Delayed Affective Recovery from Stress is Linked to Current but not Future Subclinical Anxiety Symptoms in Youth: an Experience Sampling Study

Key symptoms of anxiety include experiencing unpleasant emotions and hyperarousal. Growing evidence suggests the role of delayed affective recovery from stress (DAR) in their maintenance and development on a day-to-day basis. We aimed to investigate whether DAR is linked to current and future anxiety symptoms, independently of depressive symptoms. Self-reported anxiety and depressive symptoms were assessed twice: at Wave 1 (N=1031) and approximately 2.5 years later at Wave 2 (N=171) in a community sample of adolescents. Additionally, at Wave 1, Experience Sampling Method (ESM) was used. Participants reported their momentary affect and stressful occurrences 10 times a day, for six days. Using ESM data and a subtraction method, we construed two variables, i.e., affective valence and arousal reflecting the (un)pleasantness and (hyper)arousal associated with emotions. The time interval for affective recovery was estimated using parametric survival analysis. Prospective associations were tested with multiple regression. Slower valence recovery was associated with higher concurrent anxiety symptoms (p<.05) and this association remained present when controlling for depressive symptoms (p<.05). The same association was present for the arousal recovery, however only when depressive symptoms were added to the model (p<.05). We found no prospective association between the speed of valence nor arousal recovery at Wave 1 and anxiety symptoms at Wave 2. Our results suggest that DAR may be a concomitant process contributing to the maintenance of key anxiety symptoms, but not to their development. Our findings help identify the moments in the daily lives of youth, where potential interventions could be implemented.