title: Within-subject covariation between depression- and anxiety-related affect.
abstract: Studies find a strong positive relationship between the affective components of anxiety and depression. However, most research thus far has examined the between-person correlations among these constructs, while ignoring how changes in these two types of affect covary over time within a person. Within-person correlations could differ meaningfully from how anxiety- and depression-related affect relate across individuals. Further, individuals may differ in terms of how highly these constructs covary over time. The current study aimed to (1) compare between- and within-person correlations between anxious and depressive affect, (2) examine lagged effects between anxious and depressive affect over time, (3) test whether individuals differ in their within-person correlations between these two types of affect, and (4) examine whether the mean level of affective intensity moderated these individual differences. These questions were explored using college undergraduates (N = 50) who rated their depression- and anxiety- related affect six times a day for two weeks. A higher average correlation was observed between anxious and depressive affect in between-person compared to within-person analyses. Significant bidirectional lagged effects were observed between these constructs. Individuals with higher average levels of anxious affect experienced stronger within-person correlations between anxious and depressive affect.
authors.affiliation: a Department of Psychology , Northwestern University , Evanston , IL , USA.
authors.forename: Deepika
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Anand
authors.affiliation: b Department of Psychological Sciences , Case Western Reserve University , Cleveland , OH , USA.
authors.forename: Joshua
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wilt
authors.affiliation: a Department of Psychology , Northwestern University , Evanston , IL , USA.
authors.forename: William
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Revelle
mesh_terms: D000339:Affect; D001007:Anxiety / Q000150:complications / Q000523:psychology*; D003863:Depression / Q000150:complications / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007206:Individuality; D008297:Male; D013997:Time Factors
keywords: Depression; anxiety; correlation; intra-individual; lagged effect; momentary sampling