Daily Emotions Research Articles

Angry Thoughts and Daily Emotion Logs: Validity of the Angry Cognitions Scale

The Angry Cognitions Scale (ACS; Martin and Dahlen in J Ration Emot Cogn Behav Therapy 25:155–173, 2007) was designed to measure six cognitive processes related to anger: misattributing causation, overgeneralizing, catastrophizing, demandingness, inflammatory labeling, and adaptive processes. Preliminary evidence on the reliability of the ACS has been positive, demonstrating that the ACS is correlated with the experience and expression of anger, anger consequences, hostile thoughts, and responses to provocation (Martin and Dahlen in J Ration Emot Cogn Behav Therapy 25:155–173, 2007; J Ration Emot Cogn Behav Therapy, 29:65–76, 2011). This previous research, however, has suffered from limitations associated with demand characteristics and the reliance on retrospective data. The current study sought to address these limitations by using daily emotion logs. Results showed that the ACS predicted the daily experience of anger and anger related consequences, contributing to the literature on the ACS as a valuable measure of anger-related cognitions.

Daily Emotion in Non-Suicidal Self-Injury

While major theories of non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) emphasize the behavior's role in emotion regulation, little is known about the daily emotional experiences of self-injurers. This study investigated the specific emotions that are characteristic of those who engage in NSSI. University students (n = 84) with either no history or a recent history of NSSI completed daily diary and retrospective measures of emotional experience. To evaluate generalizability of findings, the retrospective measure was also administered to a diverse sample of U.S. adults (n = 92) with and without histories of NSSI. Results indicate that self-injurers experience greater negative emotionality, particularly self-dissatisfaction, compared to individuals with no NSSI history. Self-injurers also reported less positive emotion, but these effects were smaller. The pattern of results was similar when controlling for Axis I psychopathology and borderline personality disorder symptoms. Individuals who engage in NSSI experience more negative emotions, generally, and more self-dissatisfaction, specifically. Findings contribute to the growing literature on the role of emotion in the etiology and functions of NSSI.

Parental Affection and Psychological Control as Mediators Between Parents’ Depressive Symptoms and Child Distress

The present study investigated the extent to which parental behavior in daily interaction with one’s child mediates the associations between parental depressive symptoms and children’s daily distress. The participants were 152 Finnish families with a 6- to 7-year-old child. Parents’ depressive symptoms were assessed using the revised Beck Depression Inventory. Children’s distress was operationalized as negative daily emotions assessed by using mother-, father-, and teacher-reported diary questionnaires. Parental affection and psychological control in daily interaction were measured using parent self-reported diary questionnaires. The results of structural equation modeling showed that both mothers’ and fathers’ depressive symptoms were associated with their children’s high level of daily distress. Furthermore, the association between parental depressive symptoms and children’s distress was fully mediated via parents’ psychological control, in particular: depressive parents applied psychological control in their daily interaction with their children, which then was associated with their children’s distress.

Daily Emotions and Daily Learning and the Moderating Effects of Perceived Resources

This paper seeks to better clarify the dynamics between affect and learning and how the perception of acquired resources might moderate this relationship. To do this, we use an experience sampling method with daily data from online business owners over a 14-day consecutive study. We extend and test hypotheses derived from informational theories of emotion and conservation of resource theories that propose that emotions can affect learning in different ways depending on the valence of the emotion and the resource environment. We do so by examining the role of both positive and negative emotions on different types of learning. We find that positive emotions enhance both incremental and radical learning while negative emotions inhibit radical learning. We also find that three resource categories moderate these relationships, with some enhancing learning while others constrain learning.

Cell aging and resilience: associations between daily emotion regulation and increased telomerase activity

Cell aging and resilience: associations between daily emotion regulation and increased telomerase activity

Attitudes and Affect: Daily Emotions and Their Association with the Commitment and Burnout of Beginning Teachers

Background/ContextThe increasing number of districts implementing mentoring and induction programs suggests that policymakers are aware of the need to increase the support available to new teachers. The argument underlying many of these programs is based, at least partly, on assumptions about beginning teachers’ emotional responses to their work. Yet while considerable research has studied the effects of induction programs, few researchers have rigorously collected data on how beginning teachers’ affective experiences seem to impact their career plans.Purpose of the StudyWe tested a framework developed in the organizational behavior literature known as affective events theory (AET), which proposes that emotional responses to work, coupled with abstract beliefs about one's job, can influence overall judgments about job satisfaction. Specifically, we drew on research from education and organizational behavior to test whether mean levels of positive affect, negative affect, skill, and fatigue are associated with intentions to remain in teaching (i.e., commitment to one's teaching assignment), commitment to one's school, and levels of burnout.Research DesignSources of data in this study include survey data collected at two time points (fall 2007 and spring 2008) from 42 beginning general and special education teachers in three districts in Michigan and Indiana, as well as data collected using the experience sampling method (ESM), a time sampling method for gaining information about individuals’ immediate experiences. The inclusion of both data sources allowed us to capitalize on the richness of the ESM data—which accounts for variation in teachers’ momentary affective states—while also supporting the data with more traditional survey measures.Conclusions/RecommendationsWe found that mean levels of positive affect and skill are positively associated with commitment, even when controlling for prior commitment. Similarly, negative affect and tiredness seem to be predictive of teacher burnout. These results suggest that, by taking account of teachers’ emotional reactions to their work (in addition to features of their work environments), researchers, policymakers, and district administrators will be better positioned to support special and general educators during their early years of teaching.

Dealing with daily emotions—supportive activities for the elderly in a municipal care setting

There are diverse descriptions of supportive activities in nursing to be found in the literature. What they have in common is their association with good care outcomes, but they may differ depending on the context in which the care is given. In a Swedish municipal elderly care setting, registered nurses (RN) work in a consultative way and they describe a part of their tasks as comprising supportive activities without specifying what kind of supportive activities they mean. The aim of the study was to explore the main concern of the support given by RN to a group of patients in an elderly home care setting. The study was conducted using Grounded Theory. Data were collected using nonparticipant observations regarding the supportive activities of 12 RN at the home of 36 patients between the ages of 80 and 102. Most of the home visit lasted about 40 min but some lasted for 90 min. The central category was about dealing with daily emotions. This was done by encouraging the situation and reducing the patient's limitations, but situations also occurred in which there was a gap of support. Support was about capturing the emotions that the patient expressed for a particular moment, but there were also situations in which RN chose not to give support. To develop a holistic eldercare, more knowledge is needed about the factors causing the RN to choose not to provide support on some occasions.

Parental involvement protects against self-medication behaviors during the high school transition

We examined how drinking patterns change as adolescents transition to high school, particularly as a function of parental involvement. Stress associated with the transition to high school may deplete psychological resources for coping with negative daily emotions in an environment when opportunities to drink are more common. A cohort of elevated-risk middle school students completed daily negative affect (sadness, worry, anger, and stress) and alcohol use assessments before and after the transition to high school, resulting in a measurement burst design. Adolescents who reported less parental involvement were at higher risk for drinking on any given day. After (but not before) the transition to high school, daily within-person fluctuations of sadness predicted an increased probability of same-day alcohol use for adolescents who reported that their parents were minimally involved in their lives. The other negative affect indicators were not predictive of use. Our results suggest that the transition to high school may represent an important intervention leverage point, particularly for adolescents who lack adequate parental support to help them cope with day-to-day changes in sadness.

Investigation and analysis of correlation between postoperative pain and life quality in patients with esophageal cancer

Objective To investigate the degree of pain for patients with esophageal cancer undergoing surgery, evaluate the influence of pain on life quality, and provide evidence for therapy and nursing. Methods The SF-MPQ and BPI were used to measure the quality and intensity of the pain, and the influence on the life quality. Results Non-manual workers feeled more pain than the manual workers; the degree of the patients' education background positively correlated with PRI emotional score;postoperative pain did not correlated with ages and gender. The more pain, the worse influence on life quality. The pain affected the daily life, emotions, locomotor ability, sleep and enjoyment of life significantly. Conclusions There still existed serious pain in patients with esophageal cancer underwent surgery,and the pain affects the quality of life and postoperative treatment. Nurses should pay close attention to pain management, adopt more accurate evaluation so as to guide the pain control and improve the life quality. Key words: Postoperative pain; Esophageal cancer, Life quality; Investigation and analysis

Heart rate variability related to effort at work

Changes in autonomic nervous system function have been related to work stress induced increases in cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. Our purpose was to examine whether various heart rate variability (HRV) measures and new HRV-based relaxation measures are related to self-reported chronic work stress and daily emotions. The relaxation measures are based on neural network modelling of individual baseline heart rate and HRV information. Nineteen healthy hospital workers were studied during two work days during the same work period. Daytime, work time and night time heart rate, as well as physical activity were recorded. An effort–reward imbalance (ERI) questionnaire was used to assess chronic work stress. The emotions of stress, irritation and satisfaction were assessed six times during both days. Seventeen subjects had an ERI ratio over 1, indicating imbalance between effort and reward, that is, chronic work stress. Of the daily emotions, satisfaction was the predominant emotion. The daytime relaxation percentage was higher on Day 2 than on Day 1 (4 ± 6% vs. 2 ± 3%, p < 0.05) and the night time relaxation (43 ± 30%) was significantly higher than daytime or work time relaxation on the both Days. Chronic work stress correlated with the vagal activity index of HRV. However, effort at work had many HRV correlates: the higher the work effort the lower daytime HRV and relaxation time. Emotions at work were also correlated with work time (stress and satisfaction) and night time (irritation) HRV. These results indicate that daily emotions at work and chronic work stress, especially effort, is associated with cardiac autonomic function. Neural network modelling of individual heart rate and HRV information may provide additional information in stress research in field conditions.

Mastering French Cuisine, Espousing French Identity

This paper draws from a series of comprehensive and life story interviews with twelve middle and upper class Franco-American couples (six in each country). In it we recount and analyze the narratives of two American wives (Linda and Beth) who tell, in very different ways, the story of their rencontre with France as one that profoundly changes their relationship to food and their own identity. Taken as ideal types, Linda’s narrative, like those of other women who return home, is one of reintegration, while Beth’s narrative, like those of other expatriate spouses, is one of exile. Despite the differences in their perspectives, French gastronomic discourse and American nutrition discourse delineate national boundaries and shape individual subjectivities in both narratives, allowing us, in a final analysis, to explore the interweaving of daily food practices, emotion and national identity.

Changes in Ventricular Repolarization Duration During Typical Daily Emotion in Patients With Long QT Syndrome

Intense emotions are known triggers of sudden cardiac death. However, the effect of typical daily emotion on repolarization has not been examined. We examined whether QT interval changes as a function of typical daily emotion in patients at risk for cardiac events in the context of emotion. We studied 161 patients (n = 114 females; mean age, 35 years) with the congenital form of the Long QT Syndrome during daily activities. Each day for 3 days, a 12-hour Holter recording was completed. Patients were paged ten times per day at random times and rated the intensity of 16 prespecified emotions during the preceding 5 minutes. Measurements of QT interval and interbeat intervals were synchronized with emotion ratings. Low Arousal Positive Affect was associated with significant increases in QT interval corrected for heart rate (using Fridericia's QTc) (p < .001), whereas higher arousal Activated Positive Affect (p < .001) and Activated Negative Affect (p < .01) were associated with significant decreases in QTc. Changes in QTc as a function of daily emotion ranged from 5-ms increases to 11-ms decreases. High-frequency heart rate variability (vagal tone) was positively correlated with QTc (p < .001). The effects of each positive emotion variable on QTc were greater in LQT2 than LQT1 patients (p < .001). Ventricular repolarization duration (QTc) changes dynamically as a function of daily emotion. These changes are relatively small and do not constitute a risk in themselves. In the context of other risk factors, however, they may contribute to ventricular arrhythmias in vulnerable populations.

Students' daily emotions in the classroom: Intra‐individual variability and appraisal correlates

Recent literature on emotions in education has shown that competence- and value-related beliefs are important sources of students' emotions; nevertheless, the role of these antecedents in students' daily functioning in the classroom is not yet well-known. More importantly, to date we know little about intra-individual variability in students' daily emotions. The objectives of the study were (1) to examine within-student variability in emotional experiences and (2) to investigate how competence and value appraisals are associated with emotions. It was hypothesized that emotions would show substantial within-student variability and that there would be within-person associations between competence and value appraisals and the emotions. (s) The sample consisted of 120 grade 7 students (52%, girls) in 5 randomly selected classrooms in a secondary school. A diary method was used to acquire daily process variables of emotions and appraisals. Daily emotions and daily appraisals were assessed using items adapted from existing measures. Multi-level modelling was used to test the hypotheses. As predicted, the within-person variability in emotional states accounted for between 41% (for pride) and 70% (for anxiety) of total variability in the emotional states. Also as hypothesized, the appraisals were generally associated with the emotions. The within-student variability in emotions and appraisals clearly demonstrates the adaptability of students with respect to situational affordances and constraints in their everyday classroom experiences. The significant covariations between the appraisals and emotions suggest that within-student variability in emotions is systematic.

High income improves evaluation of life but not emotional well-being

Recent research has begun to distinguish two aspects of subjective well-being. Emotional well-being refers to the emotional quality of an individual's everyday experience--the frequency and intensity of experiences of joy, stress, sadness, anger, and affection that make one's life pleasant or unpleasant. Life evaluation refers to the thoughts that people have about their life when they think about it. We raise the question of whether money buys happiness, separately for these two aspects of well-being. We report an analysis of more than 450,000 responses to the Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index, a daily survey of 1,000 US residents conducted by the Gallup Organization. We find that emotional well-being (measured by questions about emotional experiences yesterday) and life evaluation (measured by Cantril's Self-Anchoring Scale) have different correlates. Income and education are more closely related to life evaluation, but health, care giving, loneliness, and smoking are relatively stronger predictors of daily emotions. When plotted against log income, life evaluation rises steadily. Emotional well-being also rises with log income, but there is no further progress beyond an annual income of ~$75,000. Low income exacerbates the emotional pain associated with such misfortunes as divorce, ill health, and being alone. We conclude that high income buys life satisfaction but not happiness, and that low income is associated both with low life evaluation and low emotional well-being.

Women’s Emotions During Interactions With Their Grown Children in Later Adulthood

Do women’s interactions with their grown children improve their emotional lives later in life? Women in their early 60s participated in a 7-day daily experience study of positive and negative events to examine how interactions with their grown children contribute to specific daily emotions as well as how individual differences in adult attachment moderate these effects. Multilevel modeling analyses revealed that when they interacted with their children, women low in attachment avoidance experienced boosts in joy, love, and pride, whereas women high in attachment avoidance only experienced boosts in love. Women low in attachment avoidance also experienced reduced anger but greater sadness during negative events involving their children, whereas for women high in avoidance, the experience of anger and sadness was unaffected by the presence of their children. Implications for attachment theory and parenting across the lifespan are discussed.

Sheltering the Self From the Storm: Self-Construal Abstractness and the Stability of Self-Esteem

Self-construal abstractness (SCA) refers to the degree to which people construe important bases of self-esteem in a broad, flexible, and abstract rather than a concrete and specific manner. This article hypothesized that SCA would be a unique predictor of self-esteem stability, capturing the degree to which people's most important bases of self-worth are resistant to disconfirmation. Two studies using a daily diary methodology examined relationships between SCA, daily self-esteem, and daily emotions and/or events. In Study 1, individual differences in SCA emerged as the most consistent and unique predictor of self-esteem stability. Furthermore, SCA contributed to self-esteem stability by buffering the influence of daily negative emotions on self-esteem. Study 2 manipulated SCA via a daily self-construal task and found an abstract versus concrete self-focus to buffer the influence of daily negative events on self-esteem. Implications of these findings for the study of the self and well-being are discussed.

Perceived Diabetes Task Competence Mediates the Relationship of both Negative and Positive Affect with Blood Glucose in Adolescents with Type 1 Diabetes

Adolescents dealing with type 1 diabetes experience disruptions in affect and diabetes management that may influence their blood glucose. A daily diary format examined whether daily fluctuations in both negative and positive affect were associated with adolescents' perceived diabetes task competence (DTC) and blood glucose, and whether perceived DTC mediated the relationship between daily affect and blood glucose. Sixty-two adolescents with type 1 diabetes completed a 2-week daily diary, which included daily measures of affect and perceived DTC, then recorded their blood glucose readings at the end of the day. We utilized hierarchical linear modeling to examine whether daily perceived DTC mediated the relationship between daily emotion and blood glucose. Daily perceived DTC mediated the relationship of both negative and positive affect with daily blood glucose. This study suggests that within the ongoing process of self-regulation, daily affect may be associated with blood glucose by influencing adolescents' perception of competence on daily diabetes tasks.

A psychometric investigation of the daily emotion report in a sample of depressed inpatients

A psychometric investigation of the daily emotion report in a sample of depressed inpatients

The Daily Emotions of Three High Ability Women with an Eating Disorder

The objective of this study was to understand the emotions of shame and guilt in three high ability women, who suffer with an eating disorder. In-depth interviewing and the Experience Sampling Method (ESM) were the methodological strategies of choice for this study. The three women, Hazel, Pat and Catherine reported feeling inferior and ineffective in their relationships with others. They held the erroneous belief that something was bad about them. Each experienced a chronic sense of shame. They reported feeling ashamed even when not in the presence of others. Our participants developed a sense of shame about their bodies. The eating disorder also contributed to their felt shame. The act of purging left Hazel feeling a sense of self-loathing and disgust for engaging in such a demeaning, humiliating act. For Hazel, Pat and Catherine their struggle with eating was a source of shame. All three women also reported experiencing guilt. The three felt morally obligated to make their parents happy and having an eating disorder caused them to violate this value. Guilt arose because the women believed they were the source of their parent’s pain. Our participants also felt unworthy of all they were given and experienced remorse in joyful occasions as well as for being given material things. The results revealed an understanding of the individual emotions that three women who suffer from an eating disorder feel. What emerged from the present study was that shame and guilt were prevalent emotions among the participants.

The role of the Big Five in appraisals

Using Hierarchical Linear Modelling, this study examined individual differences in appraisal styles. Data were collected using Ecological Momentary Assessment from police officers in Singapore who participated while on their work-routines. Average levels of 11 appraisals showed significant individual-difference variability. The Big Five personality traits were examined for whether they accounted for these individual difference variations. Only Neuroticism and Conscientiousness significantly explained individual-difference variability in appraisals. Also, replicating past studies, all Big Five traits except for Openness correlated significantly with daily emotions.