Daily Depressed Mood Research Articles

Real-time Associations between Functional Behaviors and Depressed Mood in Post-stroke Individuals: Smartphone-based Ecological Momentary Assessment

<h3>Research Objectives</h3> To assess real-time associations between daily functional behaviors and depressed mood (DM) in indivdiuals after stroke using smartphone-based ecological momentary assessment (EMA). <h3>Design</h3> EMA involved repeated sampling of real-time daily functional activities and DM in stroke survivors' natural environments. We used multilevel models to examine concurrent and time-lagged associations between daily functional behaviors and DM. <h3>Setting</h3> Home and community. <h3>Participants</h3> Two hundred and two participants with mild-to-moderate chronic stroke participants (90% ischemic stroke; 45% female; 44% black). <h3>Interventions</h3> Not applicable. <h3>Main Outcome Measures</h3> Participants completed EMA five times per day for two weeks by reporting their daily functional behaviors regarding where, with whom, and what activity was spent and their DM level. <h3>Results</h3> Participants spent 28% of the wake-up time in passive leisure activities but spent less time in physical and vocational activities (4% and 9%, respectively). Lower DM was concurrently associated with time spent in social activities (β=-0.023 ± 0.011) and instrumental activities of daily living (β=-0.061 ± 0.013); spending time with family members (β=-0.061 ± 0.014), spouses (β=-0.043, ± 0.016), friends (β=-0.094, ± 0.021), and coworkers (β=-0.050 ± 0.021); locating in restaurants (β=-0.068 ± 0.029), and homes of family members (β=-0.039 ± 0.020) or friends (β=-0.069 ± 0.031). DM was reported higher when patients rated lower in perceived satisfaction, performance, and engagement of activities in concurrent (βs=-0.036 ± 0.003, -0.053 ± 0.003, -0.044 ± 0.003) and time-lagged models (βs=-0.011 ± 0.004, -0.012 ± 0.004, -0.013 ± 0.004). <h3>Conclusions</h3> EMA can delineate real-time associations between post-stroke functional behaviors and DM. Findings suggest promoting participation in social activities and instrumental activities of daily living as important intervention targets to reduce DM in stroke survivors. <h3>Author(s) Disclosures</h3> None disclosed.

The effect of social interaction quantity and quality on depressed mood and loneliness: A daily diary study

Background Concerns about the possible effects of social distancing during the COVID-19 pandemic highlighted several gaps in our knowledge about the association between social interactions and mental health. The current study aimed to characterize the unique effect of social interaction quantity and quality on daily depressed mood and loneliness and to identify the degree to which these processes operate at the within-person and between-person levels of analysis. Methods A community sample of 515 adults was recruited to participate in 75 days of daily surveys. Participants reported on daily feelings of loneliness, depressed mood, social interaction frequency, engagement in vulnerable self-disclosure, and perceived responsiveness. Linear mixed models were used to identify the effect of daily social interaction quantity and quality on loneliness and depressed mood and to characterize the degree to which these effects varied across individuals. Results Social interaction quantity and perceived responsiveness were negatively associated with depressed mood and loneliness at the within-person level of analysis. Perceived responsiveness was also negatively associated with depressed mood and loneliness at both the within-person and between-person levels of analysis. Random slopes analysis revealed substantial heterogeneity in the within-person effects. Limitations The non-experimental design of this study precludes drawing causal conclusions. Furthermore, demographic and/or geographic differences in the observed effects may limit generalization. Conclusions Engaging in more frequent, high-quality interactions may protect against daily depressed mood and loneliness despite one’s average level of these variables. Future research is needed to establish causality and identify the degree to which these findings generalize across samples and time.

The Relationship between Sleep Quality and Depressive Mood in University Students Experiencing Financial Difficulties: An Ecological Momentary Assessment Study

This study aimed to examine the mediating effects of fatigue, stress, and affect on the relationship between sleep quality and depressive mood in university students experiencing financial difficulties. Participants (35) were university students in a metropolitan area of South Korea, recruited from September 2019 to December 2019 and from February 2020 to June 2020. They completed a pre-ecological momentary assessment online survey assessing sleep quality, fatigue, stress, and quality of life. Subsequently, participants participated in a 14-day ecological momentary assessment of daily depressive mood, sleep quality, fatigue, stress, and positive and negative affect. A multilevel mediation analysis indicated that fatigue completely mediated the relationship between sleep quality and depressive mood at the within- and between-subject levels, whereas stress and positive affect completely mediated the relationship only at the within-subject level. Negative affect did not mediate the relationship between sleep quality and depressive mood either at the within- or between-subject level. These findings suggest that interventions targeting mediators such as fatigue, stress and affect may alleviate the impact of poor sleep quality on depressive mood among university students experiencing financial difficulties.

Possible Application of Ecological Momentary Assessment to Older Adults' Daily Depressive Mood: Integrative Literature Review.

BackgroundEcological momentary assessment is a method of investigating individuals’ real-time experiences, behaviors, and moods in their natural environment over time. Despite its general usability and clinical value for evaluating daily depressive mood, there are several methodological challenges when applying ecological momentary assessment to older adults.ObjectiveThe aims of this integrative literature review were to examine possible uses of the ecological momentary assessment methodology with older adults and to suggest strategies to increase the feasibility of its application in geriatric depression research and practice.MethodsWe searched 4 electronic databases (MEDLINE, CINAHL, PsycINFO, and EMBASE) and gray literature; we also hand searched the retrieved articles’ references. We limited all database searches to articles published in peer-reviewed journals from 2009 to 2019. Search terms were “ecological momentary assessment,” “smartphone assessment,” “real time assessment,” “electronic daily diary,” “mHealth momentary assessment,” “mobile-based app,” and “experience sampling method,” combined with the relevant terms of depression. We included any studies that enrolled older adults even as a subgroup and that reported depressive mood at least once a day for more than 2 days.ResultsOf the 38 studies that met the inclusion criteria, only 1 study enrolled adults aged 65 years or older as the entire sample; the remainder of the reviewed studies used mixed samples of both younger and older adults. Most of the analyzed studies (18/38, 47%) were quantitative, exploratory (descriptive, correlational, and predictive), and cohort in design. Ecological momentary assessment was used to describe the fluctuating pattern of participants’ depressive moods primarily and to examine the correlation between mood patterns and other health outcomes as a concurrent symptom. We found 3 key methodological issues: (1) heterogeneity in study design and protocol, (2) issues with definitions of dropout and adherence, and (3) variation in how depressive symptoms were measured with ecological momentary assessment. Some studies (8/38, 21%) examined the age difference of participants with respect to dropout or poor compliance rate. Detailed participant burden was reported, such as technical problems, aging-related health problems, or discomfort while using the device.ConclusionsEcological momentary assessment has been used for comprehensive assessment of multiple mental health indicators in relation to depressive mood. Our findings provide methodological considerations for further studies that may be implemented using ecological momentary assessment to assess daily depressive mood in older adults. Conducting more feasibility studies focusing on older adults with standardized data collection protocols and mixed-methods research is required to reflect users’ experiences. Further telepsychiatric evaluation and diagnosis based on ecological momentary assessment data should involve standardized and sophisticated strategies to maximize the potential of ecological momentary assessment for older adults with depression in the community setting.

The association between problematic smartphone use, depression and anxiety symptom severity, and objectively measured smartphone use over one week

Problematic smartphone use (PSU) is associated with several types of psychopathology, such as depression and anxiety severity. However, the majority of studies reporting these associations have not used objective smartphone use data and/or repeated-measures study design. Our aim was to investigate how self-reported levels of PSU, depression, anxiety, and daily depressive mood relate to objectively measured smartphone use over one week. We assessed objective smartphone use by daily minutes of screen time and number of phone screen unlocks. One hundred and one undergraduate university students participated. Bivariate correlations and latent growth curve analyses showed that PSU severity related to screen time minutes, but not to phone screen unlocking. Depression and anxiety severity were not related to screen time minutes, but negatively correlated with frequency of phone screen unlocking. Additionally, daily depressive mood items did not, in general, predict objective smartphone use for the corresponding day. However, average daily depressive mood over one week positively correlated with PSU levels. These findings and their implications are discussed.

Physical Activity and Depressive Mood in the Daily Life of Older Adults

Abstract. Empirical evidence suggests that physical activity is related to less depressive moods. However, little is known about this association in the everyday life of older adults, limiting the ecological validity of prior findings. This study examined within-person associations between physical activity and depressive mood in older adults across 7 days. Moreover, the study tested the extent to which need-fulfillment can explain this association. The sample consisted of 68 adults aged 65 to 93 years. Physical activity was assessed objectively with accelerometers, whereas need-fulfillment and depressive mood were assessed at the end of each day using self-reports. Results from multilevel analysis suggest that daily physical activity was negatively related to daily depressive mood within persons. Although need-fulfillment did not explain the association between physical activity and depressive mood, it was a statistically significant predictor of daily depressive mood and even attenuated the effect of physical activity on depressive mood to nonsignificance.

Dispositional Mindfulness Attenuates the Link Between Daily Stress and Depressed Mood

Mindfulness is theorized to attenuate negative responses to stress, but the majority of prior research supporting this hypothesis has relied on cross-sectional correlations or reactions to laboratory-induced stressors. In two independent samples, we tested whether dispositional mindfulness promoted less negative reactions to naturally-occurring day-to-day stressors. Participants first completed measures of dispositional mindfulness and individual differences in negative reactivity and emotion regulation. Participants then reported their level of stress and depressed mood, at the end of each day, for 10 days. Greater daily stress was associated with increases in daily depressed mood, but the negative impact of daily stress was attenuated for people higher in dispositional mindfulness. The stress buffering effect of mindfulness was also independent of participants’ neuroticism, existing depressive symptoms, and emotion regulation tendencies. These results reveal the unique and important role dispositional m...

Depressive moods and marital happiness: Within-person synchrony, moderators, and meaning.

Recent studies using within-persons designs conceptually replicate and substantively extend prior research that has shown marital distress to be a robust risk factor for depression. The present investigation further extends this within-persons research tradition by increasing the frequency of assessments and by adding new moderators and measures in a sample of both newlywed (n = 24) and maritally distressed (n = 31) wives. In both samples, the average within-persons association between 21 daily assessments of wives' depressed mood and marital happiness approximated previous estimates of analogous effects (overall r = -.54). Wives reported worse depressive mood symptoms on days they experienced lower marital happiness, even after accounting for time and between-person variation in marital happiness. Each participant's within-persons mood and marital happiness association was then treated as a dependent variable to be predicted from theoretically relevant individual differences. Multilevel modeling showed that the negative within-person association between daily depressed mood and daily marital happiness was especially strong for women who were relatively high in depressive symptoms, who had avoidant attachment styles, and who were relatively low in marital adjustment.

The effects of adult attachment and life stress on daily depression: a sample of Japanese university students

To investigate the relationship among adult attachment style, life stress, and daily depression, a sample of 437 undergraduate students was prospectively studied. Insecure adult attachment and perceived life stress were related to their daily depressive mood. Further analyses using both multiple hierarchical regression and structural equation models (SEM) demonstrated that adult attachment style and perceived life stress independently predicted depression and had no interactive effects on daily depression. The impact of adult attachment on depression was not contingent upon the presence of life stress and securely attached participants were less impacted by depression than insecurely attached ones. These results suggest that adult attachment can play an important role in mental health intervention and may be helpful when it comes to preventing and treating depression.

Predictors of depressive mood in mothers of clinic-referred children

The purpose of the present study was to examine the correlates/predictors of depressive mood in mothers of young clinic-referred noncompliant children. Based on prior research, behaviors/events from three areas were investigated: individual (personal), spouse and child. Furthermore, positive and negative behaviors/events from each area were examined. Using a single- S methodology with replication, 9 mothers served as Ss. Data were collected across 30 days for participants and, subsequently, each mother's data were analyzed by correlational and multiple-regression techniques. Contrary to expectation, maternal individual events/behaviors served as the best predictors of depressive mood. Behaviors/events from each of the three areas (individual, spouse, child) entered into at least two multiple-regression equations, suggesting the importance of each area for at least some mothers. Finally, negative behaviors/events were better predictors of daily depressive mood than were positive behavior/events.