Everyday social interactions and momentary affective experiences in late-middle aged and older Chinese : using ecological momentary assessment (EMA) to distinguish between-person and within-person relationships

Abstract

Background: Interpersonal environment plays an important role in shaping affective experience during the late adulthood. Most of prior research has focused on how the differences in individuals’ overall social relations contribute to affective well-being on a global time-frame. However, it remains unclear that whether and how, within individuals, specific features of social interactions are related to momentary affective experiences on short time-scales.

Objectives: The first primary objective of this study was to develop a mobile-based ecological momentary assessment (EMA) protocol to collect data of social and affective experiences that naturally occur to older people in daily life. The second primary objective was to use the developed EMA protocol to address research questions regarding the between- and within-person relationships of the occurrence and appraisal of social interactions with momentary affect. Methods: The design and implementation of a mobile-based EMA research protocol was presented, followed by an evaluation of this protocol’s feasibility and usability among older people. Using the developed protocol, 78 community-dwelling older adults provided up to seven EMA surveys per day to report on the occurrence of social interactions, their satisfaction with interaction, and positive and negative affect during a one-week period. Multilevel modelling was used for testing the between- and within-person covariation of social interactions and affect and the lagged relations between social interactions and affect.

Results: Participants reported a total number of 3,822 observations (a compliance rate of 91.5% of all assessments), and rated their experiences working on this protocol as relatively pleasant. On a between-person basis, people who had more frequent and more satisfactory interactions also reported a higher average level of HPA. At the within-person level, people experienced greater high- and low- arousal positive affect (HPA and LPA) and fewer high- and low-arousal negative affect (HNA and LNA) when they perceived a social interaction as more satisfactory than usual. Having social interactions at the prior occasion predicted greater HPA but fewer LPA two hours later. Lower interaction satisfaction at the prior occasion predicted greater HNA and LNA two hours later, and the experience of increased HNA and LNA subsequently predicted lower interaction satisfaction at the following interaction. Discussion: Our study extends existing research by separating the between- and within-person relationships theorized to be occurring in momentary social and affective experiences. On a between-person basis, the positive effect of social interactions was reflected by its connection with a higher average level of HPA. At the within-person level, both the occurrence of and the satisfaction with social interaction has been linked with more favorable affective responses. Interestingly, a lack of social interaction was not necessarily harmful because it played a role in promoting LPA. Furthermore, the mutual reinforcement of negative affect and lower interaction satisfaction was significant, suggesting the reciprocal pattern of negative appraisals of social environment and negative affective experiences. Our findings may direct clinical attentions to the dynamic interplay of social and affective experiences and inform the development of programs that aimed to promote healthier social environments for older adults’ maintenance of affective well-being.