Using the EZ-diffusion model to score a single-category implicit association test of physical activity

Objective: The Single-Category Implicit Association Test (SC-IAT) has been used as a method for assessing automatic evaluations of physical activity, but measurement artifact or consciously held attitudes could be confounding the outcome scores of these measures. The objective of these two studies was to address these measurement concerns by testing the validity of a novel SC-IATscoring technique. Design: Study 1 was a cross-sectional study, and study 2 was a prospective study. Method: In study 1, undergraduate students (N = 104) completed SC-IATs for physical activity, flowers, and sedentary behavior. In study 2, undergraduate students (N = 91) completed a SC-IAT for physical activity, self-reported affective and instrumental attitudes toward physical activity, physical activity intentions, and wore an accelerometer for two weeks. The EZ-diffusion model was used to decompose the SC-IAT into three process component scores including the information processing efficiency score. Results: In study 1, a series of structural equation model comparisons revealed that the information processing score did not share variability across distinct SC-IATs, suggesting it does not represent systematic measurement artifact. In study 2, the information processing efficiency score was shown to be unrelated to self-reported affective and instrumental attitudes toward physical activity, and positively related to physical activity behavior, above and beyond the traditional D-score of the SC-IAT. Conclusions: The information processing efficiency score is a valid measure of automatic evaluations of physical activity

Unpacking the feel-good effect of free-time physical activity : between- and within-person associations with pleasant-activated feeling states

Physical activity is a widely accessible and effective tool for improving well-being. This study aimed to unpack the feel-good effects of free-time physical activity. Multilevel models were applied to repeated measures of daily free-time physical activity and four types of feeling states obtained from 190 undergraduate students. Physical activity was not associated with pleasant-deactivated, unpleasant- activated, or unpleasant-deactivated feelings. People who were more physically active overall had higher pleasant-activated feelings than people who were less physically active, and on days when people were more physically active than was typical for them, they reported higher levels of pleasant-activated feelings. Both the between- and within-person associations remained significant after controlling for day of week, sleep quality, and carryover effects of previous day free-time physical activity and feeling states. Results suggest that both increases in overall levels and acute bouts of free-time physical activity are associated with increases in feelings of pleasant-activation

Tethering theory to method : using measures of lntraindividual variability to operationalize individuals' dynamic characteristics

Within-person changes in behavior that manifest on relatively short timescales are indicative of, and can be used to, measure and model a variety of dynamic constructs. In particular, observations obtained from the same individuals at closely spaced intervals (e.g., seconds, minutes, hours,days, weeks) can be used as indicators of individuals' inherent capacity for change, or dynamic characteristics, and systematic patterns of change that describe behavioral transformations, or dynamic processes (Ram & Gerstorf,2009). Intensive repeated-measures data are a central feature of diary, ecological momentary assessment (EMA), ambulatory, and other intensive longitudinal study designs wherein multiple reports or assessments are obtained over a relatively short span of time (e.g., Bolger, Davis, & Rafaeli,2003; Csikszentmihalyi & Larson, 1987; Shiffman, Stone, & Hufford, 2008;Walls & Schafe r, 2006). In this chapter, we illustrate how quantifications of intraindividual variability, as summaries of intensive repeated-measures data, can be used to examine dynamic characteristics. First, we introduce a set of theories/ constructs (i.e., lability, diversity, polarity, complexity) that can be used to articulate individuals' capacity for change in many domains of inquiry (e.g., emotional experience, interpersonal behavior). Second, we review a set of methods/ mathematical descriptions that, when applied to intensive repeated-measures data, can be used to quantify intraindividual variability. Third, we introduce a set of empirical data and illustrate how the set of theoretical constructs can be explicitly tethered to the mathematical descriptions of those data to examine individuals' dynamic characteristics. Finally, we highlight aspects of theory and study design that hold particular import for the tethering of dynamic constructs to intensive repeated measures data

Bursts of self-conscious emotions in the daily lives of emerging adults

Self-conscious emotions play a role in regulating daily achievement strivings, social behavior, and health, but little is known about the processes underlying their daily manifestation. Emerging adults (n = 182) completed daily diaries for 8 days and multilevel models were estimated to evaluate whether, how much, and why their emotions varied from day to day. Within-person variation in authentic pride was normally distributed across people and days, whereas the other emotions were burst-like and characterized by zero-inflated, negative binomial distributions. Perceiving social interactions as generally communal increased the odds of hubristic pride activation and reduced the odds of guilt activation; daily communal behavior reduced guilt intensity. Results illuminated processes through which meaning about the self in relation to others is constructed during a critical period of development

Enriching psychological assessment using a person-specific analysis of interpersonal processes in daily life

We present a series of methods and approaches for clinicians interested in tracking their individual patients over time and inthe natural settings of their daily lives. The application of person-specific analyses to intensive repeated measurement data can assess some aspects of persons that are distinct from the valuable results obtained from single-occasion assessments. Guided by interpersonal theory, we assess a psychotherapy patient’s interpersonal processes as they unfold in his dailylife. We highlight specific contexts that change these processes, use an informant report to examine discrepancies in his reported interpersonal processes, and examine how his interpersonal processes differ as a function of varying levels ofself-esteem and anger. We advocate for this approach to complement existing psychological assessments and provide a scoring program to facilitate initial implementation

Pathological narcissism and interpersonal behavior in daily life

The cognitive–affective processing system (CAPS) has been proposed as a useful metaframework for integrating contextual differences in situations with individual differences in personality pathology. In this article, we evaluated the potential of combining the CAPS metaframework and contemporary interpersonal theory to investigate how individual differences in pathological narcissism influenced interpersonal functioning in daily life. University students (N = 184) completed event-contingent reports about interpersonal interactions across a 7-day diary study. Using multilevel regression models, we found that combinations of narcissistic expression (grandiosity, vulnerability) were associated with different interpersonal behavior patterns reflective of interpersonal dysfunction. These results are among the first to empirically demonstrate the usefulness of the CAPS model to conceptualize personality pathology through the patterning of if–then interpersonal processes. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved

Within-person covariation of agentic and communal perceptions : implications for interpersonal theory and assessment

Interpersonal theory identifies agency and communion as uncorrelated (orthogonal) dimensions, largely evidenced by research examining between-person analyses of single-occasion measures. However, longitudinal studies of interpersonal behavior demonstrated the within-person association of agency and communion is not orthogonal for many individuals, and between-person differences in these associations relate to adjustment. We applied a similar approach to investigate the association of interpersonal perceptions. 184 university students completed a 7-day event-contingent study of their interpersonal experiences. Using multilevel regression models, we demonstrated that agentic and communal perceptions were positively associated, and the strength of this within-person association was moderated by between-person scores of dependency and narcissism. We discuss the benefits of incorporating within-person interpersonal associations (termed interpersonal covariation) into interpersonal theory and assessment

Interpersonal dependency and emotion in every day life

We expand upon the interpersonal-CAPS framework by examining how dependency moderates the within-person association of interpersonal perceptions and emotions. 184 university students completed a 7-day diary study, reporting on how they perceived their interaction partners and emotions during that interaction. Multilevel regression models were used to examine the associations between interpersonal perceptions and emotions, moderated by interpersonal dependency. For participants with higher dependency, perceiving others as more submissive and unfriendly than usual was associated with decreased positive emotional valance, while perceiving others as dominant and unfriendly in general was associated with less emotional activation. These results are organized using the interpersonal-CAPS framework to articulate dependent personality dynamics, particularly the unique perceptions,expectations, and costs of relying upon unfriendly-dominant other

A daily analysis of physical activity and satisfaction with life in emerging adults

Objective: Subjective well-being has well-established positive health consequences. During emerging adulthood, from ages 18 to 25 years, people’s global evaluations of their well-being (i.e., satisfaction with life [SWL]) appear to worsen more than any other time in the adult life span, indicating that this population would benefit from strategies to enhance SWL. In these studies, we investigated top-down (i.e., time-invariant, trait-like) and bottom-up (i.e., time-varying, state-like) influences of physical activity (PA) on daily SWL. Methods: Two daily diary studies lasting 8 days (N = 190) and 14 days (N = 63) were conducted with samples of emerging adults enrolled in college to evaluate relations between daily PA and SWL while controlling for established and plausible top-down and bottom-up influences on SWL. Results: In both studies, multilevel models indicated that people reported greater SWL on days when they were more active (a within-person, bottom-up effect). Top-down effects of PA were not significant in either study. These findings were robust when we controlled for competing top-down influences (e.g., sex, personality traits, self-esteem, body mass index, mental health symptoms, fatigue) and bottom-up influences (e.g., daily self-esteem, daily mental health symptoms, daily fatigue). Conclusions: We concluded that SWL was impacted by people’s daily PA rather than their trait level of PA over time. These findings extend evidence that PA is a health behavior with important consequences for daily well-being and should be considered when developing national policies to enhance SWL

Daily physical activity and alcohol use across the adult lifespan

Objective: In contrast to proposals that physical activity (PA) can be a substitute for alcohol use, people who engage in greater overall PA generally consume more alcohol on average than less-active peers. Acknowledging that both PA and alcohol use vary considerably from day-to-day, this study evaluated whether established associations reflect daily behavioral coupling within-person, are an artifact of procedures that aggregate behavior over time, or both. Methods: A life span sample of 150 adults (aged19 – 89 years) completed three 21-day measurement bursts of a daily diary study. At the end of each day, they reported on their PA and alcohol consumption. Data were analyzed in a negative binomial multilevel regression. Results: As expected, both behaviors exhibited limited between-person variation. After controlling for age, gender, and seasonal and social calendar influences, daily deviations in PA were significantly associated with daily total alcohol use. Once the within-person process linking PA and alcohol use was controlled, usual PA and total alcohol use were not associated. Conclusions: The established between-person association linking PA and alcohol use reflects the aggregation of a daily process that unfolds within-people over time. Further work is needed to identify mediators of this daily association and to evaluate causality, as well as to investigate these relations in high-risk samples