“No Time for Myself”: Personality Moderates Associations Between Positive Solitude and Parental Well-being

“No Time for Myself”: Personality Moderates Associations Between Positive Solitude and Parental Well-being | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Article “No Time for Myself”: Personality Moderates Associations Between Positive Solitude and Parental Well-being Theresa Pauly This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-7200119/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Published Journal Publication published 12 Jan, 2026 Read the published version in Communications Psychology → Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract This study aimed to examine whether daily experiences of positive solitude—defined as time to oneself—relate to lower negative affect and healthier cortisol patterns in parents of underage children, and whether personality traits moderate these associations. A sample of 318 parents (Mage = 40.06 years; 45% male) with underage children completed up to 8 consecutive days of daily diaries (mood, positive solitude, stress exposure) and up to 4 days of saliva sampling (4 times/day) for cortisol analysis. Multilevel modeling examined within-person links between positive solitude, negative affect, and cortisol wake-evening slopes, controlling for daily stress. Results showed that on days when they had time to themselves, parents experienced lower negative affect and steeper cortisol slopes, indicating better stress recovery. The reduction in negative affect with positive solitude was stronger for parents high in neuroticism and openness, and high neuroticism was also linked with a stronger association between solitude and cortisol slopes. Findings underscore the potential restorative value of daily positive solitude for parents, particularly those high in neuroticism and openness. In the context of the high demands of parenting, positive solitude may serve as a valuable resource for emotional renewal, self-care, self-connection, and recovery from daily parenting stress. Social science/Psychology/Human behaviour Health sciences/Biomarkers Full Text Additional Declarations There is NO Competing Interest. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Published Journal Publication published 12 Jan, 2026 Read the published version in Communications Psychology → Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. 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Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-7200119","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":492465590,"identity":"4a0a587f-ba3a-45c2-9006-056afeec5780","order_by":0,"name":"Theresa Pauly","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAA6UlEQVRIiWNgGAWjYDACCQST8QBDBQM/QR08SFoYDjCcYZBsIE0LYxsRWuylm499+PDHjsGc/YzBYd55dRIGB5gffsBri8yx5Jkz25IZLHtygFq2HQZqYTOWwKtFIseYmbeBmcHgAFjLgTqDAzwMBLTkf2b+86eeweD8G6CWOSCH8TD/IGALMzMD22EGgxsgWxqYQVrY8NtyI82YsbftOIPljGcFB+ccOywheZjNzAKfFvYZyY8ZfvypZjDnT9744E1NnQTf8ebHN/BpgYH6DUCCiQfEZCZGPQgYADEjXm+PglEwCkbBiAUAk9VHB7mtngcAAAAASUVORK5CYII=","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6855-1787","institution":"Simon Fraser University","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Theresa","middleName":"","lastName":"Pauly","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2025-07-24 00:10:17","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-7200119/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-7200119/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[{"content":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s44271-026-00396-w","type":"published","date":"2026-01-12T05:00:00+00:00"}],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":102654808,"identity":"3d8099db-5c59-4f8d-ab87-8bbf53c20417","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2026-02-14 08:10:32","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":689620,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"manuscript.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-7200119/v1_covered_d52faaf5-8fe7-40ec-96a7-8ba6a34de7d4.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"There is \u003cb\u003eNO\u003c/b\u003e Competing Interest.","formattedTitle":"“No Time for Myself”: Personality Moderates Associations Between Positive Solitude and Parental Well-being","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":false,"hideJournal":false,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":true,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"nature-portfolio","isNatureJournal":true,"hasQc":false,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"","title":"Nature Portfolio","twitterHandle":"","acdcEnabled":false,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"ejp","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":false},"keywords":"","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-7200119/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-7200119/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003cp\u003eThis study aimed to examine whether daily experiences of positive solitude—defined as time to oneself—relate to lower negative affect and healthier cortisol patterns in parents of underage children, and whether personality traits moderate these associations. 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