Decentering from Emotions in Daily Life: Dynamic Associations with Affect, Symptoms, and Wellbeing.

Decentering is thought to be protective against a range of psychological symptoms, but little is known about the outcomes of decentering as a momentary state in daily life. We used ecological momentary assessment (42 reports across one week) to examine the temporal ordering of the associations of decentering with affect, dysphoria, participant-specific idiographic symptoms, and wellbeing. We also hypothesized that greater decentering predicts less inertia (persistence) of each variable, and weakens the association of affect with dysphoria, idiographic symptoms, and wellbeing. Results in 345 community participants indicated that decentering and these variables were mutually reinforcing over time, and that greater decentering was associated with less inertia of negative affect and dysphoria. Decentering generally predicted reduced impact of positive and negative affect on dysphoria symptoms, but results were mixed when predicting idiographic symptoms or wellbeing. Clinical implications and refinements for theory on decentering are discussed.

Daily experiences and adolescent affective wellbeing during the COVID-19 pandemic: The CHESS model.

The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in adolescents' increased exposure to daily experiences of risk factors for depression and anxiety (e.g., loneliness). Intensive longitudinal studies examining daily experiences during the pandemic have revealed short-term and long-term consequences on youth mental health. Although evidence suggests small average increases in adolescent depression and anxiety, most of the story is in variability: increases are higher for youth and families with greater pre-existing mental health vulnerabilities and fewer socioeconomic resources, whereas increases are lower when social or financial support and positive coping and health behaviors are available and employed. Public health and economic policies should be mindful of youth mental health risks and actively promote known mental health supports, including family economic resources, access to mental healthcare, and social connection.

Dysphoria and well-being in daily life: Development and validation of ecological momentary assessment scales.

Assessment of internalizing symptoms has generally relied on cross-sectional and retrospective self-reports, but ecological momentary assessment (EMA) is increasingly used to capture quick fluctuations in symptoms, enhance ecological validity, and improve recall accuracy. However, there are very few measures of internalizing symptoms that have been validated for use in EMA designs. In Study 1, we chose candidate items for EMA short forms of the Dysphoria and Well-Being scales from the Inventory of Depression and Anxiety Symptoms (IDAS), based on principal factor analyses and internal consistency analyses conducted on aggregated cross-sectional datasets (total N = 8,876). In Study 2, we tested the items using an EMA design in a sample of college students (N = 279) oversampled for elevated neuroticism. Scale structure, reliability, and convergent and discriminant validity (regarding baseline IDAS scales, baseline affect, and EMA affect) were evaluated at the within- and between-person levels using multilevel structural equation modeling. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses in separate subsamples revealed the expected two-factor structure, yielding a four-item Well-Being scale and a five-item Dysphoria scale. Both scales showed acceptable to good internal consistency, strong convergent validity, and generally adequate discriminant validity. However, some associations of the new scales with EMA affect (i.e., Dysphoria with negative affect; Well-Being with positive affect) were very strong at the between-person level, such that they were not empirically distinct. Overall, this study provides an initial validation of brief EMA-IDAS Dysphoria and Well-Being scales that can be used in research or clinical settings, with particular utility for capturing within-person, dynamic effects. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

Ecological validity of trait emotion regulation strategy measures.

Research on emotion regulation (ER) strategies has often relied on trait self-report measures, where individuals retrospectively report their tendency to engage in a specific strategy. Although this method is convenient and useful in many clinical and research settings, it is subject to a number of response and memory biases and may not accurately reflect ER as it is naturalistically employed in daily life. We examined the ecological validity of 10 self-report measures of ER strategies (i.e., acceptance, behavioral avoidance, experiential avoidance, expressive suppression, procrastination, reappraisal, reflection, rumination, savoring, social support) with their reported daily use in intensive longitudinal designs in two samples (109 students, 135 treatment-seeking adults). Zero-order correlations revealed convergence between most trait measures and their daily ER strategy counterparts. However, analyses evaluating the specificity of trait measures in their associations with daily ER strategies (both zero-order and multivariate) did not support trait measures' discriminant validity. Rather, correlations between trait measures and factors of the between-person variance in daily ER strategies suggest that most ER trait measures may reflect broader tendencies to use or not use avoidance strategies in daily life. Implications for research using trait measures of ER strategies and recommendations for ER strategy assessment are discussed. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).

A comparison of decentering across demographic groups and meditation experience: Support for the measurement invariance of the Experiences Questionnaire.

Theory and prior research suggests that decentering-an objective, distanced perspective on one's internal experiences-may vary based upon characteristics such as age, gender, race/ethnicity, and meditation experience. However, little is known about whether decentering measures are comparable in their meaning and interpretation when administered to individuals with different group membership (e.g., men or women; younger or older adults, etc.). The current study examined the measurement invariance of the Experiences Questionnaire (Fresco et al., 2007), a commonly used measure of decentering, evaluating age, gender, race/ethnicity, and meditation experience in three samples (students, community members, and clinical participants). Each sample was tested separately to assess the generalizability of results. The Experiences Questionnaire demonstrated full or partial measurement invariance in all cases, suggesting that scores are not biased based upon group membership and may be compared across individuals who vary in age, race/ethnicity, gender, and meditation experience. The current study also examined mean differences in decentering by groups, finding some evidence that decentering scores are higher for men, racial/ethnic minorities, older adults, and individuals with more meditation experiences. Implications are discussed for assessing decentering in diverse samples. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).

The contributions of affective traits and emotion regulation to internalizing disorders: Current state of the literature and measurement challenges.

Dysfunctional affective processes are central to the experience of internalizing disorders (e.g., depression, anxiety, and related disorders). Specifically, extreme positive affect and elevated negative affect each have unique and robust patterns of associations with internalizing symptoms. This article examines affect as both an individual difference and a within-person dynamic process that unfolds over time. Recent research is reviewed that clarifies the hierarchical structure of affect and facet-level associations with symptoms, affect-laden traits that confer risk for internalizing psychopathology, models of emotion regulation, and how emotion regulation abilities and strategies contribute to or detract from psychological well-being. Several measurement challenges in this literature are identified and discussed, including possible conceptual and content overlap, mood-state distortion, naturalistic assessment in daily life, and the benefits and limitations of self-reported affective experience. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2018 APA, all rights reserved).

The structure of common emotion regulation strategies: A meta-analytic examination.

Emotion regulation has been examined extensively with regard to important outcomes, including psychological and physical health. However, the literature includes many different emotion regulation strategies but little examination of how they relate to one another, making it difficult to interpret and synthesize findings. The goal of this meta-analysis was to examine the underlying structure of common emotion regulation strategies (i.e., acceptance, behavioral avoidance, distraction, experiential avoidance, expressive suppression, mindfulness, problem solving, reappraisal, rumination, worry), and to evaluate this structure in light of theoretical models of emotion regulation. We also examined how distress tolerance-an important emotion regulation ability -relates to strategy use. We conducted meta-analyses estimating the correlations between emotion regulation strategies (based on 331 samples and 670 effect sizes), as well as between distress tolerance and strategies. The resulting meta-analytic correlation matrix was submitted to confirmatory and exploratory factor analyses. None of the confirmatory models, based on prior theory, was an acceptable fit to the data. Exploratory factor analysis suggested that 3 underlying factors best characterized these data. Two factors-labeled Disengagement and Aversive Cognitive Perseveration-emerged as strongly correlated but distinct factors, with the latter consisting of putatively maladaptive strategies. The third factor, Adaptive Engagement, was a less unified factor and weakly related to the other 2 factors. Distress tolerance was most closely associated with low levels of repetitive negative thought and experiential avoidance, and high levels of acceptance and mindfulness. We discuss the theoretical implications of these findings and applications to emotion regulation assessment. (PsycINFO Database Record