title: Emotional Reactivity and Mortality: Longitudinal Findings From the VA Normative Aging Study.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Evidence suggests a predictive association between emotion and mortality risk. However, no study has examined dynamic aspects of emotion in relation to mortality. This study used an index of emotional reactivity, defined as changes in positive or negative affect in response to daily stressors, to predict 10-year survival.
  
  
  METHODS
  An 8-day daily diary study was conducted in 2002 on 181 men aged 58-88. Multilevel models were employed to estimate emotional reactivity coefficients, which were subsequently entered into a Cox proportional hazards model to predict mortality.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Results indicated that positive emotional reactivity, that is, greater decreases in positive affect in response to daily stressors, increased mortality risk. Negative emotional reactivity did not predict mortality.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Findings highlight the potential importance of dynamic aspects of positive affect in prediction of physical health outcomes such as mortality.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Weinberg College of Arts & Sciences, Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois. Department of Medical Social Sciences, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, Illinois. daniel.mroczek@northwestern.edu.
authors.forename: Daniel K
authors.initials: DK
authors.lastname: Mroczek
authors.affiliation: School of Social and Behavioral Health Sciences, Oregon State University, Corvallis.
authors.forename: Robert S
authors.initials: RS
authors.lastname: Stawski
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, University of Rochester Medical Center, New York.
authors.forename: Nicholas A
authors.initials: NA
authors.lastname: Turiano
authors.affiliation: Department of Human Development & Family Studies, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana.
authors.forename: Wai
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Chan
authors.affiliation: Department of Human Development & Family Studies and Center for Healthy Aging, Pennsylvania State University, University Park.
authors.forename: David M
authors.initials: DM
authors.lastname: Almeida
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, North Carolina State University, Raleigh.
authors.forename: Shevaun D
authors.initials: SD
authors.lastname: Neupert
authors.forename: Avron
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Spiro
mesh_terms: D000339:Affect / Q000502:physiology*; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000375:Aging / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000401:mortality* / Q000523:psychology*; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology; D014493:United States Department of Veterans Affairs / Q000706:statistics & numerical data
keywords: Emotion; Emotion Regulation; Longevity; Personality; Quantitative Methods.