Intraindividual change and variability in daily stress processes: findings from two measurement-burst diary studies
Open accessAbstract
There is little longitudinal information on aging-related changes in emotional responses to negative events. In the present article, we examined intraindividual change and variability in the within-person coupling of daily stress and negative affect using data from 2 measurement-burst daily diary studies. Three main findings emerged. First, average reactivity to daily stress increased longitudinally, and this increase was evident across most of the adult lifespan. Second, individual differences in emotional reactivity to daily stress exhibited long-term temporal stability, but this stability was greatest in midlife and decreased in old age. Third, reactivity to daily stress varied reliably within-persons (across-time), with individuals exhibiting higher levels of reactivity during times when reporting high levels of global subject stress in the previous month. Taken together, the present results emphasize the importance of modeling dynamic psychosocial and aging processes that operate across different time scales for understanding age-related changes in daily stress processes.
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Most studies of intra-individual emotion variability fail to consider gender or attempt to statistically control for it.
“most studies of intra-individual emotion variability simply fail to consider gender or attempt to statistically “control” for it20–28.”
From Little evidence for sex or ovarian hormone influences on affective variability (2021) · cites this paper as [25]
The section “Modeling intraindividual variability in the stress-affect relationship” (page unavailable) says researchers often examine gender as a predictor of between-person differences in emotional reactivity. That runs contrary to the claim that most such studies either ignore gender or merely control for it. (LLM, conf=0.80)
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Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredThere is some stability in daily emotional stress responses, at least in midlife, and these may weaken with age.
“There is some stability in daily emotional stress responses, at least in midlife, and these may weaken with age (Sliwinski et al., 2009).”
From More than a feeling: A unified view of stress measurement for population science (2018) · cites this paper as Sliwinski et al., 2009
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More than a feeling: A unified view of stress measurement for population science
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“There is some stability in daily emotional stress responses, at least in midlife, and these may weaken with age (Sliwinski et al., 2009).”
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Little evidence for sex or ovarian hormone influences on affective variability
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Pięta-Lendzion, M., Rzeszutek, M., Tsukayama, E., Blackie, L. E. R., & Gruszczyńska, E. (2024) · Journal of Psychosomatic Research · doi:10.1016/j.jpsychores.2023.111552 · Cited by 6 · see citing works
- Authors
- Sliwinski, M. J., Almeida, D. M., Smyth, J., & Stawski, R. S.
- Affiliations
- Pennsylvania State University (US)
- Syracuse University (US)
- Venue
- Psychology and Aging
- Published
- 2009
- Volume
- 24
- Issue
- 4
- Pages
- 828-840
- ISSN
- 0882-7974 (ISSN-L)
- 1939-1498
- PMC
- PMC2857711
- OpenAlex
- W2166437214
- Cited by
- 241
- References
- 65
- Citations by year
- 2026: 11 · 2025: 15 · 2024: 14 · 2023: 16 · 2022: 20 · 2021: 21 · 2020: 18 · 2019: 18 · 2018: 17 · 2017: 10 · 2016: 13 · 2015: 16 · 2014: 9 · 2013: 21 · 2012: 12
- FWCI
- 8.97
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- Locations
- Psychology and Aging (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
- Funders
- National Institutes of Health (R01 AG12448; AG026728, P01 AG0210166-02; R01 AG19239; T32 MH018904, R01 AG026453)
- John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Neuropsychology and Physiological Psychology › Aging and Gerontology Research
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Mental Health Research Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Child and Adolescent Psychosocial and Emotional Development
- Keywords
- daily stress, negative affect, emotional reactivity, within-person variability, aging, longitudinal change, temporal stability, midlife, old age
- MeSH terms
- Adult, Age Factors, Aged, Aged, 80 and over, Aging, Female, Humans, Individuality, Life Change Events, Male, Medical Records, Middle Aged, Psychology, Surveys and Questionnaires, Stress, Psychological, Time Factors
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