Daily affect profiles during addiction recovery: Transition dynamics and links to acute recovery outcomes
- 1Department of Human Development and Family Studies, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA
- 2Institute for Computational and Data Sciences, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA
- 3Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL
Abstract
INTRODUCTION: As individuals in recovery from substance use disorder (SUD) find initial stability, the next milestone is developing the emotional wellbeing that will offer greater quality of life, making affect a critical target. Many investigations into emotion during recovery, however, fail to account for the significant heterogeneity in daily affective experiences. The present study leverages advanced person-centered methods to capture that heterogeneity by identifying types of affect days in recovery and examines their place in daily recovery. METHODS: 129 individuals in SUD recovery were recruited remotely to complete a 10-day daily diary protocol (1,177 days). A mixed-indicator latent profile analysis was conducted on PANAS items to identify distinct profiles of daily affect. Latent profiles were examined in relation to prior-day meaning, next-day binary, and conditional craving, using robust standard errors to account for the repeated measures data structure. RESULTS: A 5-profile solution was selected: Prevalent NA (14% of affect days), Prevalent NA-Mild PA (30%), High Arousal Affect (11%), Intense PA (17%), and Mixed Affect (28%). Compared to other profiles, Intense PA and High Arousal Affect days were associated with higher prior-day meaning, lower odds of next-day craving, and lower levels of next-day craving among craving days. CONCLUSION: Not only do results demonstrate the prevalence of NA-PA mixed days in recovery, but a second dimension - arousal - was also uncovered in affect patterns. Types of affect days differentially predicted acute recovery outcomes, with High Arousal Affect promoting recovery, warranting consideration of arousal in future studies.
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BibTeX
@article{lancaster2026daily,
title = {{Daily affect profiles during addiction recovery: Transition dynamics and links to acute recovery outcomes}},
author = {Joseph H. Lancaster and Timothy R. Brick and Hannah B. Apsley and H. Harrington Cleveland},
journal = {Addictive behaviors},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.1016/j.addbeh.2026.108883},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1016/j.addbeh.2026.108883},
note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Daily affect profiles during addiction recovery: Transition dynamics and links to acute recovery outcomes
AU - Joseph H. Lancaster
AU - Timothy R. Brick
AU - Hannah B. Apsley
AU - H. Harrington Cleveland
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/18
JO - Addictive behaviors
DO - 10.1016/j.addbeh.2026.108883
UR - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.addbeh.2026.108883
AB - INTRODUCTION: As individuals in recovery from substance use disorder (SUD) find initial stability, the next milestone is developing the emotional wellbeing that will offer greater quality of life, making affect a critical target. Many investigations into emotion during recovery, however, fail to account for the significant heterogeneity in daily affective experiences. The present study leverages advanced person-centered methods to capture that heterogeneity by identifying types of affect days in recovery and examines their place in daily recovery. METHODS: 129 individuals in SUD recovery were recruited remotely to complete a 10-day daily diary protocol (1,177 days). A mixed-indicator latent profile analysis was conducted on PANAS items to identify distinct profiles of daily affect. Latent profiles were examined in relation to prior-day meaning, next-day binary, and conditional craving, using robust standard errors to account for the repeated measures data structure. RESULTS: A 5-profile solution was selected: Prevalent NA (14% of affect days), Prevalent NA-Mild PA (30%), High Arousal Affect (11%), Intense PA (17%), and Mixed Affect (28%). Compared to other profiles, Intense PA and High Arousal Affect days were associated with higher prior-day meaning, lower odds of next-day craving, and lower levels of next-day craving among craving days. CONCLUSION: Not only do results demonstrate the prevalence of NA-PA mixed days in recovery, but a second dimension - arousal - was also uncovered in affect patterns. Types of affect days differentially predicted acute recovery outcomes, with High Arousal Affect promoting recovery, warranting consideration of arousal in future studies.
SN - 0306-4603
SN - 1873-6327
ER -