Current Negative Affect Research Articles

Practicing mindfulness can foster monitoring and acceptance after experiencing negative affect.

Although being mindful, that is, monitoring and accepting one's present feelings, has been shown to be associated with less current negative affect than distraction, acceptance is less endorsed after experiencing negative affect. Thus, acceptance, although effective, may not be endorsed when it is most needed, leading people to endorse other strategies such as distraction instead. In the present study, we examined whether a monitoring and acceptance induction in a laboratory setting (N=258) and a monitoring and acceptance training in daily life (N=125) increased acceptance (Study 1) and monitoring (Study 2) after experiencing negative affect. We found this to be the case: While participants in the control condition showed a significant negative association between prior negative affect and subsequent monitoring and acceptance, participants in the monitor and acceptance condition did not. Thus, even brief monitor and acceptance training is well suited to increasing the likelihood that individuals can monitor and accept their thoughts and feelings when confronted with strong emotions.

Comparison between three different delivery technologies of virtual nature on psychological state related to general stress recovery: An experimental study

Visiting nature has been shown to have several benefits for psychological state related to general stress recovery. However, for many people, access to nature is limited. Technological development has made it possible to deliver nature environments virtually. The present study examines the benefits of a same virtual nature (forest) environment delivered through different technologies on psychological state related to general stress recovery, more precisely, on restoration, current stress, subjective vitality, and affective response. The main focus is on comparing three different delivery technologies of virtual nature: TV (75″), VR headset (Meta Quest 2), and virtual nature room (30m2). The study applies a three-condition randomized trial with pre-post assessments and a crossover design, where 62 participants visited once in each condition for a 15-minute exposure of virtual nature (360-degree video with congruent soundscape). The participants responded to psychological measures before and after each condition. Overall, participants’ restoration increased, while current stress and negative affect decreased during the exposure. In comparison to the TV (control) condition, both the VR headset condition and the virtual nature room condition had a better impact on psychological state related to general stress recovery, as restoration and subjective vitality increased more. There were no statistically significant differences between the VR headset and virtual nature room conditions in any of the measures.

Cognitive control processes and emotion regulation in adolescence: Examining the impact of affective inhibition and heart-rate-variability on emotion regulation dynamics in daily life

Cognitive control processes likely influence the extent to which adolescents can successfully regulate their emotions. This study examined whether individual differences in affective inhibition and heart rate variability (HRV), as a peripheral index of cognitive control, moderated the association between momentary emotion regulation and negative affect (NA). Ecological Momentary Assessments (EMA) over 14 days were obtained in 235 adolescents (Mage = 13.48 years; 106 females). At each assessment, participants reported their current NA and the extent to which they used cognitive reappraisal and rumination. Moreover, at three time points (approximately 1 year, 6 months, and just before the EMA), affective inhibition was assessed using an affective go/no-go task and HRV was recorded at rest. Results indicate that adolescents with lower affective inhibition reported lower average levels of daily rumination. However, affective inhibition did not moderate the association between either daily cognitive reappraisal or rumination and momentary NA. Consistent with hypotheses, the association between momentary rumination and NA was weaker in adolescents showing higher levels of resting HRV. Overall, findings may underscore the importance of interventions targeting HRV as a malleable factor for enhancing adolescents’ affective well-being.

Gender differences in the association between body shame and binge eating: Body image flexibility as a moderator in women

BackgroundBody shame is an established antecedent and maintaining factor of binge eating, beyond global negative affect and body weight, and partly through the effects of dietary restriction. These associations have mainly been established in women and are understudied in men. Body image flexibility, a concept from Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, may be a protective psychological process against the effects of negative body image on binge eating. MethodsUsing structural equation modeling and a non-clinical sample of 244 women and 185 men, this cross-sectional study tested an integrated model of the association between body shame and binge eating, mediated by dietary restriction and moderated by body image flexibility, controlling for depressive symptoms and BMI. ResultsBody shame predicted binge eating in women but not in men, whereas depressive symptoms predicted binge eating in men but not in women. Body image flexibility moderated the association between body shame and binge eating in women. ConclusionsThese cross-sectional findings highlight the importance of considering gender differences in current negative affect models of binge eating, and further support the role of body image flexibility in attenuating the influence of body shame on binge eating in women. Longitudinal studies are required to examine the temporal dynamics between these variables.

Information seeking and subsequent affective well-being in Chinese young adults: the mediating effects of worry.

This study aimed to unravel micro-processes that link information seeking to subsequent affective well-being (i.e., positive and negative affect) at the within-person level, as well as the role of worry as a mediator in this relationship. Within the initial weeks following the Chinese government's relaxation of its epidemic control measures, 184 participants completed experience sampling methods on information seeking, COVID-related worry, and affective well-being three times a day for 14 days. According to dynamic structural equation models, information seeking was associated with high negative affect but not with low positive affect. COVID-related worry acted as a full mediator between information seeking at the previous time point (approximately 5 h ago) and the current negative affect, but not in positive affect. These findings suggested that the impact of information seeking on affective well-being was different for the two dimensions of affect. Furthermore, the persistent impact of information seeking on negative affect was attributed to the indirect effect of worry, suggesting that worry should be a point of focus for intervention to mitigate the potentially negative effects of information seeking within the context of the public health crises.

Mind-wandering in daily life in depressed individuals: An experience sampling study

BackgroundA diagnostic criterion for Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) is difficulty concentrating and increased distractibility. One form of distraction that occurs in everyday life is mind-wandering. The current study aims to test how individuals with MDD and healthy controls differ in their mind-wandering in everyday life. MethodsAdults diagnosed with MDD (n = 53) and healthy controls (n = 53) completed a week of experience sampling, with prompts administered up to eight times per day. At each prompt, participants reported the occurrence and characteristics of their mind-wandering. They also reported levels of momentary negative affect (NA), positive affect (PA), and rumination. ResultsMDD participants reported mind-wandering almost twice as often as healthy control participants. Compared to healthy participants, MDD participants rated their mind-wandering as more negative, but did not differ in terms of temporal orientation. Higher NA and lower PA predicted mind-wandering in the MDD group but not healthy controls, even after controlling for rumination. Time-lagged analyses revealed that current mind-wandering predicted future levels of PA in MDD participants but not in healthy controls; in contrast, current NA and PA did not predict future mind-wandering. LimitationsLimitations include our examination of specific forms of mind-wandering (i.e., we did not sample the full spectrum of this construct). ConclusionsIndividuals with MDD frequently report engaging in mind-wandering in everyday life, and this appears to be coupled with affect. Mind-wandering may have maladaptive effects in MDD and could serve as a target for intervention.

Dynamic processes in behavioral activation therapy for anhedonic adolescents: Modeling common and patient-specific relations.

Behavioral activation (BA) is a brief intervention for depression encouraging gradual and systematic re-engagement with rewarding activities and behaviors. Given this treatment focus, BA may be particularly beneficial for adolescents with prominent anhedonia, a predictor of poor treatment response and common residual symptom. We applied group iterative multiple model estimation (GIMME) to ecological momentary assessment (EMA) treatment data to investigate common and person-specific processes during BA for anhedonic adolescents. Thirty-nine adolescents (Mage = 15.7 years old, 67% female, 81% White) with elevated anhedonia (Snaith-Hamilton Pleasure Scale) were enrolled in a 12-week BA trial, with weekly anhedonia assessments. EMA surveys were triggered every other week (2-3 surveys per day) throughout treatment assessing current positive affect (PA) and negative affect (NA), engagement in pleasurable activities and social interactions, anticipatory pleasure, rumination, and recent pleasurable and stressful experiences. A multilevel model revealed significant decreases in anhedonia, t(25.5) = -4.76, p < .001, over the 12-week trial. GIMME results indicated substantial heterogeneity in variable networks across patients. PA was the variable with the greatest number (22% of all paths vs. 11% for NA) of predictive paths to other symptoms (i.e., highest out-degree). Higher PA (but not NA) out-degree was associated with greater anhedonia improvement, t(25.8) = -2.22, p = .035. Results revealed substantial heterogeneity in variable relations across patients, which may obscure the search for common processes of change in BA. PA may be a particularly important treatment target for anhedonic adolescents in BA. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Modeling momentary reciprocal associations between negative affect and craving for alcohol and cannabis using dynamic structural equation modeling.

Negative reinforcement models suggest that negative affect should predict event-level substance use, however, supporting daily-life evidence is lacking. One reason may be an emphasis in ecological momentary assessment (EMA) research on use behavior, which is subject to contextual and societal constraints that other substance outcomes, such as craving, may not be subject to. Therefore, the present study tested momentary, within-person reciprocal relations among negative affect and craving for alcohol and cannabis in daily life. Adults (N = 48) completed 60 days of EMA, consisting of four daily reports spanning 7 a.m.-11 p.m. assessing current negative affect and alcohol/cannabis craving. Preregistered analyses used dynamic structural equation modeling to test whether (a) within-person increases in negative affect co-occurred with within-person increases in alcohol and cannabis craving, and (b) within-person increases in negative affect predicted later within-person increases in craving (and vice versa), and (c) relations differed by substance use frequency. Within-person increases in negative affect were contemporaneously associated with within-person increases in alcohol and cannabis craving. However, increases in negative affect did not prospectively predict increases in craving, and within-person increases in craving did not prospectively predict within-person increases in negative affect. Within-person relations were not moderated by substance use frequency. Negative affect and craving were associated in community adults. However, results advance a growing body of EMA work suggesting that the association of daily-life negative affect and substance use is, at best, not straightforward. Careful attention is needed to better translate existing negative reinforcement theory to the realities of daily life. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Animal impact in real‐life: Study protocol for an ecological momentary assessment study on the role of animal characteristics in the relationship between companion animals and mental wellbeing

AbstractThe contribution of companion animals to human mental wellbeing has received an increasing amount of scientific interest. Research findings concerning the nature of this relationship are however mixed. Variability in behavior and characteristics of the animal might explain this heterogeneity. The main aim of the present study is to investigate the association between companion animals and mental wellbeing in daily life and the role that animal characteristics play in this association, using an ecological momentary assessment approach. The sample will comprise of adult owners of a dog and/or a cat. Participants will start with a baseline assessment including demographic characteristics of the owner and the animal, as well as the C‐BARQ or Fe‐BARQ to assess general behavior of the animal. After the baseline assessment, a signal‐contingent scheme with semi‐random intervals will be used to examine human–animal interaction (HAI) in the natural setting of pet‐owners' daily lives. Participants will complete up to ten short assessments per day over the course of 5 days, reporting on the presence of‐, interaction with‐, and behavior of the companion animal. They also report on stressful activities and events, and on their current positive and negative affect. Multilevel regression analysis will be used to investigate the relationship between HAI, animal characteristics and mental wellbeing. With this study we hope to provide insight into the type of animal, behavior of the animal and specific elements of interaction with an animal, and their potential associations with human wellbeing. The knowledge gathered in this study will add to unraveling mechanisms underlying HAI and help to identify in which contexts and under what conditions HAI can have the greatest impact.

The link between adolescent girls' interpersonal emotion regulation with parents and peers and depressive symptoms: A real-time investigation.

Adolescents often experience heightened socioemotional sensitivity warranting their use of regulatory strategies. Yet, little is known about how key socializing agents help regulate teens' negative emotions in daily life and implications for long-term adjustment. We examined adolescent girls' interpersonal emotion regulation (IER) with parents and peers in response to negative social interactions, defined as parent and peer involvement in the teen's enactment of emotion regulation strategies. We also tested associations between rates of daily parental and peer IER and depressive symptoms, concurrently and one year later. Adolescent girls (N = 112; Mage = 12.39) at temperamental risk for depressive disorders completed a 16-day ecological momentary assessment protocol measuring reactivity to negative social interactions, parental and peer IER, and current negative affect. Results indicated that adolescents used more adaptive strategies with peers and more maladaptive strategies with parents in daily life. Both parental and peer IER down-regulated negative affect, reflected by girls' decreased likelihood of experiencing continued negative affect. Higher proportions of parental adaptive IER predicted reduced depressive symptoms one year later. Findings suggest that both parents and peers effectively help adolescent girls down-regulate everyday negative emotions; however, parents may offer more enduring benefits for long-term adjustment.

Associations between context and affect within the daily lives of cancer caregivers.

This study used ecological momentary assessment (EMA) to test the association between activity, location, and social company contexts with cancer caregivers' in-the-moment affect to identify precisely when and where to deliver psychological interventions for caregivers. Current cancer caregivers (N = 25) received 8 EMA prompts per day for 7 consecutive days. At each prompt, caregivers reported their current positive affect and negative affect, as well as what they were doing, where they were located, and who they were with. Multilevel logistic regressions tested the associations between caregivers' contexts with their own person-mean-centered state (concurrent momentary level) and trait (overall weekly average) positive or negative affect. Caregivers reported lower state negative affect, as well as higher state positive affect, when socializing (ps < .001), when at a public location (ps < .03), and when around their friends, family, spouse/partner, or care recipient (i.e., person with cancer, ps < .02), relative to when not endorsing the context. Caregivers also reported lower state negative affect when eating/drinking or engaging in leisure (ps < .01; but no parallel effects for state positive affect). Caregivers reported higher state negative affect while working, when at their workplace, or when around work colleagues (ps < .001) and lower state positive affect when at home or alone (ps < .03). Results suggest the pertinence of a behavioral activation framework to mitigate the emotional strain of caregiving. Interventions that facilitate caregivers' ability to socialize with a range of friends and family, including their loved one with cancer, outside of the home may have the strongest positive emotional impact.

The relationship between loneliness and the experiences of everyday stress and stressor-related emotion.

Loneliness influences how people experience and respond to stressors, which may account for its role as a risk factor for morbidity and mortality. The present study was motivated by emerging evidence that affective responses to minor daily events have long-term implications for health and well-being. Specifically, we evaluated how individual differences in loneliness relate to the frequency of everyday stressors and stressor-related negative emotions. A diverse community sample of 255 adults (age 25-65years) completed ecological momentary assessments (EMA), during which they reported recent stressors and current negative affect (NA) five times a day for 14days. Multilevel logistic analyses indicated that there was a quadratic association between loneliness and likelihood of reporting stressors, controlling for demographics, social isolation, depressive symptoms, and context (current activities, current location). Multilevel regression indicated that loneliness was unrelated to the concurrent effect of stressors on NA but significantly larger lagged stressor effects were observed among individuals in the low and high ranges of loneliness. These findings suggest that individuals with high levels of loneliness are more likely to experience everyday stressors and have prolonged emotional responses following stressors.

Virtual agents aligning to their users. Lexical alignment in human–agent-interaction and its psychological effects

This study investigated the impact of agent-sided lexical (non-)alignment on users’ psycho-physiological responses and their evaluation. In an object-naming-matching game played in two game rounds, all participants interacted with a virtual agent who lexically aligns with user/participant language choices during the first half of the interaction, but not during the second half, and vice-versa. Participants were asked to evaluate the agent after each round with regard to perceived likability, competence, and autonomy. Measures for participants’ current positive and negative affect were administered before the study start and after each round. Results indicated that the temporal occurrence of (non-)alignment had an effect on the evaluation of the agent regarding its competence. The agent was rated more positively if it changed its behavior from non-alignment to alignment and participants rated the agent more negatively when it stopped aligning during the course of the game. This demonstrates the importance of the dynamics in alignment processes. User-sided alignment to the agent’s word choices decreased over the course of the interaction. Concerning participant’s self-reported positive and negative affect and physiological arousal, analyses showed no effect of the experimental condition but rather a general decrease over the course of the interaction. This finding seems to reflect fatigue due to the long experimental procedure. We discuss methodological improvements regarding psycho-physiology for future work.

STRESSOR REACTIVITY DEPENDS ON THE CORTISOL AWAKENING RESPONSE AND REACTIVITY TO WORK OVERLOAD

Abstract Ecological momentary assessment (EMA) was used to understand the influence of individual differences in stress reactivity measured by the Perceived Stress Reactivity Scale (PSRS) and the cortisol awakening response (CAR) on emotional reactivity to stressors, operationalized as the within-person change in negative affect (NA) associated with stressor exposure. Five times per day for 10 days, 178 working adults ages 20-80 years old (M = 49.22, SD = 19.07) reported in EMAs their current NA and whether they had experienced a stressor since the previous survey. During the same period, participants provided seven salivary cortisol samples per day. Samples collected at awakening and 30-minutes post-awakening were used to calculate the CAR. Steeper CARs are hypothesized to have a role in preparing individuals to cope with upcoming daily demands. Before the EMA period, participants completed the PSRS, including its Work Overload Reactivity subscale. Multilevel models revealed a significant 3-way interaction between Stressor Exposure x CAR x Work Overload Reactivity predicting daily NA. Individuals with high Work Overload generally reported greater NA, regardless of stressor exposure or the magnitude of their CAR. Individuals with low Work Overload reported lower levels of NA on days they experienced more stressors than usual and had steeper CARs. Effects remained significant after controlling for neuroticism and the Perceived Stress Scale. Findings suggest the CAR’s potential role of preparing individuals for upcoming demands is moderated by work-related stress reactivity. Steeper CARs on days with more stressor exposure may provide enhanced emotional benefits for individuals low in workload reactivity.

Spontaneous Thought Characteristics are Differentially Related to Heightened Negative Affect vs. Blunted Positive Affect in Adolescents: An Experience Sampling Study.

Mind-wandering has been linked to negative affect and depressive symptoms in adolescents. However, mind-wandering is an extremely broad and heterogenous cognitive construct. Some features of spontaneous thought may be related to increased negative affect, whereas others may improve affect, or have no emotional influence. We used ecological momentary assessment (EMA) to investigate the characteristics of spontaneous thoughts in adolescents and their differential relations with moment-to-moment affect. One-hundred and sixteen adolescents (ages 13-18; Typical Mood (TM) = 58; Low Mood (LM) = 58) completed 5 days (2-3 times/day) of EMA (total 1,037 surveys) assessing current positive and negative affect (PA and NA) and dimensions of spontaneous thought. Multilevel models tested the relation between thought characteristics and affect. Relative to the TM group, LM adolescents had a higher frequency of mind-wandering (38% vs. 56%) and negatively-valanced thoughts during episodes of mind-wandering (21% vs. 37%). Negatively-valenced, self-referential and past-oriented thoughts were each associated with higher NA, even when controlling for plausible confounds (e.g., engagement in an unpleasant activity or social interaction, depressive symptom severity). In contrast, task-focused and positively-valenced thoughts were uniquely linked to higher PA. Characteristics of spontaneous thought - including temporal orientation, self-referential quality, and task-relatedness - were differentially related to NA vs. PA in adolescents. If replicated, these findings could inform more nuanced assessments of and targeted interventions for specific dimensions of mind-wandering contributing to high NA vs. blunted PA in teens.

The association between hormonal contraceptive use and smoking, negative affect, and cessation attempts in college females

Exogenous and endogenous female hormones influence nicotine use and cessation, potentially through mechanisms such as anxiety and negative affect. In the present study, college females using all types of hormonal contraceptives (HC) were compared to those not using HC to determine the potential influence on current smoking, negative affect, and current and past cessation attempts. Differences between progestin-only and combination HC were also examined. Of the 1,431 participants, 53.2% (n = 761) reported current HC use, and 12.3% (n = 176) of participants endorsed current smoking. Women currently using HC were significantly more likely to smoke (13.5%; n = 103) compared to women not using HC (10.9%; n = 73), p = .04. There was a significant main effect of HC use being associated with lower anxiety levels (p = .005), as well as a significant HC use by smoking status interaction, such that women who smoke using HC reported the lowest levels of anxiety among participants (p = .01). Participants using HC were more likely to be making a current attempt to quit smoking than those not using HC (p = .04) and were more likely to have made past quit attempts (p = .04). No significant differences were observed across women using progestin-only, combined estrogen and progestin, and women not using HC. These findings provide evidence that exogenous hormones may be an advantageous treatment target and that they warrant additional study.

Flow Experience and Emotional Well-Being among Italian Adolescents during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Research highlighted the negative consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic on adolescents’ emotional well-being worldwide. In the attempt to identify resources which could facilitate adolescents’ adjustment, this study examined the occurrence of flow experience and related activities, and the association between flow and emotional well-being among Italian teenagers. In Spring 2021, 150 students (40.7% girls) aged 15–19 completed instruments assessing flow and related activities before and during the pandemic, and current positive and negative affect. Findings revealed that only 24.7% of the participants currently reported flow; over half of those reporting flow before the pandemic did not experience it subsequently, and only 6.5% of those not reporting flow before the pandemic currently experienced it. Participants with flow both before and during the pandemic reported higher positive affect than teens who never experienced flow (p = .011), or lost it (p = .006). No group differences were detected for negative affect. Learning, structured leisure, and interpersonal relations were the domains most frequently associated with flow before and during the pandemic, but after the pandemic onset a reduction in the variety of flow activities and limited identification of new flow domains were observed. The association of flow with higher emotional well-being even in pandemic times suggests the potential usefulness of interventions promoting flow retrieval under adverse circumstances.

Development and Initial Validation of an Acute Readiness Monitoring Scale in Military Personnel.

Personnel in many professions must remain “ready” to perform diverse activities. Managing individual and collective capability is a common concern for leadership and decision makers. Typical existing approaches for monitoring readiness involve keeping detailed records of training, health and equipment maintenance, or – less commonly – data from wearable devices that can be difficult to interpret as well as raising privacy concerns. A widely applicable, simple psychometric measure of perceived readiness would be invaluable in generating rapid evaluations of current capability directly from personnel. To develop this measure, we conducted exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis with a sample of 770 Australian military personnel. The 32-item Acute Readiness Monitoring Scale (ARMS) demonstrated good model fit, and comprised nine factors: overall readiness; physical readiness; physical fatigue; cognitive readiness; cognitive fatigue; threat-challenge (i.e., emotional/coping) readiness; skills-and-training readiness; group-team readiness, and equipment readiness. Readiness factors were negatively correlated with recent stress, current negative affect and distress, and positively correlated with resilience, wellbeing, current positive affect and a supervisor’s rating of solider readiness. The development of the ARMS facilitates a range of new research opportunities: enabling quick, simple and easily interpreted assessment of individual and group readiness.

How are you holding up? Personality, cognitive and social predictors of a perceived shift in subjective well-being during COVID-19 pandemic

While well-being is known to be mainly predicted by relatively stable personality traits and demographic factors, under circumstances of the current COVID-19 pandemic, the role of these predictors may be attenuated, and more situational factors may come into play. In the present study, we examined those relatively stable predictors of well-being along with COVID-19 specific factors, such as the perception of health and economic threat, unrealistic optimism, lack of control, trust in government regulations, and the endorsement of conspiracy beliefs. The data collection took place in early November 2020, when the second wave in Slovakia started to gain momentum and a strict lockdown was issued. Slovak adults (N = 1020) reported their current positive and negative affect and current, as well as estimated pre-pandemic and predicted future life satisfaction. The results showed that positive and negative affect was predicted mainly by extraversion and negative emotionality. On the other hand, life satisfaction, and its perceived change from before the pandemic and in three months, was predicted mainly by COVID-19 factors, especially perceived economic threat, unrealistic optimism, and trust in governmental regulations. We discuss the importance of these factors when considering the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on peoples' well-being.

Companion Animals as Buffer against the Impact of Stress on Affect: An Experience Sampling Study.

Simple SummaryCompanion animals have been identified as a unique source of social support and as contributors to mental wellbeing. In order to identify whether a companion animal buffers against the aversive effects of stress on affect or whether it has a general effect on its owner’s affective state, this study uses a mobile app to question participant’s stress levels for five consecutive days (ten times a day in the moment), the presence and interactions with their companion animal, and on their affective states. The results show that the presence of a companion animal buffers against the detrimental effects of stress on positive affect. The association between the presence of a companion animal and positive affect is only present when experiencing stress. When not under stress, positive affect does not benefit from the presence of a companion animal. Positive affect, however, does benefit from the interaction with a companion animal: In the presence of a companion animal, individuals experience less negative affect. These effects are present in all levels of stress. In conclusion, having a companion animal around alleviates negativity, interacting with it increases positivity, and, when an individual is under stress, simply having your cat or dog around helps you to retain your positive feelings.Companion animals have been identified as a unique source of social support and as contributors to mental wellbeing. This study uses the Experience Sampling Method to test whether this effect is due to stress-buffering. A total of 159 dog and cat owners responded to a series of randomly scheduled questionnaires on their smartphones. At each measurement moment, they reported in whether a pet is present at that moment and to what extent they have interacted with the pet. They also reported on stressful activities and events and on their current positive (PA) and negative (NA) affect. Multilevel regression analyses showed that when a companion animal was present (vs. absent) the negative association between stress and PA is less pronounced (event stress: B = 0.13, p = 0.002, 95% CI = 0.05; 0.21 activity stress: B = 0.08, p < 0.001, 95% CI = 0.04; 0.12). No additional main effect was revealed when tested in a subsample of records that reported low or no stress. Main effects were found for the presence of a companion animal on negative affect (B = 0.08, p < 0.001; 95% CI = 0.12; 0.05) and for interacting with a companion animal on positive affect (B = 0.06, p < 0.001; 95% CI = 0.04; 0.08). This shows that the presence of a companion animal buffers against the negative consequences of stress on positive affect, indicating stress-buffering as a mechanism behind the pet-effect. It is, however, not the only mechanism and more research is required to further elucidate how companion animals contribute to human wellbeing.