TitleEmotional Responses to Stressors in Everyday Life Predict Long-Term Trajectories of Depressive Symptoms.
Publication TypeJournal Article
Year of Publication2020
AuthorsZhaoyang, R, Scott, SB, Smyth, JM, Kang, J-E, Sliwinski, MJ
JournalAnn Behav Med
Volume54
Issue6
Pagination402-412
Date Published2020 May 25
ISSN1532-4796
KeywordsAdult, Affect, Aged, Depression, Disease Progression, Ecological Momentary Assessment, Female, Humans, Longitudinal Studies, Male, Middle Aged, Stress, Psychological, Young Adult
Abstract

<p><b>BACKGROUND: </b>Individuals' emotional responses to stressors in everyday life are associated with long-term physical and mental health. Among many possible risk factors, the stressor-related emotional responses may play an important role in future development of depressive symptoms.</p><p><b>PURPOSE: </b>The current study examined how individuals' positive and negative emotional responses to everyday stressors predicted their subsequent changes in depressive symptoms over 18 months.</p><p><b>METHODS: </b>Using an ecological momentary assessment approach, participants (n = 176) reported stressor exposure, positive affect (PA), and negative affect (NA) five times a day for 1 week (n = 5,483 observations) and provided longitudinal reports of depressive symptoms over the subsequent 18 months. A multivariate multilevel latent growth curve model was used to directly link the fluctuations in emotions in response to momentary stressors in everyday life with the long-term trajectory of depressive symptoms.</p><p><b>RESULTS: </b>Adults who demonstrated a greater difference in stressor-related PA (i.e., relatively lower PA on stressor vs. nonstressor moments) reported larger increases in depressive symptoms over 18 months. Those with greater NA responses to everyday stressors (i.e., relatively higher NA on stressor vs. nonstressor moments), however, did not exhibit differential long-term changes in depressive symptoms.</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS: </b>Adults showed a pattern consistent with both PA and NA responses to stressors in everyday life, but only the stressor-related changes in PA (but not in NA) predicted the growth of depressive symptoms over time. These findings highlight the important-but often overlooked-role of positive emotional responses to everyday stressors in long-term mental health.</p>

DOI10.1093/abm/kaz057
Alternate JournalAnn Behav Med
PubMed ID31794010
PubMed Central IDPMC7246260
Grant ListR01 AG026728 / AG / NIA NIH HHS / United States
T32 AG049676 / AG / NIA NIH HHS / United States