TY - JOUR PY - 2017// TI - Daily emotional stress reactivity in emerging adulthood: temporal stability and its predictors JO - Anxiety, stress, and coping A1 - Howland, Maryhope A1 - Armeli, Stephen A1 - Feinn, Richard A1 - Tennen, Howard SP - 121 EP - 132 VL - 30 IS - 2 N2 - Background & Objectives: Emotional reactivity to stress is associated with both mental and physical health and has been assumed to be a stable feature of the person. However, recent evidence suggests that the within-person association between stress and negative affect (i.e., affective stress-reactivity) may increase over time and in times of high stress, at least in older adult populations. The objective of the current study was to examine the across-time stability of stress-reactivity in a younger sample - emerging adulthood - and examine neuroticism, overall stress, social support and life events as potential moderators of stability. Design & Methods: Undergraduate students (N = 540, mean age = 18.76 years) participated in a measurement burst design, completing a 30-day daily diary annually for four years. Moderators were assessed once at every burst, while negative affect and stress were assessed daily via a secure website.

RESULTS & Conclusions: Findings suggest a relatively high degree of rank-order and mean-level stability in stress-reactivity across the four years, and within-person changes in neuroticism and overall stress predicted concurrent shifts in stress-reactivity. Unlike older samples, there was no evidence of an overall linear change in stability over time, though there was significant variability in linear change trajectories.

Language: en

LA - en SN - 1061-5806 UR - http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/10615806.2016.1228904 ID - ref1 ER -