Within-person variability in state anxiety across adulthood: Magnitude and associations with between-person correlates
Document Type
Article
Keywords
adult lifespan; emotion; intraindividual variability; mood
Disciplines
Psychology | Social and Behavioral Sciences
Abstract
Across domains of functioning, research has shown substantial within-person variability in a number of different types of variables from one measurement occasion to another. Using data obtained from a large sample (n = 784, 18–97 years) at three separate occasions, we examined properties and correlates of short-term variability in a construct that by definition is prone to fluctuations, namely state anxiety. Our results revealed that participants exhibited sizeable across-occasion variation in state anxiety. The magnitude of variability was unrelated to age, but was associated with a number of individual difference characteristics such as self-reported health, aspects of personality, well-being, and cognition. However, after taking into account mean-level differences in state anxiety, evidence for unique associations of variability was minimal.
Article Number
1106
Publication Date
2009
Recommended Citation
Gerstorf, D., Siedlecki, K.L., Tucker-Drob, E. M., & Salthouse, T. A. (2009). Within-person variability in state anxiety across adulthood: Magnitude and associations with between-person correlates. International Journal of Behavioral Development, 33, 55-64.
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