Prioritizing Lifestyle Factors for Effective Emotion Regulation: A Daily Study on First-Year College Students’ Well-Being During COVID-19

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted emerging adult first-year college students’ daily lives and well-being. Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) recognizes that effective and adaptive emotion regulation skills can be important for this vulnerable population’s well-being, who are going through a transitioning phase of development in challenging times. An ecological momentary assessment study collected 1,796 data points from 76 first-year college students' daily usage of emotion regulation skills and momentary experiences of well-being (PERMA; Positive emotions, Engagement, Relationship, Meaning, Accomplishment) during COVID-19 in Spring 2020. Participants were 18 to 20 years of age, 71% female, 24% male, 4% non-binary, 1% preferred not to answer, 46% White, 36% Asian or Pacific Islander, 14% Hispanic or Latinx, 13% Black or African American, 13% mixed race, 1% Native American or Eskimo Aleut, and 4% did not specify their race/ethnicity. Results from multilevel models on intensive longitudinal data revealed that specific emotion regulation skills (accumulating positives, building mastery, coping ahead) consistently predict mPERMA even when controlling for dispositional well-being. Moreover, on days of sufficient sleep hours reported, students reported higher well-being levels; on days with more interaction with other people, students were more likely to engage in emotion regulation skill behaviors; and on weekends, students were less likely to engage in emotion regulation behaviors (but not avoid substances like alcohol). Findings add to the literature on momentary well-being and emotion regulation for the population of early adult first-year college students and the COVID-19 context.

Conceptualizing psychological well‐being as a dynamic process: Implications for research on mobile health interventions

“…The science of PWB is moving away from longstanding “trait‐level” theoretical frameworks that posit mental health or well‐being as a stable end point of development; and towards more “state‐level” theoretical frameworks that see it as a dynamic process in time (Biswas‐Diener et al., 2011; Busseri & Sadava, 2013; Fried & Cramer, 2017; Hamaker et al., 2015; Pettersson et al., 2013). These new theoretical approaches, allied with the methodological use of time‐intensive measures for studying emotions and well‐being (e.g., Goicoechea et al., 2023; Hamaker & Wichers, 2017; Rombaoa et al., 2023; Walls & Schafer, 2006), allows for a deeper inquiry into processes and dynamics of change in well‐being in terms of different elements, across different time scales, and in different social environments during the lifespan.…”