The use of various coping strategies has important impacts on individuals' health and well-being. However, most of the coping literature continues to use variable-centred approaches that ignore unique within-person interactions among coping strategies, as well as change in these interactions over time. The present study sought to address these gaps by identifying coping profiles representing distinct interactions between a set of coping strategies and examining the stability of these profiles over time.

Daily interpersonal tensions, common sources of stress, have well-established links to adverse psychological and physiological health outcomes. This study examined whether daily interpersonal tensions differ from other stressors in their relations to threat appraisals and coping, and how adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) contribute to this process.

Ecological momentary assessments (EMA) have recently enabled the examination of near-term associations between interpersonal stressors and suicide risk. Yet, studies have typically considered the impact of negative relationship events (NREs) on subsequent suicidal ideation (SI) (i.e., stress exposure), with little research examining the impact of SI on subsequent NREs (i.e., stress generation). The present study examined next-day bidirectional associations between NREs and SI, as well as between NREs and interpersonal constructs linked to SI (thwarted belongingness, perceived burdensomeness).

Imagery is a common technique used to regulate stress and its associated emotions. Although imagery ability is proposed to influence imagery's effectiveness and be associated with stress-related outcomes, research has yet to identify profiles of positive and negative imagery ability.

Anxiety was prevalent among emerging adults during the COVID-19 pandemic. According to the Conservation of Resources Theory, our goal was to investigate the relations among emotional support, social interaction, COVID-19 news exposure and anxiety symptoms in emerging adults during the early COVID-19 pandemic.

The cortisol awakening response (CAR) refers to a phenomenon characterized by a significant increase in cortisol levels following morning awakening. Previous studies have shown that an aberrant CAR is associated with stress-related disorders. However, there is a lack of prospective longitudinal studies examining whether individual differences in the CAR can predict daily stress reactivity. In a sample of 68 healthy college students (23.5% female, Mage = 18.77, SD = 0.97), saliva samples were collected at 0, 15, 30, and 45 min after awakening on three consecutive days. The participants were then asked to report their daily perceived stress and daily negative affect for a period of 30 days, 18 months later, during the COVID-19-related lockdown in the region. The results indicated that a higher CAR at the beginning of the COVID pandemic was associated with lower levels of daily negative affect assessed 18 months later. Furthermore, the CAR modulated the link between daily perceived stress and negative affect. Specifically, individuals with a higher CAR were more reactive to perceived stress in their daily lives. The present findings provide insights into the psychobiological mechanisms that connect daily stress with mental health.

Inducing self-compassion has shown benefits for social anxiety. Typically, individuals focus on a past or upcoming stressful social situation generally with self-compassion writing prompts. The present research evaluated the possible benefits of focusing self-compassionate writing on maladaptive self-beliefs.

Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms are linked to increased engagement in reckless/self-destructive behaviors (RSDBs), with affect being a purported mechanism underlying this relationship. To extend such research in a high-risk and vulnerable population, the current study examined the mediating role of negative and positive affect levels in the association between PTSD symptom severity and RSDB engagement among firefighters. Participants were 149 firefighters ( = 39.93, 94.6% male) from the Dallas Fort Worth (DFW) area who completed a self-report survey on sociodemographic characteristics, negative and positive affect, engagement in RSDBs, and PTSD symptoms. Parallel mediation analysis indicated a significant indirect effect of PTSD symptom severity on RSDB engagement through higher levels of negative affect, ( path; β = 0.35,  < .001, 95% CI: [0.17, 0.48]). In a firefighter sample, negative affect (but not positive affect) levels partially explain associations between PTSD symptoms and RSDB engagement. It may be helpful to clinically target reducing negative affect (e.g., via distress tolerance and mindfulness skills) to improve PTSD symptoms and to lessen RSDB engagement. These findings inform a more nuanced understanding of the role of affective states in associations between PTSD symptoms and RSDBs.

Elite sport involves confronting stressors that can disrupt athletes' functionality and harm their psychological well-being. Reflecting on these stressors is crucial for gaining insights into coping strategies and future adaptations. We aimed to examine the coping insights developed from engagement in these reflective practices. Via a qualitative analysis of a pilot randomized controlled trial, athletes were randomized to a self-distanced ( = 33) or self-immersed condition ( = 33) and guided to reflect systematically on a key stressor each week over a five-week period. Using an established self-reflection and coping insight framework to guide our framework analysis, we interpreted similarities and differences between groups across various coping insights. Athletes exhibited signs of self-awareness, trigger identification, and re-appraisal, regardless of their reflective perspective. However, athletes from both groups reported limited insight into values consideration, evaluation, and fostering a future-focus. Stressors reported by athletes were predominantly mild in magnitude or "everyday" in nature. Our findings highlight the need for robust examinations of the self-reflection approach to unlock higher-level insights (future-focus, evaluation of coping strategies) that can enhance resilient capacities. Challenges with recruitment and retention highlights the need for pilot and feasibility analyzes before progressing to fully powered randomized controlled trials with athlete populations.

Generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) symptoms are trait-like and associated with negative emotions and stress biomarkers like cortisol. Both GAD symptoms and cortisol have been linked to interpersonal dominance and affiliation. However, most studies on GAD symptoms and interpersonal processes remain cross-sectional, disconnected from daily stressors, or measure brief cortisol fluctuations. In contrast, hair cortisol concentration (HCC) assesses cortisol over longer periods.

Family history of alcohol use disorder (FHA) is posited to convey its risk on problematic drinking partly through how individuals react to stressful situations. Research thus far has found equivocal results, with some studies concluding that FHA is associated with heightened stress-reactivity and others finding FHA associated with blunted stress-reactivity. In addition, the preponderance of this research has been conducted using laboratory-based paradigms, raising questions about the ecological validity of the findings. The purpose of the current study was to further clarify the association between FHA and affective reactions to two types of stress (social and academic stress) using an ecologically valid, intensive-longitudinal research design.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, we tested the efficacy of a one-week online security prime (SP) writing intervention in reducing distress among 254 adults (60+ years and/or having an underlying health condition). The efficacy of writing interventions can depend on several factors. Attachment orientations, characterized by dimensions of anxiety and avoidance, reflect individuals' tendencies in how they seek proximity to and rely on others for support, and influence how people experience and regulate their emotions.

This study uses network analysis to explore how job demands and resources may proliferate and interconnect within the workplace.

There is strong evidence that accumulation of stressful life events (SLEs) contributes to depressive episodes, but the effect of cumulative SLEs on longitudinal trajectories of depressive symptoms in the general population is less well understood. In a pre-registered analysis involving multi-group Bayesian piecewise growth curve modeling applied to nationally representative data from the Australian Longitudinal Study of Women's Health, we investigated whether, over 36 years, among women aged 45-50 at baseline, the effects of cumulative SLEs on depression symptoms are positive ("sensitizing") or negative ("steeling"), and additive or non-additive (interaction or threshold). Participants were grouped based on the number of SLEs experienced over the first 24 years of the study period: 0-4, 5-9, 10-14, 15-19, or 20-24. Groups were propensity-score-matched at baseline. While groups differed on mental and physical health at baseline, no group exhibited an increase in depressive symptoms following their final SLE. Moreover, groups with the most SLEs exhibited faster declines in depressive symptoms. There was significant heterogeneity of trajectories within groups. The findings contribute to the growing literature supporting the steeling hypothesis, and suggest that, if SLEs increase the severity of depressive symptoms, they do so in small sub-populations that require further research attention.

Early adulthood and commencing university coincide with new life circumstances for many students which increases exposure to negative life events (NLE). Such events can have lasting impacts on student mental health. An exploratory study was conducted in a student sample to examine the frequency of NLE, event co-occurrence, and associated mental health outcomes.

COVID Stress Syndrome (CSS) is a new type of health anxiety triggered by the COVID epidemic. However, we know little about the causal relationship with CSS symptoms and the temporal and dynamic interactions between symptoms and cognitive processes associated with health anxiety.

The emotion belief and emotion regulation pathways that shape negative (posttraumatic depreciation; PTD) and positive adaptation (posttraumatic growth; PTG) following daily life stressors are poorly understood. This longitudinal study examined how emotion beliefs and emotion regulation strategies influence PTD and PTG, and subsequent mental (depression, anxiety, stress) and physical health (headaches, gastrointestinal problems, respiratory infections, sleep disturbances) symptoms.

Test anxiety is a common experience, and a variety of intervention approaches for it have been developed. In recent years, single sessions of expressive writing (a brief exercise in which students write about their worries just prior to taking a test) have been promoted as an intervention.

Theories propose that low distress tolerance (DT) leads to anxious avoidance. Operational definitions and measurement of DT are inconsistent across studies. This study examined associations between perceived and behavioral DT with experiential and anxiety-specific behavioral avoidance in the context of anxiety.

We aimed to investigate whether adolescents employ different profiles of coping, how profiles transition, and how transitions influence adolescents' depressive symptoms, posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTSS), and posttraumatic growth (PTG).

This study investigated the impact of war stress on birth outcomes, specifically birth mode and the subjective childbirth experience ("flow"). We hypothesized that war stress would adversely affect birth mode and the reported "flow."

People search the internet for health information, although this increases anxiety and worry, particularly in the health-anxious. Applying the avoidance theory of worrying, we tested whether online health research serves to emotionally distance oneself from illness. Googling long COVID was compared to imagery of suffering from the disease in 60 participants. We assumed that anxiety responses to googling would be lower than during imagery, but higher than during baseline. Self-report, skin conductance (SCL), heart rate (HR), heart rate variability (HRV), and respiration rate (RR) indicated anxiety. SCL was higher during imagery than googling. However, HR, high frequency HRV and RR signaled stronger activation by googling than imagery. Physiological measures demonstrated a stronger anxiety response to googling compared to baseline. Regarding self-report, an interaction effect of sequence and condition emerged. Those who started with googling reported higher levels of anxiety during imagery. Among participants who began with imagery, anxiety was elevated during googling compared to baseline, but there were no significant differences when compared to anxiety during imagery. Results at least partially support the notion that health-related internet research may serve to avoid the physical and self-reported anxiety responses.

Social anxiety (SA) is a prevalent issue that can hinder social interactions and overall well-being. This study examines how emotional intelligence (EI) mediates the relationship between self-compassion (SC) and SA using meta-analytic structural equation modeling (MASEM) based on 64 effect sizes from 52 studies. Our findings indicated a partial mediation model wherein SC exhibited a negative correlation with SA. Furthermore, SC positively influenced EI, which, in turn, demonstrated a negative correlation with SA, suggesting that elevated levels of EI may contribute to a reduction in SA. Our moderation analysis revealed that cultural differences, specifically between Eastern and Western cultures, impact the mediation model. Specifically, the direct effect of SC on SA was stronger in Eastern individuals, whereas EI demonstrated a stronger mediating effect in Western individuals. This study provides a comprehensive synthesis of existing research, highlighting the potential of EI as a mediator in the SC-SA relationship and offering insights into culturally tailored interventions for SA.

Existing research highlights the potential role of self-compassion in promoting trauma recovery over time but does not clarify whether an individual's level of self-compassion prior to experiencing a trauma is a protective factor against the onset of symptoms. This prospective study tests whether baseline self-compassion buffers the link between exposure to traumatic or stressful events and subsqeuent mental and behavioral health (post-traumatic stress symptoms, general psychological distress, eating pathology, alcohol use problems, and sexual dissatisfaction) among college students. Undergraduate students ( = 312) completed an electronic survey at the beginning of the academic semester (T1) and 7-10 weeks later (T2). T1 trait self-compassion did not consistently buffer the impacts of experiencing traumatic or negative events during the semester on end-of-semester mental and behavioral health. Results suggest that trait self-compassion may be a factor associated with better functioning across some domains following trauma or stress, but that the links between exposure and poor mental and behavioral health may be similar regardless of one's pre-exposure levels of self-compassion. Enhancing self-compassion may facilitate better recovery following trauma exposure but trait self-compassion does not appear to reduce the impacts associated with exposure.

Posttraumatic growth research demonstrates equivocal findings with limited consensus on the expected relationship between posttraumatic growth and posttraumatic distress. This study evaluated the relationship of the change dynamics for posttraumatic growth and posttraumatic distress using a nonlinear approach.

Individuals with Social Anxiety Disorder and those high in social anxiety (HSA) experience greater anger difficulties compared to those with low social anxiety (LSA).

Social phobia scrutiny fear is a stress response triggered by perceptions of social evaluation. However, the role of genetic polymorphisms in the Hypothalamic Pituitary Adrenal (HPA) axis in shaping this fear is not well understood. This study investigates how the cumulative genetic score of the HPA axis influences social phobia scrutiny fear.

The Cognitive Transactional Model of Coping suggests coping is maximized when individuals respond flexibly to situational demands. Directly testing the coping flexibility hypothesis is contingent on developing measures to capture the person-situation transactional process of coping. This study assessed the validity of a new performance-based approach to measuring coping flexibility and examined its contribution to predicting life satisfaction and psychological distress above existing measures.

Previous studies have suggested associations between pain perception and psychological factors such as mood, distress, fatigue, and quality of life. However, these factors and their relationship to pain sensitivity have typically been investigated in isolation and with insufficient sample sizes. To address these limitations, we examine the interplay between distinct psychological factors and thermal pain sensitivity in a large adult sample.

Perfectionism is an important characteristic among university students given its associations with their wellbeing and coping. One approach to studying student perfectionism is the 2 × 2 model of perfectionism, which examines the interaction between self-oriented perfectionism and socially prescribed perfectionism (SPP). The model is useful for studying student perfectionism, but tests in different cultural contexts remain limited, with some suggesting its hypotheses need modification.