Global Positive Affect Research Articles

Affect trajectories surrounding binge eating episodes and heavy drinking episodes in adults with binge-spectrum eating disorders.

The comorbidity of binge eating and heavy drinking (BE+HD) is concerning due to high prevalence and associated consequences. Affective pathways may maintain BE+HD, yet more micro-level research is needed. This study used ecological momentary assessment (EMA) to examine between-person and day-level relationships between positive and negative affect and binge eating or heavy drinking episodes in BE+HD. Participants (N=53) were adults with binge-spectrum eating disorders who completed between 7 and 14days of EMA prior to a treatment for binge eating. Anxiety was highest on days with both binge eating and heavy drinking, while excitement and confidence were highest on days with only heavy drinking episodes for BE+HD. Global negative affect was relatively stable surrounding binge eating episodes. Guilt significantly increased prior to binge eating, and sadness significantly decreased following binge eating. Global positive affect significantly decreased prior to and stopped decreasing following heavy drinking episodes. Results support binge eating being negatively reinforced by specific aspects of negative affect, while heavy drinking may be positively reinforced by global positive affect for individuals with BE+HD. Clinicians should incorporate interventions that focus on specific negative affect dimensions and that promote alternative rewarding activities besides heavy drinking.

Ecological momentary assessment of state affect prior to and following loss of control eating in young men

ObjectiveLoss of control (LOC) eating is prevalent but understudied among young men. Affect regulation models propose that LOC eating functions as a maladaptive effort to escape from distressing affective states. As such, negative affect is thought to increase before and decrease after LOC eating. However, examinations with young men are lacking and it remains unclear whether specific emotional experiences are differentially implicated in their LOC eating. MethodsThe current study examined the temporal roles of affect in LOC eating in 31 young men (18–35 years; Mage = 25.74 ± 5.61y; 46.7 % White; 30 % Black/African American; 10 % Hispanic/Latino, 10 % South Asian) who reported engaging in recurrent LOC eating. Participants completed a 14-day ecological momentary assessment protocol and recorded all eating episodes each day and their state affect five times per day. Generalized linear mixed models were conducted to examine the trajectories of global and item-level negative and positive affect pre- and post-LOC eating episodes. ResultsNegative affect did not change significantly before or after LOC eating (ps > .05). Positive affect did not change significantly before LOC eating (ps > .05). Global positive affect, excitement, and happiness decreased significantly after LOC eating (ps ≤ .001). DiscussionStudy findings contradict extant theory and empirical data largely from female samples. Negative affect did not increase risk for LOC eating, nor did LOC eating function to improve participants' mood; rather, positive mood slightly decreased after LOC eating. Further investigation around the observed decline in positive affect after LOC eating will clarify if this is a relevant intervention point in this population.

Beyond Positive Affect: Discrete Positive Emotions Differentiate Major Depression from Social Anxiety Disorder

BackgroundSocial anxiety disorder (SAD) and major depressive disorder (MDD) are both associated with diminished global positive affect. However, little is known about which specific positive emotions are affected, and which positive emotions differentiate MDD from SAD.MethodsFour groups of adults recruited from the community were examined (N = 272): control group (no psychiatric history; n = 76), SAD without MDD group (n = 76), MDD without SAD group (n = 46), and comorbid group (diagnoses of both SAD and MDD; n = 74). Discrete positive emotions were measured with the Modified Differential Emotions Scale, which asked about the frequency of 10 different positive emotions experienced during the past week.ResultsThe control group had higher scores on all positive emotions compared to all three clinical groups. The SAD group had higher scores on awe, inspiration, interest, and joy compared to the MDD group, and higher scores on those emotions, as well as amusement, hope, love, pride, and contentment, than the comorbid group. MDD and comorbid groups did not differ on any positive emotions. Gratitude did not differ significantly between clinical groups.ConclusionAdopting a discrete positive emotion approach revealed shared and distinct features across SAD, MDD, and their comorbidity. We consider possible mechanisms underlying transdiagnostic vs. disorder-specific emotion deficits.

The Positive and Negative Affect Relation in the Context of Stress and Age

The Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (OBRA) of 1987 included provisions for the Preadmission Screening and Resident Review (PASRR) program, which requires states to create and maintain systems to assess persons with serious mental illness (SMI) seeking NH care. The prevalence of SMI in NHs is increasing, and little is known about the effectiveness of the PASRR program intervention. We conducted 20 interviews with state and national PASRR stakeholders, including assessors, hospital discharge planners, mental health advocates, geriatricians and geriatric psychiatrists. Interview data were triangulated with state provided materials on PASRR collection and implementation. Based on these interviews, we identified four themes: 1) variation in the implementation of federal PASRR legislation across states and jurisdictions, 2) the need for investment in professional development and workforce capacity, 3) lack of usefulness of PASRR in ongoing care planning, and 4) the need to consider the role of age, race/ethnicity, and stigma on quality of care for NH residents with SMI. Stakeholders agree that PASRR legislation was well intentioned, but also expressed concern regarding the completion of PASRR as an issue of compliance versus meaningful assessment. More work is needed to determine how best to develop and support the care needs of people with SMI, while being mindful of the original goals of deinstitutionalization that prompted OBRA passage. In order to assess the impact of the PASRR program on quality of care and mental health outcomes, further research should take an evaluative approach through meaningful use of PASRR data.

The positive and negative affect relation in the context of stress and age.

Research suggests that the within-person inverse relationship between negative affect (NA) and positive affect (PA) indicates poorer emotional well-being, and this interaffect correlation fluctuates in relation to the context of the individual. Specifically, age, stress, and global PA all relate to changes in the interaffect correlation. The current study used comprehensive data from the Notre Dame Study of Health and Well-Being, which allowed us to uniquely examine between-person differences in within-person change and variability in the interaffect correlation, thereby examining these constructs from a process-oriented perspective. Midlife and later-life participants (N = 965) completed daily questionnaires assessing stress, NA, and PA. Three-level multilevel models illustrated that the interaffect correlation becomes more negative during times of stress, adults with greater global PA experience a stronger inverse interaffect correlation during times of stress, and days of higher stress relate to a stronger inverse interaffect correlation for older adults compared to midlife adults. The findings illustrate the idiographic nature of these relationships and suggest that later-life adults and adults with high levels of global PA undergoing higher than typical stressful situations experience stronger inverse interaffect correlations. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

GENERATIVITY ACROSS ADULTHOOD: THE EFFECTS OF AGE AND AFFECT

Generativity, or investment in the next generation, is heavily implicated in successful aging. Due to its benefits to both the individual and society, researchers have attempted to identify factors that contribute to generativity. Most studies on generativity, however, have been conducted in cross section, limiting established relations to those occurring between individuals, not within them. The identification of true within-person effects is vital, as between-person relations do not accurately describe within-person processes. One factor that may contribute to generativity within individuals is positive affect (PA), as experiencing PA seems to broaden individuals’ resources, and ultimately build human flourishing. This process may also be moderated by age or change over time. To test these ideas, the current study applied multilevel modeling to ten years of data from N = 1,117 mid-to-later life individuals. A main effects model indicated between-person effects such that younger individuals, as well as individuals with higher global PA, tended to report higher generativity, on average, than older individuals and individuals with lower global PA, respectively. Next, considering within-person effects, individuals tended to report higher generativity during years they experienced more PA. Finally, a two-way interaction effect indicated an age-related difference in a within-person process: although midlife individuals reported higher generativity during years they experienced more PA, later-life individuals did not show this effect. Theoretical implications, including age-graded goal strivings and the broaden-and-build theory, will be discussed.

Parent-child attachment and children's experience and regulation of emotion: A meta-analytic review.

Attachment relationships serve as contexts within which children develop emotional capacities. This meta-analytic review assessed the strength of associations of parent-child attachment patterns with the experience and regulation of emotion in children under age 18 years. In a series of meta-analyses (k = 72 studies, N's ranged from 87 to 9,167), we examined children's positive and negative affective experiences (assessed either globally or elicited in specific contexts), emotion regulation ability, and coping strategies. More securely attached children experienced more global positive affect and less global negative affect, expressed less elicited negative affect, were better able to regulate emotions, and more often used cognitive and social support coping strategies. More avoidantly attached children experienced less global positive affect, were less able to regulate emotions, and were less likely to use cognitive or social support coping strategies. By contrast, more ambivalently attached children experienced more global and more elicited negative affect, and were less able to regulate emotions. More disorganized children experienced less global positive affect and more global negative affect. These robust findings provide evidence that attachments to parents have implications for children's emotional development, although more research is needed on whether insecure attachment patterns are associated with distinct emotion profiles. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).

Test of the social cognitive model of well-being in Portuguese and Brazilian college students

Lent and Brown's (2006, 2008) social cognitive model of work well-being was tested in Brazilian (N = 349) and Portuguese (N = 357) college student samples. Participants completed Portuguese language measures of academic domain self-efficacy, environmental support, goal progress, and satisfaction, along with measures of global positive affect and life satisfaction. Results of latent variable path analyses indicated that the model fit the data well in the full sample as well as in separate sub-samples by country and gender. The model also accounted for substantial portions of the variance in academic and overall life satisfaction, and nearly all of the path coefficients were statistically significant. Contrary to expectations, however, goal progress did not contribute uniquely to the prediction of either academic domain or global life satisfaction. We consider implications of the findings for research and practice on the social cognitive well-being model.

Positive Emotions and Social Anxiety: The Unique Role of Pride

Social anxiety is correlated with diminished global positive affect (PA). However, it is not clear from the data whether this relationship is due to global PA, or to specific emotions such as joy or pride. We hypothesized that pride will account for most of the relationship between social anxiety and PA after controlling for depression. Results of Study 1 (N = 352) supported the hypothesis that when pride and PA were in the same model, only pride was significantly related to social anxiety. The same pattern was found when pride and joy were in the same model. When multiple facets of positive emotions (pride, love, joy, contentment, amusement, awe and compassion) were in the same model, only pride and love were significantly related to social anxiety. Results of Study 2 (N = 288) replicated the findings that only pride was significantly related to social anxiety, but counter to our hypothesis, revealed that pride experience was significantly related to social anxiety more than reported expressions of pride. Study 3 extended these findings to a clinical, treatment seeking sample of 23 patients diagnosed with generalized social anxiety disorder and 35 low-anxious controls. When predicting group (patients vs. non-patient) by pride and PA, only pride was a significant predictor. Pride continued to be a predictor when controlling for either fear of positive or negative evaluation. Thus, all three studies demonstrated the importance of the specific experience of pride in its relationship to social anxiety.

Probing the relative psychometric validity of three measures of psychological inflexibility

The present study probed the relative structural and concurrent validity of responses to three self-report measures of psychological inflexibility with a large sample of college students (N = 797): the revised version of the Acceptance and Action Questionnaire (AAQ-II), the shorter version of the Avoidance and Fusion Questionnaire for Youth (AFQ-Y8), and the longer version of the Avoidance and Fusion Questionnaire for Youth (AFQ-Y17). Structural validity findings showed that responses to the AAQ-II and AFQ-Y8 indicated good data–model fit and latent construct reliability, whereas the data–model fit for responses to the AFQ-Y17 was poor, despite strong latent construct reliability. Concurrent validity findings demonstrated that scores derived from all three measures of psychological inflexibility had comparable correlations with several concurrent indicators of negative mental health (i.e., depression, anxiety, global negative affect), positive mental health (i.e., happiness, hope, global positive affect), and theoretically-similar therapeutic processes (i.e., mindfulness skills). Yet findings from hierarchical regressions evidenced some incremental validity when scores from the AAQ-II, AFQ-Y8, and AFQ-Y17 were taken together to predict concurrent mental health outcomes—suggesting potential differential construct representation among these three measures. Limitations of the present study and future directions for research and practice are discussed.

Trajectories of higher- and lower-order dimensions of negative and positive affect relative to restrictive eating in anorexia nervosa.

Despite robust support for the role of affect in the maintenance of binge eating and purging, the relationship between affect and restrictive eating remains poorly understood. To investigate the relationship between restrictive eating and affect, ecological momentary assessment data from 118 women with anorexia nervosa (AN) were used to examine trajectories of higher-order dimensions of negative affect (NA) and positive affect (PA), as well as lower-order dimensions of NA (Fear, Guilt) and PA (Joviality, Self-Assurance) relative to restrictive eating. Affect trajectories were modeled before and after restrictive eating episodes and AN subtype was examined as a moderator of these trajectories. Across the sample, Guilt significantly increased before and decreased after restrictive eating episodes. Global NA, Global PA, Fear, Joviality, and Self-Assurance did not vary relative to restrictive eating episodes across the sample. However, significant subtype by trajectory interactions were detected for PA indices. Among individuals with AN restricting subtype, Global PA, Joviality, and Self-Assurance decreased prior to and Self-Assurance increased following restrictive eating episodes. In contrast, Global PA and Self-Assurance increased prior to, but did not change following, restrictive eating episodes among individuals with AN binge eating/purging subtype. Results suggest that dietary restriction may function to mitigate guilt across AN subtypes and to enhance self-assurance among individuals with AN restricting subtype. (PsycINFO Database Record

An examination of affect prior to and following episodes of getting drunk in women with bulimia nervosa

The current study examined the association between affect and self-reported alcohol intoxication in women with bulimia nervosa (BN; N=133). Participants completed a two-week ecological momentary assessment protocol. Momentary global positive affect (PA) and negative affect (NA), as well as the facets of NA (fear, guilt, hostility and sadness), were measured. Forty-five participants endorsed that they “got drunk” during the study period. Daily mean and variability of global PA and NA were compared between days with self-reported alcohol intoxication and days without self-reported alcohol intoxication. Trajectories of affect were modeled prior to and following episodes of self-reported alcohol intoxication. There were no differences in the mean or variability of PA or NA on days characterized by self-reported alcohol intoxication compared to days with no self-reported alcohol intoxication (ps>0.05). PA decreased significantly prior to self-reported alcohol intoxication and remained stable afterwards. There were no changes in global NA before or after self-reported alcohol intoxication, but an examination of the facets of NA showed that sadness increased following episodes of self-reported alcohol intoxication. These findings showed only partial support for a negative reinforcement model of alcohol use in women with BN.

Automatic and Deliberate Affective Associations with Sexual Stimuli in Women with Lifelong Vaginismus Before and After Therapist-Aided Exposure Treatment

The intense fear response to vaginal penetration in women with lifelong vaginismus, who have never been able to experience coitus, may reflect negative automatic and deliberate appraisals of vaginal penetration stimuli which might be modified by exposure treatment. The aim of this study is to examine whether (i) sexual stimuli elicit relatively strong automatic and deliberate threat associations in women with vaginismus, as well as relatively negative automatic and deliberate global affective associations, compared with symptom-free women; and (ii) these automatic and more deliberate attitudes can be modified by therapist-aided exposure treatment. A single target Implicit Association Test (st-IAT) was used to index automatic threat associations, and an Affective Simon Task (AST) to index global automatic affective associations. Participants were women with lifelong vaginismus (N = 68) and women without sexual problems (N = 70). The vaginismus group was randomly allocated to treatment (n = 34) and a waiting list control condition (n = 34). Indices of automatic threat were obtained by the st-IAT and automatic global affective associations by the AST, visual analogue scales (VAS) were used to assess deliberate appraisals of the sexual pictures (fear and global positive affect). More deliberate fear and less global positive affective associations with sexual stimuli were found in women with vaginismus. Following therapist-aided exposure treatment, the strength of fear was strongly reduced, whereas global positive affective associations were strengthened. Automatic associations did not differ between women with and without vaginismus and did not change following treatment. Relatively stronger negative (threat or global affect) associations with sexual stimuli in vaginismus appeared restricted to the deliberate level. Therapist-aided exposure treatment was effective in reducing subjective fear of sexual penetration stimuli and led to more global positive affective associations with sexual stimuli. The impact of exposure might be further improved by strengthening the association between vaginal penetration and positive affect (e.g., by using counter-conditioning techniques).

Social cognitive predictors of well-being in African college students

Lent and Brown's (2006, 2008) social cognitive model of work well-being was tested in two samples of African college students, one from Angola (N=241) and one from Mozambique (N=425). Participants completed domain-specific measures of academic self-efficacy, environmental support, goal progress, and satisfaction, along with measures of global positive affect and life satisfaction. Path analyses indicated that the model fit the data well overall, both in the full sample and in separate sub-samples by country and gender. Contrary to expectations, however, self-efficacy predicted academic satisfaction only indirectly, via goal progress; and goal progress predicted life satisfaction only indirectly, via academic satisfaction. The predictors accounted for substantial portions of the variance in both academic domain satisfaction and life satisfaction. Implications for research and practice involving the social cognitive model are considered.

BRAIN ACTIVATION AND MENTAL HEALTH AS A FUNCTION OF PHYSICAL ACTIVITY IN OLDER ADULTS 176

Physical activity has been consistently linked with better mental health(e.g., less anxiety, depression; more positive affect, satisfaction with life). Brain activation has also been linked to mental health, with greater relative left activation being related to more global positive affect and greater relative right activation being related to more global negative affect. Few studies have examined this relationship in older adults. Resting left and right hemisphere alpha activity (8-13 Hz; F3, F4, C3, C4, P3, P4, referenced to linked ears), mental health measures [positive affect (PA), trait anxiety (TA), depression (DEP), satisfaction with life (SWL), negative affect (NA)], and physical activity measures were obtained from 15 male and 26 female (M age=68.7±5.8 yrs) adults. Resting frontal asymmetry(R-L alpha) was related to PA (r=0.28, P=0.04; i.e., greater relative activation in left vs right related to more positive affect) in the total group (n=41). In the high active group(n=21), frontal asymmetry was related to PA (r=0.49,P=0.01), NA (r=-0.39, P= 0.04), SWL(r=0.31, P=0.09), and DEP (r=-0.28,P=0.11). In the low active group (n=20), frontal asymmetry was related to NA (r=0.40, P=0.04) Physical activity was also related to PA (r=0.48, P= 0.001), SWL(r=0.48, P=0.001), DEP (r=-0.31,P=0.03), and TA (r=0.29, P=0.03). Physical activity is positively related to mental health in older adults and there is a relationship between positive affect and frontal brain asymmetry. This brain activation-mental health relationship appears to be mediated by physical activity in older adults.