The naturalistic reinforcement of worry from positive and negative emotional contrasts: Results from a momentary assessment study within social interactions
Background: The Contrast Avoidance Model (Newman & Llera, 2011) proposes that worry is reinforced by avoiding a negative contrast and increasing the likelihood of a positive contrast. Objective: To determine if reinforcement of worry occurs naturalistically via contrasts in both negative and positive emotion. Method: Using event-contingent momentary assessment we assessed social interactions, pre-interaction state worry and pre-post interaction positive and negative emotion. Participants with generalized anxiety disorder (GAD; N = 83) completed an online questionnaire after social interactions lasting at least 1 min for 8 days. Three-level multilevel models were conducted. Results: Higher worry was concurrently associated with increased negative emotion and decreased positive emotion. Regardless of pre-interaction worry level, negative emotion decreased, and positive emotion increased from before to after interactions, suggesting that most interactions were benign or positive. At lower levels of pre-interaction worry, participants experienced increased negative emotion and decreased positive emotion from before to after interactions. At higher levels of pre-interaction worry, participants experienced decreased negative emotion and increased positive emotion from before to after interactions. Conclusion: Among persons with GAD, worrying before social interactions may be both negatively and positively reinforced; furthermore, not worrying before social interactions may be both negatively and positively punished.
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Work Title | The naturalistic reinforcement of worry from positive and negative emotional contrasts: Results from a momentary assessment study within social interactions |
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License | CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 (Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives) |
Work Type | Article |
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Publication Date | September 22, 2022 |
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Deposited | February 17, 2023 |
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