Objectives: The current study examined emotional and cognitive reactions to daily stress. We examined the psychometric properties of a short cognitive interference measure and how cognitive interference was associated with measures of daily stress and negative affect (NA) between persons and within persons over time.
Methods: A sample of 87 older adults (M(age) = 83, range = 70-97, 28% male) completed measures of daily stress, cognitive interference, and NA on 6 days within a 14-day period.
Results: The measure yielded a single-factor solution with good reliability both between and within persons. At the between-person level, NA accounted for the effects of daily stress on individual differences in cognitive interference. At the within-person level, NA and daily stress were unique predictors of cognitive interference. Furthermore, the within-person effect of daily stress on cognitive interference decreased significantly with age.
Discussion: These results support theoretical work regarding associations among stress, NA, and cognitive interference, both across persons and within persons over time.