Contribution of Emotion Dynamics to Adolescent Psychosocial Well-Being: Protocol for a Longitudinal Study.

The study enrolled 149 adolescents aged 14-17 years from Southwestern Ontario between April 2023 and November 2024.

• Participants were recruited from Southwestern Ontario.
• Enrollment period spanned approximately 19 months, from April 2023 to November 2024.
• All participants are scheduled to complete 18 months of longitudinal follow-up assessments by May 2026.
• Age range was 14-17 years at time of enrollment.

The study uses a 35-day smartphone-based daily diary protocol with twice-daily assessments to capture naturalistic affective experiences.

• Participants reported twice daily: in the morning (7-10 AM) and in the evening (8-11 PM).
• Daily diary measures included positive and negative affect, stress, and internalizing symptom severity.
• The 35-day protocol was completed following baseline assessment.
• The daily diary procedure was designed to capture adolescents' daily naturalistic affective experiences.

The study assesses five dynamic patterns of emotion: mean intensity, variability, instability, inertia, and reactivity to stress in both positive and negative affect.

• These dynamic indices are distinguished from traditional, static assessment approaches.
• Both positive and negative affect are assessed for each of the five dynamic patterns.
• Affective reactivity to daily stress is specifically included as a dynamic parameter.
• The study aims to provide insights into affective processes that predict psychosocial well-being beyond static measures.

Baseline assessments cover three broad domains of psychosocial well-being: mental health, social well-being, and academic motivation.

• Mental health measures include anxiety syndrome severity.
• Social well-being measures include social support and loneliness.
• Academic motivation measures include extrinsic motivation.
• Baseline surveys are repeated at 6, 12, and 18 months following baseline assessment to assess change over time.

Primary analyses will employ multilevel modeling, structural equation modeling, multilevel structural equation modeling, and dynamic structural equation modeling.

• These analytic approaches are designed to examine how dynamic patterns in positive and negative affect concurrently correlate with psychopathology and well-being.
• Analyses will also prospectively predict change in psychopathology and well-being over time.
• Dynamic structural equation modeling is specifically included to handle the intensive longitudinal daily diary data.
• The study protocol paper is described as promoting transparency and reproducibility.

The study aims to clarify implications of dynamic affective processing for adolescent psychopathology and well-being beyond clinical syndromes.

• The study is framed around adolescence as a critical period marked by heightened emotion regulation demands and increased vulnerability to stress.
• The integration of daily diary methodology within a longitudinal design is described as providing novel insights beyond traditional static assessment.
• The study specifically targets prediction of change in psychosocial well-being over time, not just concurrent associations.
• Affective reactivity to daily stress is highlighted as a key dynamic process of interest.