indicated that global stress and within-person daily general and diabetes stressors were associated with more negative and less positive affect. In addition, general stress (between-person) was associated with more negative affect. Global stress amplified the association between daily diabetes stressors and negative affect, with greater affect reactivity to stress for those experiencing higher global stress. Global stress and both within- and between-person diabetes stressors were associated with lower self-care and higher BG. Emerging adults' general stressors in their daily lives relate to poorer well-being beyond the experience of diabetes stressors.

Effectiveness of a blended school-based mindfulness program for the prevention of co-rumination and internalizing problems in Dutch secondary school girls: a cluster randomized controlled trial

BACKGROUND

A growing body of literature indicates that adolescent girls who talk with close friends about interpersonal problems or worries in an excessive, speculative way, and with an intense focus on distress (i.e., co-rumination) are at heightened risk for developing internalizing symptoms and disorders as well as reduced friendship quality. However, to date, there are no prevention programs available that target high levels of co-rumination between adolescent girls. As such, we developed the blended school-based mindfulness prevention program Happy Friends, Positive Minds (HFPM) that targets co-rumination at the dyadic level, i.e., between two close female friends. The aim of this trial is to evaluate the effectiveness of HFPM to reduce co-rumination and internalizing problems and to enhance wellbeing and social-emotional behavior in Dutch adolescent girls.

METHODS

A cluster Randomized Controlled Trial (cRCT) will be conducted to evaluate HFPM effectiveness. We will recruit 160 female friendship dyads (n = 320 girls) aged 13 to 15 years who will be characterized by high levels of self-reported co-rumination. The cRCT has two arms: (1) an intervention condition in which 160 girls (80 friendship dyads) will receive the 14-week HFPM program in two consecutive cohorts (cohort 1 in academic year 2023/2024 and cohort 2 in academic year 2024/2025, and (2) a control condition in which 160 girls (80 dyads) will receive care-as-usual (CAU) in two consecutive cohorts (cohort 1 in academic year 2023/2024 and cohort 2 in academic year 2024/2025). Data will be collected at baseline (T0), during the program (T1;T2; T3), immediately after the program (T4), and at 1-year follow-up (T5). Participant-level self-reported risk for (early onset) depression and anxiety, self-reported and observed co-rumination, self- and friend-reported friendship quality, self-reported positive and negative affect, self-reported interpersonal responses to positive affect, and self-reported anhedonia symptoms will be the outcome variables.

DISCUSSION

This study will provide insights into the short-term and long-term effects of the HFPM program on girls' internalizing problems, wellbeing, and social-emotional behavior.

TRIAL REGISTRATION

International Standard Randomized Controlled Trials, identifier: ISRCTN54246670. Registered on 27 February 2023.

The moderating role of trait and state mindfulness between daily sleep and physical pain symptoms: an ecological momentary assessment and actigraphy study

Objective: Poorer sleep quality and insufficient sleep increase the risk of physical pain. The current study examined the daily associations between sleep and physical pain symptoms and tested the moderating role of trait and state mindfulness in this relationship. Methods: Sixty hospital nurses (Mage=35.4 ± 11.8 years) completed 14-day ecological momentary assessment (EMA) and sleep actigraphy. EMA measured physical pain frequency and interference (1×/day) and state mindfulness (3×/day). Multilevel modelling was used to examine the associations at the between-person and within-person levels. Results: After nights with poorer sleep quality, lower sleep sufficiency, and more insomnia symptoms, the frequency of physical pain symptoms and pain interference were greater than usual. Overall, those with poorer sleep quality, lower sleep sufficiency, and more insomnia symptoms reported more physical pain symptoms and greater pain interference. Higher state mindfulness buffered the negative within-person association between sleep efficiency and physical pain frequency. There was evidence that the joint moderating effects of trait and state mindfulness yielded more protective benefits in the relationship between sleep quality and physical pain than trait or state mindfulness alone. Conclusion: Even without mindfulness training, one's mindfulness may be protective against the adverse effects of poor sleep quality on physical pain.

When Future Leads to a Moral Present: Future Self-Relatedness Predicts Moral Judgments and Behavior in Everyday Life

Future self-perceptions seem to promote far-sighted decisions in intertemporal choices. Previous work suggested that future self-relatedness, the extent to which we feel similar and connected to our future self, is associated with moral concerns. We aimed to extend these findings to everyday moral judgments and behavior using experience sampling methods. In addition, we assessed how moral foundation concerns mediate the relationship between future self-relatedness and moral behavior. Participants (N = 151) reported their state-levels of future self-relatedness, individualizing, and binding moral foundations and answered whether they performed a moral action five times a day for seven days. Within- and between-participants future self-relatedness predicted daily fluctuations in individualizing and binding moral foundations concerns. On the behavioral level, only within-participants future self-relatedness predicted individualizing moral actions with individualizing moral foundations mediating this effect. Our findings suggest that within- and between-person changes in future self-relatedness might be used to predict everyday moral concerns and behavior.

Do markers of daily affect mediate associations between interpretation bias and depressive symptoms? A longitudinal study of early adolescents

INTRODUCTION

Early adolescence represents a time of heightened vulnerability for depression. Negative interpretation biases have been associated with increases in depressive symptoms during this developmental period; however, the mechanisms underlying the association between interpretation biases and depression remain poorly understood. Cognitive theories posit that interpretation biases give rise to depression by modulating daily affect, particularly in the context of stress. However, this has not yet been directly examined. The present study tested affect intensity and instability as mechanisms linking negative interpretation biases with change in adolescent depressive symptoms.

METHODS

Ninety-four adolescents (aged 11-13 years; 51% boys) from Vancouver, Canada, were recruited for this longitudinal study. At baseline (Time 1), participants self-reported depressive symptoms and completed the Scrambled Sentences Task to assess negative interpretation biases. Next, participants completed daily diaries to assess positive affect (PA) and negative affect (NA) during a naturalistic stressor-the first 2 weeks of high school (Time 2). Finally, participants self-reported depressive symptoms 3 months later (Time 3). Path models were conducted to test whether PA and NA intensity and instability mediated prospective associations between negative interpretation biases and depressive symptom changes.

RESULTS

Although NA intensity, NA instability, and PA instability predicted increases in depressive symptoms, only NA intensity mediated associations between interpretation biases and symptom changes. Neither PA intensity nor instability mediated these associations.

CONCLUSIONS

Elevated daily NA represents a specific mechanism through which stronger negative interpretation biases predict increases in depressive symptoms in adolescence.

Social anxiety and interpersonal risk for suicidal ideation: A longitudinal daily diary analysis

INTRODUCTION

Social anxiety is associated with elevated suicidal ideation (SI). One potential explanation is that socially anxious persons experience frequent interpersonal stressors that elicit SI. Longitudinal designs with temporal ordering are needed to adequately test this hypothesis. Therefore, this study leveraged a longitudinal design combining trait and daily reports.

METHODS

Two hundred eleven community adult participants with elevated levels of depression and/or social anxiety completed social anxiety and SI measures at baseline and again at a 1.5-month follow-up. Between these assessments, participants completed a 14-day diary study that assessed three forms of interpersonal distress: unfavorable social comparisons, perceived barriers to seeking social support, and loneliness.

RESULTS

As predicted, simple mediation models revealed that baseline social anxiety had a significant indirect effect on SI severity at 1.5 months postbaseline via unfavorable social comparisons (indirect effect: β = 0.07, p < 0.05) and barriers to seeking support (indirect effect: β = 0.08, p < 0.05); however, social anxiety did not have a significant indirect effect on SI severity through loneliness.

CONCLUSION

Study results are consistent with the proposition that increases in interpersonal distress may explain socially anxious persons' vulnerability to SI. Implications of these findings for the research, assessment, and treatment of suicidality in social anxiety are discussed.

Subjective emotion trajectories in couple therapy and associations with improvement in relationship satisfaction

Existing couple therapies are generally effective for reducing romantic relationship distress and divorce, but therapy outcomes remain poor for many. Outcomes can be improved through greater understanding of session-by-session therapeutic processes, particularly in real-world treatment settings. Modern couple therapy models commonly emphasize the importance of emotional experiences as key change processes, yet few empirical studies have tested the merits of this focus. The present study addresses this limitation by examining trajectories of subjective emotions and their association with change in a key relationship outcome, relationship satisfaction, among military veterans and their partners at a VA Medical Center. Partners rated their relationship satisfaction prior to couple therapy sessions and subjective emotions immediately after sessions. Consistent with hypotheses, both hard (e.g., anger) and soft (e.g., sadness) negative emotions decreased significantly over the course of therapy. Those couples with greater decreases in hard negative, but not soft negative, emotions showed significantly more improvement in relationship satisfaction. Positive emotions did not significantly change across couples in general, but those couples whose positive emotions did increase also showed more improvement in relationship satisfaction. These results suggest change in subjective emotions may be one process underlying improvement in couple therapy and lend empirical support to the emphasis on emotion-based change processes underlying acceptance-based and emotion-focused couple therapies.

Adolescents' and parents' affect in relation to discrepant perceptions of parental warmth in daily life

The current study aimed to evaluate how adolescents' and parents' perceptions of daily parenting-and their discrepancies-relate to daily parent and adolescent affect. Daily parental warmth and affect were assessed using electronic diaries in 150 American adolescent-parent dyads (61.3% females, Mage  = 14.6, 83.3% White; 95.3% mothers, Mage  = 43.4; 89.3% White) and in 80 Dutch adolescents with 79 mothers and 72 fathers (63.8% females, Mage  = 15.9, 91.3% White; Mage  = 49.0, 97.4% White). Results of preregistered models indicated that individuals' affect may be more important for perceptions of parenting than discrepancies between parent-adolescent reports of parenting for affect, stressing the need to be aware of this influence of affect on parenting reports in clinical and research settings.

Frontoparietal functional connectivity moderates the link between time spent on social media and subsequent negative affect in daily life

Evidence on the harms and benefits of social media use is mixed, in part because the effects of social media on well-being depend on a variety of individual difference moderators. Here, we explored potential neural moderators of the link between time spent on social media and subsequent negative affect. We specifically focused on the strength of correlation among brain regions within the frontoparietal system, previously associated with the top-down cognitive control of attention and emotion. Participants (N = 54) underwent a resting state functional magnetic resonance imaging scan. Participants then completed 28 days of ecological momentary assessment and answered questions about social media use and negative affect, twice a day. Participants who spent more than their typical amount of time on social media since the previous time point reported feeling more negative at the present moment. This within-person temporal association between social media use and negative affect was mainly driven by individuals with lower resting state functional connectivity within the frontoparietal system. By contrast, time spent on social media did not predict subsequent affect for individuals with higher frontoparietal functional connectivity. Our results highlight the moderating role of individual functional neural connectivity in the relationship between social media and affect.