Ups and Downs of Daily Life: Age Effects on the Impact of Daily Appraisal Variability on Depressive Symptoms

Day-to-day variability in appraisals has emerged as an index of emotion regulation and overall well-being; there is also evidence that such emotion regulation processes change with age. We investigate the impact of day-to-day variability in positive and negative event appraisals on depressive sympto...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The journals of gerontology. Series B, Psychological sciences and social sciences Psychological sciences and social sciences, 2014-05, Vol.69 (3), p.387-396
Main Authors: WHITEHEAD, Brenda R, BERGEMAN, Cindy S
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adult
Adult and adolescent clinical studies
Affect - physiology
Age differences
Aged
Aging - psychology
Biological and medical sciences
Cognition & reasoning
Depression
Depression - psychology
Emotions
Female
Health Surveys
Humans
Individuality
Male
Medical sciences
Mental depression
Middle Aged
Miscellaneous
Mood disorders
Original Research Report
Psychiatric Status Rating Scales
Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry
Psychopathology. Psychiatry
Self control
Self-Assessment
Stress, Psychological - psychology
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Summary:Day-to-day variability in appraisals has emerged as an index of emotion regulation and overall well-being; there is also evidence that such emotion regulation processes change with age. We investigate the impact of day-to-day variability in positive and negative event appraisals on depressive symptoms, focusing on (a) how variability and mean appraisal characteristics interact to impact well-being and (b) whether these effects differ by age. Participants from the Notre Dame Study of Health & Well-Being (aged 40-75 years, N = 654) completed daily diaries for up to 56 days, along with a global survey. Measures included daily data on life events and appraisals and global assessments of depressive symptoms (Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression scale) and neuroticism. Both mean and variability components of daily positive and negative event appraisals predict global depressive symptoms; mean and variability interactions were also significant. The negative appraisal effects became less pronounced with age. Findings suggest that those in later life are better able to manage the impact that their cognitive and emotional responses to daily stressors have on depressive symptoms. The results also highlight the importance of examining daily variability-in addition to mean levels-in understanding the impact of daily events and appraisals on well-being.
ISSN:1079-5014
1758-5368
DOI:10.1093/geronb/gbt019