Resting-state functional connectivity and alexithymia: Preliminary predictive evidence.

Physical health is widely recognized in research, practice, and policy as a key predictor of emotional well-being [, ]. Despite this, findings supporting this are more mixed than often assumed. The majority of studies in this area focus on trait-level associations, with some studies reporting strong associations [], while others report no or only very weak effects []. However, physical health and emotions manifest and change in everyday life. To capture these short-term dynamics, researchers have increasingly adopted experiential approaches that capture emotions as they occur in daily life. In contrast to trait-level reports, these studies consistently show that routine physical symptoms in adulthood and old age correspond to heightened negative affect (NA) and lower positive affect (PA) [–]. This matters because such symptoms, including headaches, chest pain, and shortness of breath, are commonly experienced in the daily lives of healthy middle-aged and older adults [], and repeated emotional reactivity to these symptoms may have lasting health consequences, including increased risks of falls, disability, and mortality [, ]. While the role of social support for physical health and emotional well-being has been studied extensively in psychological, medical, and sociological research, its role in the association between routine physical symptoms and well-being has only been examined for life satisfaction, but not for emotional reactivity to such symptoms [, ]. This is limiting because routine physical symptoms fluctuate within individuals from one day to the next. Moreover, while general perceptions of support are associated with positive outcomes, this may differ depending on the source of support. There is also growing evidence of the potentially negative effects of received support in daily life [, ]. However, these different types of support have not been explored for emotional reactivity to routine physical symptoms in everyday life. To address these gaps, we examined whether different facets of social support (receiving emotional support on a given day, general perceptions of support from friends or family) along with other key factors (functional limitations and age) moderated emotional reactivity in PA and NA to routine daily physical symptoms in adults and older adults. Emotional reactivity is defined as emotional responses to daily stressors and other types of negative events that have the potential to disrupt routines or cause irritation []. Because common physical symptoms often fluctuate with increasing frequency and volatility as we age [], they constitute as an important source of daily stressors that contribute to day-to-day emotional reactivity in middle-aged and older adults. This can happen by restricting engagement in the external world and disrupting routine activities, leading to heightened psychological distress and social isolation (activity theory []; activity restriction model []). Correspondingly, there is increasing evidence of elevated emotional reactivity on days with more symptoms, as reflected in lower in PA and higher in NA relative to individual’s typical experience [–]. Yet, it is important to note that a range of sociocontextual and individual factors shape how well adults and older adults regulate their emotions in the face of health challenges, including social support, functional limitations, and age [–, , ]. Lifespan developmental perspectives and prominent biopsychosocial models have long held that social support is important for sustaining well-being in the face of health-related challenges [, ]. However, different types and sources of support may be more or less beneficial. Social support, broadly defined, encompasses both the receipt of support and the perception that it is available. Perceived support reflects individuals’ assessment of the availability and adequacy of assistance. It is often conceptualized as a belief system that facilitates coping with health-related stressors by framing stressful conditions less negatively, providing a stable psychological resource, and a sense of security and predictability []. Indeed, perceptions of social support in general are associated with positive outcomes (for a systematic review and meta-analysis, see []) and have been shown to mitigate the impact of health challenges on life satisfaction among older adults in cross-sectional studies [, ]. However, it is possible that these effects depend on the perceived source of support.