1-146 - Momentary positive emotions and experiences in adolescence: Relations with depressive symptoms, anxiety, and resilience

Session Type: Paper Symposium

Integrative Statement

Adolescence is characterized by emotional turbulence. Although both positive and negative emotions are important for wellbeing, most research to date has focused on negative emotions. Hence, there is a need for studies that focus on the experience of positive emotions during adolescence. The present symposium focuses on (1) how positive affect (PA) is experienced by anxious and depressed adolescents and how these adolescents respond to positive experiences, and (2) whether resilience is a protective factor in adolescents’ emotional responses to daily hassles.
The three papers in this symposium represent experience sampling method (ESM) studies that elucidate the role of positive emotions and experiences. ESM allows for temporally accurate reports of adolescents’ momentary emotions and events. The first paper examines how clinically anxious youth experience PA in their daily life. Although anxious youth experienced less PA overall, they experienced higher PA in response to positive events and when with a close friend, compared to healthy youth. The second paper focuses on the relation between depressive symptoms and positive experiences in early and late adolescents. Although depressive symptoms were related to a lower proportion of positive experiences and higher variability in PA, the reactivity to positive experiences was not reduced in depressed adolescents. The third paper examines the protective role of resilience in adolescents’ experience of daily hassles and happiness. Resilient adolescents did not experience fewer hassles but did demonstrate smaller decreases in happiness on days with hassles compared with their less resilient peers, as well as higher daily happiness.

Sub Unit

• Social, Emotional, Personality

Chair

• Eeske van Roekel, University of Groningen

Discussant

• Bonnie L. Barber, Griffith University

Individual Presentations

• The Social Context of Positive Affect in Clinically Anxious Youth - Presenting Author: Judith K Morgan, University of Pittsburgh; Grace E. Lee, University of Pittsburgh; Danielle Gilchrist, University of Pittsburgh; Erika E Forbes, Univ. of Pittsburgh School of Medicine; Dana McMakin, University of Pittsburgh; Ronald E Dahl, University of California, Berkeley; Cecile D Ladouceur, University of Pittsburgh; Greg J. Siegle, University of Pittsburgh; Neal D. Ryan, University of Pittsburgh; Jennifer S. Silk, University of Pittsburgh

• Loss of Pleasure in Daily Life: Examining Relations Between Depressive Symptoms and Positive Experiences in Adolescents - Presenting Author: Eeske van Roekel, University of Groningen; Elise Bennik, University Medical Center Groningen; Jojanneke Bastiaansen, University Medical Center Groningen; Maaike Verhagen, Radboud University Nijmegen; Rutger Engels, Radboud University Nijmegen; Hans Ormel, University Medical Center Groningen; Albertine Oldehinkel, University of Groningen

• A Hassle for Some: Does Resilience Protect Against Decreases in Adolescents’ Happiness on Days with Hassles? - Presenting Author: Bep Uink, Murdoch University; Kathryn L. Modecki, Murdoch University; Bonnie L. Barber, Griffith University