Examining the Within- and Between-Person Structure of a Short Form of the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule: A Multilevel and Dynamic Approach

Public Significance Statement This study supports the multidimensional and multilevel structure of affect as dynamic processes assessed through a short-form version of the PANAS. This finding has implications for applied researchers interested in examining antecedents and consequences associated with between- and within-person differences in affect. Increasing research uses intensive longitudinal designs to examine antecedents and consequences associated with dynamic affective processes. These studies often rely on the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS) to measure affect. Studies assessing the structure of the PANAS are largely cross-sectional in nature and cannot always disentangle within-person variability from between-person differences in affect. A paucity of studies examines structural similarities and differences in affect at the between- and within-person levels, and few have done so with short-form versions of the PANAS. This study investigates the multilevel factor structure of the 10-item PANAS-short-form in a sample of young adults (n = 272) measured daily consecutively over 1 month. Additionally, dynamic relations between positive and negative affect, depressive symptoms, stress, and physical symptoms were examined. Results support a three factors within and two factors between multilevel structural model. Distinct dynamic relations were observed among positive affect, negative affect, stress, and physical symptoms at the within level. Positive and negative affect were correlated with depressive symptoms, stress, and physical symptoms at the between level. Findings indicate the need to disentangle structural components of positive and negative affect when conducting intensive longitudinal studies to examine correlates linked to dynamic affective processes.