title: Ups and downs of daily life: age effects on the impact of daily appraisal variability on depressive symptoms.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  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.
  
  
  METHODS
  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.
  
  
  RESULTS
  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.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  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.
authors.affiliation: Address correspondence to Brenda R. Whitehead, Department of Psychology, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN 46556. E-mail: Brenda.R.Whitehead.9@nd.edu.
authors.forename: Brenda R
authors.initials: BR
authors.lastname: Whitehead
authors.forename: Cindy S
authors.initials: CS
authors.lastname: Bergeman
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000339:Affect / Q000502:physiology; D000368:Aged; D000375:Aging / Q000523:psychology*; D003863:Depression / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D007206:Individuality; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D012647:Self-Assessment; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000523:psychology*
keywords: Appraisal; Daily stressors; Depression; Intra-individual variability.
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