Abstract
A recent emphasis in developmental psychopathology research has been on emotion dynamics, or how emotional experience changes over time in response to context, and how those emotion dynamics affect psychosocial functioning. Two prominent emotion dynamics constructs have emerged in the developmental psychopathology literature: affective variability and socioaffective flexibility. Affective variability is most often measured using momentary methods (e.g., EMA) and is theorized to reflect reactivity and regulation in response to context, whereas socioaffective flexibility is typically measured in the context of parent–child interactions and theorized as the ability to move effectively through a range of affective states. Notably, affective variability is considered broadly maladaptive; however, socioaffective flexibility is theorized to be fundamentally adaptive. Despite these diametric views on adaptability, these two constructs share an underlying dependency on non-effortful emotion change in response to context, which raises questions about whether these constructs are, at their core, more similar than dissimilar. This review examined the literatures on affective variability and socioaffective flexibility in child and adolescent samples, examining associations with psychosocial and clinical correlates, as well as conceptual and methodological similarities and distinctions. Findings indicate that despite considerable theoretical overlap, there are sufficient differences—albeit largely methodological—that justify continuing to treat these constructs as distinct, most notably the influence of parents in socioaffective flexibility. The review closes with several recommendations for future study targeted at further clarifying the distinctions (or lack thereof) between affective variability and socioaffective flexibility.
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Notes
To some degree, this reflects the “jingle-jangle” fallacy, in which the same underlying theoretical construct is called by different names, giving rise to independent streams of inquiry (e.g., Nigg, 2017).
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Kirsten M.P. McKone would like to thank Lauren Bylsma, Lauren Hallion, and Jill Cyranowski for their suggestions and insight.
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KMPM conceived of the study, conducted the literature search, and wrote the manuscript. JSS provided ongoing conceptual guidance and provided edits on the manuscript.
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McKone, K.M.P., Silk, J.S. The Emotion Dynamics Conundrum in Developmental Psychopathology: Similarities, Distinctions, and Adaptiveness of Affective Variability and Socioaffective Flexibility. Clin Child Fam Psychol Rev 25, 44–74 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10567-022-00382-8
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10567-022-00382-8