Momentary Affective States Research Articles

Misremembering Solitude: The Role of Personality and Cultural Self-Concepts in Shaping Discrepancies Between Recalled and Concurrent Affect in Solitude.

Affect recall is key to psychological assessment and decision-making. However, self-concepts (self-beliefs) may bias retrospective affect reports such that they deviate from lived experiences. Does this experience-memory gap apply to solitude experiences? We hypothesized that individuals misremember how they feel overall and when in solitude, in line with self-concepts of introversion, self-determined/not-self-determined solitude motivations, and independent/interdependent self-construal. A pilot study comparing retrospective to daily affect reports captured over 2 weeks (N = 104 UK university students) provided preliminary evidence of introversion and not-self-determined solitude shaping affect recall. In the main pre-registered study, participants aged 18-49 in the UK (N = 160) and Hong Kong (N = 159) reported their momentary affective states and social situations 5 times per day over 7 days, then recalled how they felt over the week. Individuals higher in self-determined solitude were more prone to retrospectively overestimate their high- and low-arousal positive affect in solitude and showed less overestimation/more underestimation of negative affect in solitude. Higher not-self-determined solitude was associated with overestimating loneliness, and higher interdependent self-construal with overestimating loneliness and energy levels, in solitude. Comparisons based on residence/ethnicity suggest culture influences solitude-seeking and affective memory. Implications for well-being and affect measurement are discussed.

Emotional and interpersonal states following dialectical behavioral therapy in adolescent borderline personality disorder: A proof-of-concept ecological momentary assessment outcome study

ABSTRACT Objective: The effects of Dialectical Behavioral Therapy for Adolescents (DBT-A) on emotional and interpersonal instability were explored in adolescents exhibiting Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) features, using ecological momentary assessment (EMA) to reduce recall bias. Method: N = 28 help-seeking female adolescents were enrolled, meeting ≥ 3 DSM-IV BPD criteria. BPD criteria, non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI), and depressive symptoms were examined pre- and post-DBT-A treatment (mean duration: 42.74 weeks, SD = 7.46). Participants maintained e-diaries pre- and post-treatment, hourly rating momentary affect, attachment to mother and best friend, and self-injury urges. Results: Interview-rated BPD symptoms decreased (χ²(1) = 5.66, p = .017), alongside reduced self-rated depression severity (χ²(1) = 9.61, p = .002). EMA data showed decreased NSSI urges (χ²(1) = 9.05, p = .003) and increased mother attachment (χ²(1) = 6.03, p = .014). However, mean affect, affective instability, mean attachment to the best friend, and attachment instability showed no significant change over time. Conclusion: DBT-A yielded limited evidence for altering momentary affective states and instability in adolescents based on EMA. Nevertheless, significant effects were observed in reducing NSSI urges and enhancing interpersonal dynamics during treatment, as assessed via EMA.

Not just emotion regulation, but cognition: An experience sampling study testing the relations of ecological interpretation biases and use of emotion regulation strategies with momentary affective states during daily life functioning

BackgroundCurrent research is moving from studying cognitive biases and maladaptive emotion regulation (ER) as relatively stable phenomena contributing to affective disturbances, adopting ecological methodologies, such as Experience Sampling Methods (ESM). However, there is still limited ESM evidence on the interactions between stress and ER strategies’ use, and negative interpretation biases, regarding their relations with momentary affective states. In this study, we used a new ESM design to disentangle the contextual, regulatory and cognitive processes implicated in daily affective experiences. MethodA sample of 103 participants completed an ESM study (3 times a day for 10 days) that included self-reports of momentary affect, stress intensity, ER strategies’ use and a cognitive task measuring momentary negative interpretation biases. ResultsMultilevel analyses supported significant interactions of both rumination and worry with stress intensity, to account for momentary higher negative and lower positive affect levels. Furthermore, higher state negative interpretation bias levels uniquely predicted both higher negative and lower positive momentary affect levels. ConclusionThis study implemented a novel online cognitive task within an ESM procedure, which helped to disentangle how contextual ER strategies’ use and momentary cognitive biases uniquely relate to affective experiences in daily life.

Distinct associations between gratitude, self-esteem, and optimism with subjective and psychological well-being among Japanese individuals

BackgroundMounting evidence suggests that the effectiveness of positive psychology interventions is influenced by a variety of factors, including cultural context. Identifying intervention targets that can effectively contribute to improving individual well-being under these boundary conditions is a crucial step when developing viable interventions. To this end, we examined how gratitude disposition, self-esteem, and optimism relate to the subjective well-being (SWB) and psychological well-being (PWB) of Japanese individuals.MethodsMultivariate regression analysis was employed to quantify the unique relationships between the three potential intervention targets and both SWB and PWB, while accounting for the influence of other variables. Participants (N = 71) also engaged in a 4-week experience sampling study to explore how gratitude, self-esteem and optimism shape the link between momentary affective states in everyday life and evaluations of day satisfaction.ResultsMultivariate regression analysis revealed that self-esteem was predominantly more strongly associated with SWB compared to gratitude disposition, whereas gratitude disposition was more strongly associated with the PWB dimensions, particularly personal growth, positive relations with others and purpose in life. Experience sampling data indicated that while both gratitude disposition and self-esteem moderated the association between momentary positive affect and day satisfaction evaluations, they did so in opposite ways; greater gratitude disposition strengthened the association, while greater self-esteem weakened it.ConclusionsOverall, the current results suggest that while gratitude, self-esteem, and optimism influence individual well-being as a whole, they likely play distinct roles in facilitating SWB and PWB in the studied cohort.

AGE-RELATED DIFFERENCES IN DAILY EXPERIENCES OF HAPPINESS: THE ROLE OF THINKING ABOUT THE FUTURE

Abstract We examined the role of future time perspective (thinking about the future) in shaping age-related differences in time-varying experiences of happiness. Older adults’ experience of happiness is more strongly associated with low-arousal than with high-arousal positive affect. Low-arousal positive affective states may be conducive to engaging in meaningful social interactions with close others (e.g., listening, adjusting to others) and therefore serve key socio-emotional goals that are prioritized when future time is perceived as limited. We hypothesized that thinking less about the future would be related to stronger associations between happiness and low-arousal positive states in older than younger adults. We used daily life assessments from 258 participants (M = 48.4 years; 68% female; 77% Asian; 73% post-secondary education), which comprised older (M = 63.4 years) and younger (M = 20.1 years) adult samples collected at two locations (Vancouver, Canada; Hong Kong). Participants reported on their momentary affective states and thinking about the future (0-100 scales) up to 30 times over 10 days. Results replicate previous findings by showing that momentary happiness was more strongly associated with momentary calmness and more weakly associated with momentary excitement among older as compared to younger adults. Younger adults reported thinking more about the future than older adults. Thinking less about the future was related to stronger happiness-calmness and weaker happiness-excitement associations in daily life for older participants, only; for younger participants, it was associated with weaker happiness-calmness associations. Age and future thinking-related contours of happiness are discussed in the context of emotional aging theories.

Age differences in the experience of everyday happiness: The role of thinking about the future.

Happiness can be experienced differently in young as compared to older adulthood, possibly due to shifts in temporal focus and differences in preferences for high- versus low-arousal affective states. The current project aimed to replicate initial evidence on age-related differences in the experience of happiness by investigating the positive affective correlates of everyday happiness; we further explored the role of thinking about the future in moderating such associations. We used daily life assessments from 257 participants (Mage = 48.3, SDage = 24.6; 68% female; 77% Asian [East Asian, South Asian, and Southeast Asian]; 73% postsecondary educated), combining four data sets collected at two locations (Vancouver, Canada; Hong Kong) with different age samples (older and younger adults). Participants provided up to 30 repeated daily life assessments of momentary affective states and thoughts about the future, over 10 days. Results replicate previous findings by showing that happiness was more strongly associated with low-arousal positive affect and more weakly associated with high-arousal positive affect among older compared to younger adults. Engagement in thinking about the future was higher among younger compared to older adults in general, but its role in moderating the association between happiness and positive affect varying in arousal levels was confounded by the age moderation. Separate analyses conducted for each age group indicate different roles of everyday thinking about the future in shaping happiness experiences for different age groups. Age and future thinking-related contours of happiness are discussed in the context of emotional aging theories. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Momentary within-subject associations of affective states and physical behavior are moderated by weather conditions in real life: an ambulatory assessment study

BackgroundPhysical behavior (PB) is a key lifestyle factor in regulating and preventing diseases across the lifespan. Researchers identified affective, cognitive, and contextual factors like weather conditions, as significant contributors in determining if individuals are physically active. However, there is scarce empirical evidence about potential associations between PB and affective states influenced by weather conditions in daily life. Therefore, we explored if weather conditions moderated the within-subject association between momentary affective states and subsequent PB.MethodsUtilizing ambulatory assessment, 79 participants completed electronic diaries about their affective states (i.e., valence, energetic arousal, and calmness) up to six times a day over five days, and their PB (i.e., physical activity and sedentariness) was simultaneously recorded via accelerometers. Weather conditions (i.e., temperature and precipitation) recorded near participants’ locations served as moderators in the multilevel analyses.ResultsWe confirmed earlier findings associating affective states with PB. Increased valence and energetic arousal were positively associated with physical activity (β = 0.007; p < .001), whereas calmness predicted lower levels of physical activity (β = -0.006; p < .001). Higher levels of calmness showed a positive association with sedentary behavior (β = 0.054; p = .003). In addition, we revealed a significant positive association between temperature, as a momentary weather condition, and physical activity (β = 0.025; p = .015). Furthermore, we showed that the association of affective states and physical activity was moderated by temperature. Higher temperatures enhanced the positive effects of valence on physical activity (β = .001, p = .023) and attenuated the negative effects of calmness on physical activity (β = .001, p = .021). Moreover, higher temperatures enhanced the positive effects of valence on reduced sedentary behavior (β = -0.011, p = .043).ConclusionsTemperature alterations appeared to have an impact on subsequent physical activity. Furthermore, temperature alterations moderated the influence of affective states on conducted physical activity. This might offer the opportunity for just-in-time adaptive interventions to intervene in individually appropriate environmental conditions for promoting physical activity.

Temporal associations between salivary cortisol and emotions in clinically depressed individuals and matched controls: A dynamic time warp analysis

Depression can be understood as a complex dynamic system where depressive symptoms interact with one another. Cortisol is suggested to play a major role in the pathophysiology of depression, but knowledge on the temporal interplay between cortisol and depressive symptoms is scarce. We aimed to analyze the temporal connectivity between salivary cortisol and momentary affective states in depressed individuals and controls. Thirty pair-matched depressed and non-depressed participants completed questionnaires on momentary positive (PA) and negative (NA) affect and collected saliva three times a day for 30 days. The association between cortisol and affect was analyzed by dynamic time warp (DTW) analyses. These analyses involved lag-1 backward to lag-1 forward undirected analyses and lag-0 and lag-1 forward directed analyses. Large inter- and intra-individual variability in the networks were found. At the group level, with undirected analysis PA and NA were connected in the networks in depressed individuals and in controls. Directed analyses indicated that increases in cortisol preceded specific NA items in controls, but tended to follow upon specific affect items increase in depressed individuals. To conclude, at group level, changes in cortisol levels in individuals diagnosed with a depression may be a result of changes in affect, rather than a cause.

Does sports therapy affect momentary affective states? Feasibility of intensive longitudinal case studies in forensic psychiatry.

Physical exercise interventions improve quality of life in people with mental disorders and improve abstinence and cravings in substance use disorders patients in both the short term and long term. In people with mental illness, physical exercise interventions significantly reduce psychiatric symptoms of schizophrenia and symptoms of anxiety. For forensic psychiatry, there is little empirical evidence supporting mental health-enhancing effects of physical exercise interventions. Interventional studies in forensic psychiatry deal mainly with three problems: heterogeneity of the individuals, a small sample size, and a low compliance rate. Intensive longitudinal case studies could be a suitable approach to address these methodological challenges in forensic psychiatry. This study uses an intensive longitudinal design to determine whether forensic psychiatric patients are content to complete several data assessments per day over the course of several weeks. The feasibility of this approach is operationalized by the compliance rate. Additionally, single-case studies examine the effects of sports therapy (ST) on momentary affective states (energetic arousal, valence, and calmness). The results of these case studies reveal one aspect of feasibility and offer insights into the effects of forensic psychiatric ST on the affective states among patients with different conditions. The patients' momentary affective states were recorded before (PRE), after (POST) and 1 h after (FoUp1h) ST by questionnaires. Ten individuals (Mage = 31.7, SD = 11.94; 60% male) participated in the study. A total of 130 questionnaires were completed. To perform the single-case studies, data of three patients were considered. Repeated-measures ANOVA was performed for the individual affective states to test for main effects of ST. Due to the results, ST has no significant effect on none of the three affect dimensions. However, effect sizes varied between small to medium (energetic arousal: η2 = 0.01, η2 = 0.07, η2 = 0.06; valence: η2 = 0.07; calmness: η2 = 0.02) in the three patients. Intensive longitudinal case studies are a possible approach to address heterogeneity and the low sample size. The low compliance rate in this study reveals that the study design needs to be optimized for future studies.

Mental Health in Urban Environments: Uncovering the Black Box of Person-Place Interactions Requires Interdisciplinary Approaches

Living in urban environments affects individuals' mental health through different pathways. For instance, physical activity and social participation are seen as mediators. However, aiming to understand underlying mechanisms, it is necessary to consider that the individual is interacting with its environment. In this regard, this viewpoint discusses how urban health research benefits from integration of socioecological and interdisciplinary perspectives, combined with innovative ambulatory data assessments that enable researchers to integrate different data sources. It is stated that neither focusing on the objective and accurate assessment of the environment (from the perspective of spatial sciences) nor focusing on subjectively measured individual variables (from the public health as well as a psychosocial perspective) alone is suitable to further develop the field. Addressing person-place interactions requires an interdisciplinary view on the level of theory (eg, which variables should be focused on?), assessment methods (eg, combination of time-varying objective and subjective measures), as well as data analysis and interpretation. Firstly, this viewpoint gives an overview on previous findings addressing the relationship of environmental characteristics to physical activity and mental health outcomes. We emphasize the need for approaches that allow us to appropriately assess the real-time interaction between a person and a specific environment and examine within-subject associations. This requires the assessment of environmental features, the spatial-temporal behavior of the individual, and the subjective experiences of the situation together with other individual factors, such as momentary affective states. Therefore, we finally focused on triggered study designs as an innovative ambulatory data assessment approach that allows us to capture real-time data in predefined situations (eg, while walking through a specific urban area).

The association between physical behavior, affective states, and contextual factors: Using ambulatory assessment to characterize moderating effects

Introduction&#x0D; Physical behavior is a key lifestyle factor in regulating and preventing diseases across the lifespan. Researchers identified affective, cognitive, and contextual factors like weather conditions, as significant contributors in determining if individuals are physically active. However, there is scarce empirical evidence about potential associations between physical behavior and affective states influenced by weather conditions in daily life. Therefore, we investigated the within-subject association between momentary affective states and physical behavior, and weather conditions and physical behavior. Further, we additionally explored if weather conditions moderated the within-subject association between momentary affective states and subsequent physical behavior.&#x0D; Methods&#x0D; Utilizing ambulatory assessment, 79 participants completed electronic diaries about their affective states (i.e., valence, energetic arousal, and calmness) up to six times a day over five days, and their physical behavior (i.e., physical activity and sedentariness) was simultaneously recorded via accelerometers. Weather conditions (i.e., temperature and precipitation) recorded near participants’ locations served as moderators in the multilevel analyses.&#x0D; Results&#x0D; We showed, that the association of affective states and physical activity was moderated by temperature. Higher temperatures enhanced the positive effects of valence on physical activity (β = .001, p = .023) and attenuated the negative effects of calmness on physical activity (β = .001, p = .021). Moreover, higher temperatures enhanced the positive effects of valence on reduced sedentary behavior (β = -0.011, p = .043). In addition, we revealed a significant positive association between temperature, as a momentary weather condition, and physical activity (β = 0.025; p = .015). Furthermore, we confirmed earlier findings associating affective states with physical behavior. Increased valence and energetic arousal were positively associated with physical activity (β = 0.007; p &lt; .001), whereas calmness predicted lower levels of physical activity (β = -0.006; p &lt; .001). Higher levels of calmness showed a positive association with sedentary behavior (β = 0.054; p = .003).&#x0D; Conclusion&#x0D; Moderating effects, such as higher temperatures enhancing the positive effects of valence on PA, provide mechanistic real-life insights as a basis for future health technologies. Just-in-time adaptive interventions (JITAI) offer the possibility to incorporate weather conditions and allow triggering individuals within their preferred contextual condition to promote physical activity. Such personalized real-time systems have recently been promoted by the WHO as most promising.

GPS-Derived Daily Mobility and Daily Well-Being in Community-Dwelling Older Adults

Introduction: Mobility as a multidimensional concept has rarely been examined as a day-to-day varying phenomenon in its within-person association with older adults’ daily well-being. This study examined associations between daily mobility and daily well-being in community-dwelling older adults with a set of GPS-derived mobility indicators that were representative of older adults’ daily mobility. Methods: Participants wore a custom-built mobile GPS sensor (“uTrail”) and completed smartphone-based experience sampling questionnaires on momentary affective states (7 times per day) and daily life satisfaction (in the evening). Analyses included data across 947 days from 109 Swiss older adults aged 65–89 years. Results: Multilevel modeling showed that, within persons, a day with a larger life space area, more time spent in passive transport modes, and a higher number of different locations was associated with higher daily life satisfaction but not daily positive or negative affect. Follow-up analysis showed that the daily maximum distance from home was positively associated with daily life satisfaction, providing a first indication that exposure to non-habitual environments might be a possible underlying mechanism to explain the effects of mobility. Conclusions: Traveling a long distance away from home and visiting diverse locations may be a way to improve life satisfaction. Results are discussed in the context of research on healthy aging.

Real-time assessment of positive and negative affective fluctuations and mood lability in a transdiagnostic sample of youth.

Emotional lability, defined as rapid and/or intense affect fluctuations, is associated with pediatric psychopathology. Although numerous studies have examined labile mood in clinical groups, few studies have used real-time assessments in a well-characterized transdiagnostic sample, and no prior study has included participants with disruptive mood dysregulation disorder (DMDD). The present study leverages ecological momentary assessment (EMA) to assess emotional lability in a transdiagnostic pediatric sample. One hundred thirty participants ages 8-18 with primary diagnoses of DMDD, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), an anxiety disorder (ANX), or healthy volunteerscompleted a previously validated 1-week EMA protocol. Clinicians determined diagnoses based on semi-structured interviews and assessed levels of functional impairment. Participants reported momentary affective states and mood change. Composite scores of fluctuations in positive and negative affect were generated. Affect fluctuations were compared between diagnostic groups and tested for their association with functional impairment. Diagnostic groups differed in levels of negative and positive emotional lability. DMDD patients demonstrated the highest level of labile mood compared with other groups. Emotional lability was associated with global impairment in the whole sample. Both positive and negative emotional lability is salient in pediatric psychopathology and is associated with functional impairment, particularly in DMDD youth.

How do people feel while walking in the city? Using walking-triggered e-diaries to investigate the association of social interaction and environmental greenness during everyday life walking.

BackgroundLight to moderate physical activity, which includes walking, is associated with positive effects on physical and mental health. However, concerning mental health, social and physical environmental factors are likely to play an important role in this association. This study investigates person-place interactions between environmental characteristics (greenness, social interaction) and momentary affective states during walking episodes. A within-subject design is implemented, in which affective states and environmental characteristics are assessed while participants are walking outside.MethodsOn smartphones, coupled with a motion sensor (move3), e-diaries were triggered as soon as people walked 100 m outside. E-diaries assessed momentary affective states (valence, calmness, energetic arousal), and social interaction (walking alone; seeing other people while walking; interacting with other people; walking with a known person) between 6 am and 10 pm over nine days. The percentage of greenness was determined afterward from recorded GPS and GIS data. Demographics were collected in advance via an online questionnaire. Multilevel models were calculated with R for 46 individuals (age = 41.2, ± 13.2; 52% female).ResultsAffective state dimension energetic arousal showed a significant association with social interaction and greenness, i.e., participants rated energetic arousal lower when walking alone, and if there was less greenness vs. when interacting shortly with someone while walking (β = 0.13, p = 0.02), and being in situations with more greenness (β = 0.08, p = 0.02). Furthermore, associations with social interaction and greenness were found for dimension calmness: walking together with someone was associated with higher calmness (β = 0.16, p = 0.02), and the higher the proportion of surrounding greenness during a walk, the higher calmness was rated, i.e., participants were calmer (β = 0.09, p = 0.01). Significant associations with valence were not present.ConclusionThe findings indicate that the affective states varied significantly due to different social and physical environmental factors. In the future, the importance of environmental factors should be further investigated, e.g., by assessing environmental factors right in situations contrary to a subsequent imputation. Within-subject designs, and in particular triggered assessments with the addition of GPS, can aid in developing interventions for health-promoting urban environments.

Thinking too much: Rumination as a catalyst of the real-time associations between affective states and suicidal ideation.

Affective states and rumination have each been linked to suicidal ideation; however, to our knowledge, no studies have examined their interactive effect in predicting suicidal ideation in the short term. The present study examined the concurrent and short-term prospective relationships between affective states, rumination, and suicidal ideation using ecological momentary assessment (EMA). A sample of 237 community-based adults at high risk for suicide (Mage = 27.12 years, 61.6% cisgender women) responded to six EMA prompts each day for 2 weeks that assessed their momentary affective states (depression, anxiety, happiness, hopelessness, agitation, irritability), rumination, and suicidal ideation. Rumination moderated the relationship between concurrent affective states and suicidal ideation, at both the within-person and between-person levels. Specifically, the relations between affective states and suicidal ideation were stronger at higher levels of rumination. These interaction effects were not found when examining short-term prospective associations. Affective states and rumination may each confer risk for suicidal ideation in the short term, and rumination may serve as a catalyst of the link between affective states and suicidal ideation when examined concurrently. Clinical implications, limitations, and future research directions are discussed. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

Clustering individuals’ temporal patterns of affective states, hunger, and food craving by latent class vector-autoregression

BackgroundEating plays an important role in mental and physical health and is influenced by affective (e.g., emotions, stress) and appetitive (i.e., food craving, hunger) states, among others. Yet, substantial temporal variability and marked individual differences in these relationships have been reported. Exploratory data analytical approaches that account for variability between and within individuals might benefit respective theory development and subsequent confirmatory studies.MethodsAcross 2 weeks, 115 individuals (83% female) reported on momentary affective states, hunger, and food craving six times a day. Based on these ecological momentary assessment (EMA) data we investigated whether latent class vector-autoregression (LCVAR) can identify different clusters of participants based on similarities in their temporal associations between these states.ResultsLCVAR allocated participants into three distinct clusters. Within clusters, we found both positive and negative associations between affective states and hunger/food craving, which further varied temporally across lags. Associations between hunger/food craving and subsequent affective states were more pronounced than vice versa. Clusters differed on eating-related traits such as stress-eating and food craving as well as on EMA completion rates.DiscussionLCVAR provides novel opportunities to analyse time-series data in affective science and eating behaviour research and uncovers that traditional models of affect-eating relationships might be overly simplistic. Temporal associations differ between subgroups of individuals with specific links to eating-related traits. Moreover, even within subgroups, differences in associations across time and specific affective states can be observed. To account for this high degree of variability, future research and theories should consider individual differences in direction and time lag of associations between affective states and eating behaviour, daytime and specific affective states. In addition to that, methodological implications for EMA research are discussed.

Benefits of a Brief Physical Activity Programme on Employees’ Affective Well-being and Momentary Affective States: A Quasi-Experimental Study

The present study examined the effects of a four-week physical activity (PA) programme on employees’ general affective well-being the acute effects of fitness and stretching sessions on momentary affective states. Participants were divided between an experimental (n = 54) and a comparison group (n = 57). After one month, only employees in the experimental group increased their general affective well-being. Moreover, momentary positive affective states were significantly higher after PA sessions, especially after fitness sessions. For both activities, momentary negative affect significantly decreased after PA sessions, with a larger reduction in the levels of high-activated unpleasant affect. In the short and middle terms, brief PA programmes seem relevant to enhance employees’ affective well-being. PA programme characteristics are finally discussed.

The context matters - not all prolonged sitting bouts are equally related to momentary affective states: an ambulatory assessment with sedentary-triggered E-diaries

BackgroundSedentary behaviors (SB) and especially prolonged sitting bouts are highly prevalent in daily life and studies indicated an association with an increased risk for several non-communicable diseases. Consequently, guidelines to reduce SB were developed. At the same time, an in-depth knowledge regarding SB such as where, what and with whom people spend time sedentary as well as correlates such as affective states of prolonged sitting bouts, is still lacking. A more differentiated view on SB is necessary to identify detrimental and modifiable sedentary bouts. We addressed this gap by conducting an ambulatory assessment study including accelerometer and sedentary-triggered e-diaries that captures data during prolonged sitting bouts (> 20 min). We investigated how contextual factors of prolonged sitting bouts are associated with momentary affective states.MethodFour studies were combined with a final sample of 308 participants (50.3% female, Mage, 27.4, range, 17–66). SB was assessed objectively with thigh-worn accelerometers for four to five days. Whenever a participant was sitting for 20 or 30 min the accelerometer triggered questions assessing social (not alone vs. alone) and environmental (leisure vs. working) factors as well as momentary affective states (valence, energetic arousal and calmness). Multilevel analyses were used to examine within-person associations between different contexts and mood during prolonged sitting.ResultsMomentary affective states varied significantly due to different social and environmental contexts (ps < 0.001): Sitting together with others was associated with higher levels of valence and energetic arousal. Furthermore, sitting during leisure time was associated with higher levels of valence and calmness and lower levels of energetic arousal. Significant interaction analyses revealed that participants had the highest ratings while sitting during leisure episodes together with others.ConclusionFindings showed that prolonged sitting bouts differ regarding their association with affect. Sitting with others, sitting during leisure time and especially sitting during leisure time and with others, was associated with higher levels of momentary affective states, respectively. Thus, SB guidelines should focus on reducing those SB episodes that are associated with lower levels of affect, for example during working episodes.

Role of Avoidance-Motivation Intensity in Creative Thinking: Similar and Differential Effects across Creative Idea Generation and Evaluation

ABSTRACT Dynamic, momentary affective states have significant effects on creativity; however, how negative affect modulates the neurocognitive processes involved in creativity is still unclear. This study investigated the neural mechanisms of creative thinking under varying avoidance-motivation intensity. Sixty participants (17 men and 43 women; age range = 18–25 years; mean = 21.22 years, SD = 1.35) randomly assigned to three groups (high-avoidance-motivation, low-avoidance-motivation, and unmotivated bias state) completed creative tasks in two conditions – creative idea generation and creative idea evaluation. In the former condition, the low-avoidance-motivation group exhibited greater fluency of divergent thinking than the high-avoidance-motivation group. Functional near-infrared spectroscopy revealed an interaction effect between creative demand and avoidance-motivation intensity in the bilateral inferior frontal gyrus and right middle frontal gyrus in creative idea generation. In the latter condition, there were no significant differences between the three avoidance motivation groups in behavior and brain activation results. Furthermore, the association of the prefrontal cortex and temporal region in these tasks indicated that these regions may be part of the core mechanism underlying the modulatory effects of avoidance-motivation intensity on ongoing neurocognitive processing during creative thinking.

Early warning signals in psychopathology: what do they tell?

BackgroundDespite the increasing understanding of factors that might underlie psychiatric disorders, prospectively detecting shifts from a healthy towards a symptomatic state has remained unattainable. A complex systems perspective on psychopathology implies that such symptom shifts may be foreseen by generic indicators of instability, or early warning signals (EWS). EWS include, for instance, increasing variability, covariance, and autocorrelation in momentary affective states—of which the latter was studied. The present study investigated if EWS predict (i) future worsening of symptoms as well as (ii) the type of symptoms that will develop, meaning that the association between EWS and future symptom shifts would be most pronounced for congruent affective states and psychopathological domains (e.g., feeling down and depression).MethodsA registered general population cohort of adolescents (mean age 18 years, 36% male) provided ten daily ratings of their affective states for 6 consecutive days. The resulting time series were used to compute EWS in feeling down, listless, anxious, not relaxed, insecure, suspicious, and unwell. At baseline and 1-year follow-up, symptom severity was assessed by the Symptom Checklist-90 (SCL-90). We selected four subsamples of participants who reported an increase in one of the following SCL-90 domains: depression (N = 180), anxiety (N = 192), interpersonal sensitivity (N = 184), or somatic complaints (N = 166).ResultsMultilevel models showed that EWS in feeling suspicious anticipated increases in interpersonal sensitivity, as hypothesized. EWS were absent for other domains. While the association between EWS and symptom increases was restricted to the interpersonal sensitivity domain, post hoc analyses showed that symptom severity at baseline was related to heightened autocorrelations in congruent affective states for interpersonal sensitivity, depression, and anxiety. This pattern replicated in a second, independent dataset.ConclusionsThe presence of EWS prior to symptom shifts may depend on the dynamics of the psychopathological domain under consideration: for depression, EWS may manifest only several weeks prior to a shift, while for interpersonal sensitivity, EWS may already occur 1 year in advance. Intensive longitudinal designs where EWS and symptoms are assessed in real-time are required in order to determine at what timescale and for what type of domain EWS are most informative of future psychopathology.