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. 2023 Mar;36(2):214-228.
doi: 10.1080/10615806.2022.2033973. Epub 2022 Feb 8.

Perceived emotion invalidation predicts daily affect and stressors

Melissa J Zielinski  1   2 , Jennifer C Veilleux  2 , Marley F Fradley  1 , Kayla D Skinner  2
Affiliations

Perceived emotion invalidation predicts daily affect and stressors

Melissa J Zielinski et al. Anxiety Stress Coping. 2023 Mar.

Abstract

Background and objectives: Perceived emotion invalidation is linked to the development or worsening of a variety of emotional and physical health conditions. However, prior studies are largely cross-sectional and whether there are day-to-day effects of generally feeling invalidated is unknown.

Design: We examined the relations between perceived emotion invalidation and momentary affect, average daily affect, and the experience of daily stressors among a sample of young adults using ecological momentary assessment (EMA).

Methods: Participants (n = 86) completed measures of perceived emotion invalidation and emotional reactivity at baseline then completed one week of EMA including: (1) 7x/day reports of current affect and social context and (2) 1x/day index of experienced stressors and their intensity.

Results: Higher perceived emotion invalidation predicted lower momentary positive affect. Perceived invalidation also interacted with social context such that higher emotion invalidation predicted greater negative affect when participants were with non-close others (i.e., co-workers, acquaintances). Only participants with high perceived emotional invalidation experienced increased stress alongside heightened daily negative affect.

Conclusions: These results provide preliminary evidence that feeling emotionally invalidated may predict affective experiences, including how emotions are momentarily experienced and how life stressors are interpreted when they are later reflected on.

Keywords: Emotion invalidation; daily stress; ecological momentary assessment; social context.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of Interest: None

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Social Context and PIES Predicting Negative Affect Note: PIES = Perceived Invalidation of Emotion Scale; ERS = Emotional Reactivity Scale. PIES (Level 2 variable) represented on X-axis in this figure because social context (Level 1 variable) is categorial. Although presented this way, we still consider social context the primary predictor with PIES as the moderator.
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
Interactions of negative affect and PIES in predicting stressor count Note: PIES = Perceived Invalidation of Emotion Scale; ERS = Emotional Reactivity Scale.
Figure 3.
Figure 3.
Negative Affect and PIES Predicting Intensity of Social Stress Note: PIES = Perceived Invalidation of Emotion Scale; ERS = Emotional Reactivity Scale.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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