We all experience daily stress, but how do our daily affective and behavioural responses to stress relate to our physical health?

This study followed 357 adults with and without depressive and anxiety disorders for two weeks with ambulatory assessment tools. Participants reported on their affect five times daily (with questions such as ‘At this moment I feel satisfied/relaxed/anxious’) on their phones and wore a wristwatch-like device that tracked their daily behaviours (physical activity, sleep duration, and daily circadian rhythms).

Findings
We examined how daily affect and behaviours relate to markers of inflammation, metabolic health, and Body Mass Index. Interestingly, daily affect and sleep duration were not associated with these health markers. The key finding was that people who were more physically active and had stronger daily rhythms (being active during the day and resting at night) showed better metabolic and inflammatory health.

These associations held true regardless of whether participants had a diagnosis of depression/anxiety, suggesting that ambulatory assessment tools may be a valuable tool for capturing health-relevant behavioural patterns in everyday life across populations.

Interventions
The findings suggest that (pending evidence from longitudinal studies) promoting daily physical activity and maintaining strong daily rhythms (consistent sleep-wake patterns) could be valuable targets for interventions aimed at improving inflammatory and metabolic health, potentially benefiting both those with and without mental health conditions.