Individual differences in wellbeing dynamics: a genetically-informed comparison of Ecological Momentary Assessment and longitudinal survey data

Variability in wellbeing over time is related to mental health and can be measured at different timescales. Long-term wellbeing dynamics, assessed via longitudinal surveys, capture stability and change over months or years, while short-term dynamics, via Ecological Momentary Assessment (EMA), provide insights over moments or days. We investigated wellbeing dynamics at different timescales, using longitudinal data (N=15,323, including 2784 complete twin pairs) and EMA data (N=817, including 149 complete twin pairs) from the Netherlands Twin Register. Individuals with higher overall wellbeing, based on the average of longitudinal surveys, had lower variability over years, while short-term variability over one week was unrelated to overall wellbeing. Twin models estimated the heritability of long-term wellbeing intensity and variability at 43% (95%CI: 39-46%) and 12% (95%CI: 8-17%), respectively. MZ twin correlations indicated genetic influences on short-term positive and negative affect intensity (rMZ=.51 and .42) and variability (rMZ=.37 and .18). Heritability estimates should be interpreted with caution because of limited complete twin pairs, but were 51%, 41%, and 38% for positive and negative affect intensity and positive affect variability, respectively, whereas negative affect variability was influenced by shared (22%) and unique environment (78%). These findings highlight the importance of examining wellbeing at different timescales.