title: Negative affect is associated with reporting of both own and others' symptoms.
abstract: Negative affectivity (NA) has been defined as the disposition to experience and communicate negative emotional states. NA has been shown to correlate with self-reports of physical symptoms. This study examined whether NA is also correlated with the informant-reporting of another person's symptoms. In two separate studies (N = 200, N = 159), students completed questionnaire measures of their own NA and of affect and symptoms in a significant other. In the second study, participants additionally reported on their own symptoms. In study one, participants' NA was correlated with their reports of a significant others' symptoms (r = .315, p = .000), which remained significant after controlling for the effect of gender (r = .227, p = .004). In study two, participants' NA was correlated with reports of their own (r = .338, p = .000) and others' (r = .216, p = .006) symptoms, particularly when symptoms were non-specific in nature (r = .221, p = .001). The correlation between informant-reports of others' affect and others' symptoms (r = .312, p = .000) remained significant (r = .256, p = .001) when self-reported NA was partialled out. When obtaining informant-reports on others' health it may be important to measure the informant's affective state, particularly when the information being sought is non-specific in nature. Limitations of the study, implications of its findings and possibilities for further research involving dyads each reporting on themselves and each other are discussed.
authors.affiliation: a School of Psychological Sciences , University of Manchester , Manchester , UK.
authors.forename: Lee D
authors.initials: LD
authors.lastname: Mulligan
authors.forename: Flora
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Christie
authors.forename: Harpreet
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kangura
authors.forename: Misha
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Pankhania
authors.forename: Stephanie
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sambrook
authors.forename: Hayley
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Samson
authors.forename: Charlotte
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Steadman
authors.forename: Francesca
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Alison
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Wearden
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000342:Affective Symptoms / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D008297:Male; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: informant reports; negative affect; symptoms