High Levels of Affect Variability and Instability Are Positively Associated with Depression and Anxiety Symptoms in College Students: An Ecological Momentary Assessment Study

In a 14 day ecological momentary assessment study, we used two metrics of affect dynamics to examine changes in negative affect and symptoms of depression and anxiety in a sample of young adults (N=96). Both affect variability and affect instability were significantly related to severity of depression and anxiety symptoms.