The daily inertia of anger and sadness across adulthood: The protective role of regulatory emotional self-efficacy

Emotional inertia (the moment-to-moment persistence of emotional states) is an index of regulatory deficit that has been related to psychological maladjustment. Using ecological momentary assessment, we explored the role of self-efficacy in managing negative affect (SRN) to reduce the inertia of anger and sadness. Data on both emotions were collected 3 times a day over 28 days among 166 British adults (18-85 years; 73% women) with depression (n1=30), physical disability (n2=45), and without clinical issues (n3=91). SRN was collected as a baseline measure. Dynamic Structural Equation Modeling showed stronger inertia for sadness (β =.31, p<.001) than anger (β=.16, p<.001), indicating that peaks in both negative states persisted across a 4-hour time-lag. Notably, the inertia of sadness was buffered by SRN (β= -.15, p=.03): for those adults with high SRN (+1SD), sadness had lower inertia (β=.27, p<.01) compared to those with low SRN (-1SD; β=.38, p<.01). We did not find significant interaction effects of SRN with age and clinical conditions. Hence, the protective effect of SRN was consistent across adulthood and the three groups considered. The implications of these results for planning time-sensitive, micro-interventions to counteract sadness via SRN in everyday life are discussed.