Individual differences in wellbeing dynamics: A genetically-informed comparison of Ecological Momentary Assessment and longitudinal survey data

Abstract

Variability in wellbeing over time is related to mental health and can be measured at different timescales. Long-term wellbeing dynamics, assessed via longitudinal surveys, capture stability and change over months or years, while short-term dynamics, via Ecological Momentary Assessment (EMA), provide insights over moments or days. We investigated wellbeing dynamics at different timescales, using longitudinal data (N = 15,323, including 2784 complete twin pairs) and EMA data (N = 817, including 149 complete twin pairs) from the Netherlands Twin Register. Individuals with higher overall wellbeing, based on the average of longitudinal surveys, had lower variability over years, while short-term variability over one week was unrelated to overall wellbeing. Twin models estimated the heritability of long-term wellbeing intensity and variability at 43 % (95%CI: 39–46 %) and 12 % (95%CI: 8–17 %), respectively. MZ twin correlations indicated genetic influences on short-term positive and negative affect intensity (rMZ = 0.51 and 0.42) and variability (rMZ = 0.37 and 0.18). Heritability estimates should be interpreted with caution because of limited complete twin pairs, but were 51 %, 41 %, and 38 % for positive and negative affect intensity and positive affect variability, respectively, whereas negative affect variability was influenced by shared (22 %) and unique environment (78 %). These findings highlight the importance of examining wellbeing at different timescales.