University of Twente Student Theses
As of Friday, 8 August 2025, the current Student Theses repository is no longer available for thesis uploads. A new Student Theses repository will be available starting Friday, 15 August 2025.
Predicting Trait Anxiety Through Within-Person Means, Fluctuations, and Inertia in Momentary Anxiety : An Experience Sampling Study
Mania, C.R. (2025) Predicting Trait Anxiety Through Within-Person Means, Fluctuations, and Inertia in Momentary Anxiety : An Experience Sampling Study.
|
PDF
920kB |
| Abstract: | Traditionally, anxiety has been conceptualised and measured as a stable individual trait, yet current research suggests that it may be rooted in dynamic emotional processes experienced in daily life. Although prior research has already found a connection between general affective states and trait anxiety, less is known about the influence of anxiety-specific dynamics on trait anxiety. Thus, this study aimed to explore the association between within-person mean levels, fluctuations and inertia of state measures of anxiety and trait anxiety. This study used previously collected data with the Experience Sampling Method (ESM) from 26 non-clinical participants who were assessed four times a day for one week, measuring state anxiety. Trait anxiety was measured via the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) on the eighth day. Individual metrics were computed for mean levels (person-means; PM), fluctuations (root mean square of successive differences; RMSSD), and inertia (autocorrelation function; ACF). Visualisations of scatterplots, facet time series and bar charts showed that individuals with high trait anxiety tended to show higher levels of both mean state anxiety and fluctuations. A significant effect of person-mean levels (β = .53, p = .005) and fluctuations of state anxiety (β = .56, p = .005) on trait anxiety was found in univariate analysis. In the multivariate model with the three predictors, neither person-mean levels (β = .09, p = .17) nor fluctuations (β = .18, p = .116) remained significant after being included, suggesting shared variance among these predictors (r = .63, p < .001). In both univariate and multivariate models, there was no significant association between inertia and trait anxiety. The present study adds to the understanding of anxiety disorders by emphasising the influence of state anxiety dynamics on trait anxiety, particularly mean levels and fluctuations. The findings highlight the need for further investigation into these dynamics among the clinical population. |
| Item Type: | Essay (Master) |
| Faculty: | BMS: Behavioural, Management and Social Sciences |
| Subject: | 77 psychology |
| Programme: | Psychology MSc (66604) |
| Link to this item: | https://purl.utwente.nl/essays/107844 |
| Export this item as: | BibTeX EndNote HTML Citation Reference Manager |
Show download statistics for this publication
Show download statistics for this publicationRepository Staff Only: item control page