Abstract
This study investigated the novel Negative Affect Induction Task (NAIT). The NAIT used guided rumination to induce negative affect and was designed to fill the need for a field or remote-based assessment that requires minimal personnel, equipment, and time to administer. Methods: Participants (N = 158, 61.4% Female, Age = 32 ± 12 years,) who self-reported at least mild to moderate generalized anxiety symptoms completed the NAIT and Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scales (DASS). During the NAIT, participants self-reported affect (SRA, worst to best feeling scored − 50 to + 50 using a visual analog scale) and underwent heart rate (HR) measurements at each of the three phases of the NAIT: Baseline, Post-Rumination, and Post-Breathing. Results: Phase-dependent changes in SRA score and HR were observed throughout the NAIT. Negative affect, reported via SRA score, peaked at Post-Rumination and returned to Baseline levels Post-Breathing. Participant HR increased from Baseline to Post-Rumination and remained elevated through the Post-Breathing phase of the NAIT. It was also observed that DASS scores were strongly correlated with SRA scores at Baseline. Conclusions: With phase-dependent changes in SRA and HR and a high degree of correlation with an established clinical measure of negative affect, these findings support the use and validity of the NAIT as a means to induce negative affect in field or remote settings.
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Data Availability
The data that support the findings of this study are not openly available due to sensitivity concerns and are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request. Data are located in controlled access data storage at University of Colorado Boulder.
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Acknowledgements
The authors thank the participants and research assistants for their contribution to the data for this study.
Funding
This work was supported by grants from the National Institutes of Health (R01DA044131 to LCB) and University of Colorado Biological Sciences Initiative scholarship (to MIH).
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All authors contributed to and have approved the final manuscript. Mohammad Habib: Data Curation, Formal Analysis, Investigation, Project Administration, Software, Validation, Visualization, Writing – Original Draft, Writing – Review & Editing. Leah Hitchcock: Data Curation, Formal Analysis, Investigation, Methodology, Project Administration, Resources, Software, Supervision, Validation, Visualization, Writing – Review & Editing. Jonathan Lisano: Formal Analysis, Validation, Visualization, Writing – Review & Editing. Cinnamon Bidwell: Conceptualization, Funding acquisition, Methodology, Project Administration, Resources, Supervision, Writing – Review & Editing.
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Habib, M.I., Hitchcock, L.N., Lisano, J.K. et al. Mood induction in the wild: results from brief and mobile negative affect induction in psychobiological and field research. Curr Psychol 43, 7709–7718 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-023-04976-5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-023-04976-5