Dynamic Links between Daily Anxiety Symptoms and Young Adults’ Daily Well-being

Background: Anxiety disorders are prevalent among youth and adults. Increasing studies examined the dynamic associations between momentary fluctuations of anxiety and well-being, primarily focusing on the severity of general anxiety. Scant research has explored the co-fluctuations between different anxiety symptoms and mental health outcomes. Method: Using eight items selected from the Screen for Adult Anxiety Related Disorders (SCAARED) scale, the current study evaluated the multi-level factor structure and assessed the subclinical symptoms of generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), social phobia (SP), and panic disorder (PD) in a sample of non-clinical young adults (N = 271, Mage = 18 years, 72% female, 68% non-White) who participated in a 30-day daily diary study. This study also measured participants’ emotional and peer problems using the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire, depressive symptoms with the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression scale, and stress by the College Chronic Life Stress Survey.Results: Between persons, GAD, SP, and PD were positively correlated with depressive symptoms, stress, as well as emotional and peer problems. Within persons, both SP and PD were positively associated with stress, peer and emotional problems on the same day. Across days, there was positive reciprocal relation between PD and stress, whereas negative reciprocal link was observed between SP and emotional problems. Conclusion: Current findings showed dynamic and distinct patterns in the associations between different anxiety symptoms and several mental health outcomes, which emphasizes the need to disentangle between- and within-person variation of anxiety symptoms with intensive longitudinal designs.