We examined the mechanisms that underlie the observed relationships between loneliness and depressed mood and poor sleep quality in college students. This study was the first to investigate whether rumination and trait anxiety are psychological mechanisms that mediate this relationship. In Study 1 (n = 1,244), using factor analysis with cross-sectional data, we established that loneliness and rumination are distinct constructs. We then collected survey data in two cross-sectional samples (ns = 300 and 218) and one prospective (n = 334) sample to test whether rumination and anxiety were mediators of the relationship between loneliness and depressed mood and poor sleep quality. Structural equation modeling was used to test the proposed relationships. Participants completed self-report measures of loneliness, rumination, trait anxiety, depressed mood, and sleep quality. In addition, measures of hostility, neuroticism, negative affect, and tobacco use were also assessed and tested as mediators, while social support was assessed and tested as a moderator. Consistent across the three studies, we found that rumination and trait anxiety fully mediated the associations between loneliness and depressed mood as well as poor sleep quality; these relationships held after testing all other factors. This study helps explain how loneliness dynamics relate to poor health and suggests specific points of departure for the development of interventions.

Engagement in leisure has a wide range of beneficial health effects. Yet, this evidence is derived from between-person methods that do not examine the momentary within-person processes theorized to explain leisure’s benefits. This study examined momentary relationships between leisure and health and well-being in daily life. A community sample (n = 115) completed ecological momentary assessments six times a day for three consecutive days. At each measurement, participants indicated if they were engaging in leisure and reported on their mood, interest/boredom, and stress levels. Next, participants collected a saliva sample for cortisol analyses. Heart rate was assessed throughout the study. Multilevel models revealed that participants had more positive and less negative mood, more interest, less stress, and lower heart rate when engaging in leisure than when not. Results suggest multiple mechanisms explaining leisure’s effectiveness, which can inform leisure-based interventions to improve health and well-being.

Repeated assessments in everyday life enables collecting ecologically valid data on dynamic, within-persons processes. These methods have widespread utility and application and have been extensively used for the study of stressors and stress responses. Enhanced conceptual sophistication of characterizing intraindividual stress responses in everyday life would help advance the field. This article provides a pragmatic overview of approaches, opportunities, and challenges when intensive ambulatory methods are applied to study everyday stress responses in “real time.” We distinguish between three stress-response components (i.e., reactivity, recovery, and pileup) and focus on several fundamental questions: (a) What is the appropriate stress-free resting state (or “baseline”) for an individual in everyday life? (b) How does one index the magnitude of the initial response to a stressor (reactivity)? (c) Following a stressor, how can recovery be identified (e.g., when the stress response has completed)? and (d) Because stressors may not occur in isolation, how can one capture the temporal clustering of stressors and/or stress responses (pileup)? We also present initial ideas on applying this approach to intervention research. Although we focus on stress responses, these issues may inform many other dynamic intraindividual constructs and behaviors (e.g., physical activity, physiological processes, other subjective states) captured in ambulatory assessment.