TitleFusing Biodiversity Metrics into Investigations of Daily Life: Illustrations and Recommendations With Emodiversity.
Publication TypeJournal Article
Year of Publication2017
AuthorsBenson, L, Ram, N, Almeida, DM, Zautra, AJ, Ong, AD
JournalJ Gerontol B Psychol Sci Soc Sci
Volume73
Issue1
Pagination75-86
Date Published2017 Dec 15
ISSN1758-5368
KeywordsActivities of Daily Living, Adult, Age Factors, Aged, Aging, Data Interpretation, Statistical, Emotions, Female, Humans, Individuality, Male, Middle Aged, Models, Statistical, Psychological Tests, Reproducibility of Results
Abstract

<p><b>OBJECTIVES: </b>Functionalist emotion and ecological systems theories suggest emodiversity-the variety and relative abundance of individuals' emotion experiences-is beneficial for psychological and physical health and may change with age. This paper examines and provides recommendations for operationalization of diversity-type intraindividual variability (IIV) constructs using intensive longitudinal data, and demonstrates the utility of emodiversity by examining its links to physical health moderated by mean levels of emotion and age.</p><p><b>METHOD: </b>Using data from a daily diary study of 138 adults (age 40 to 65 years), we consider how item selection, response scale, choice of diversity index, and number of occasions enable/constrain mapping to theory, measurement reliability, and empirical inquiry.</p><p><b>RESULTS: </b>Item selection and response scale had limited influence on rank-order differences in diversity. Reliable measurement (r ≥ .8) required a minimum of 6 to 12 occasions depending on choice of index, theoretical conception, study design, and distribution of diversity scores. The empirical findings suggest mean level of negative affect, rather than age, moderates the relation between negative emodiversity and health.</p><p><b>DISCUSSION: </b>This study provides recommendations for the calculation of diversity-type IIV constructs and illustrates the potential for study of emodiversity to contribute to understanding of successful aging.</p>

DOI10.1093/geronb/gbx025
Alternate JournalJ Gerontol B Psychol Sci Soc Sci
PubMed ID28379556
PubMed Central IDPMC5939690
Grant ListR01 HD076994 / HD / NICHD NIH HHS / United States
R01 AG026006 / AG / NIA NIH HHS / United States
UL1 TR002014 / TR / NCATS NIH HHS / United States
R24 HD041025 / HD / NICHD NIH HHS / United States
UL1 TR000127 / TR / NCATS NIH HHS / United States