Daily positive and negative affect during the COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic influenced emotional experiences globally. We examined daily positive and negative affect between May/June 2020 and February 2021 (N = 151,049; 3,509,982 observations) using a convenience sample from a national mobile application-based survey that asked for daily affect reports. Four questions were examined: (1) How did people in the United States feel from May/June 2020 to February 2021?; (2) What demographic variables are related to positive and negative affect?; (3) What is the relationship between experienced stressors and daily affect?; and (4) What is the relationship between daily affect and preventive behavior? Positive affect increased, and negative decreased over time. Demographic differences mirrored those from before the pandemic (e.g., younger participants reported more negative and less positive affect). Stressors such as feeling unwell, experiencing COVID-19 symptoms, exposure to COVID-19, and lack of sleep were associated with less positive and more negative affect. Exercising protective behaviors predicted future affect, and affect also predicted future protective behaviors (e.g., less protective behavior when happy but more when grateful and thoughtful). The implications for public health communication were discussed.