Negative affect is associated with reporting of both own and others' symptoms

Negative affectivity (NA) has been defined as the disposition to experience and communicate negative emotional states. NA has been shown to correlate with self-reports of physical symptoms. This study examined whether NA is also correlated with the informant-reporting of another person's symptoms. In two separate studies (N = 200, N = 159), students completed questionnaire measures of their own NA and of affect and symptoms in a significant other. In the second study, participants additionally reported on their own symptoms. In study one, participants' NA was correlated with their reports of a significant others' symptoms (r = .315, p = .000), which remained significant after controlling for the effect of gender (r = .227, p = .004). In study two, participants' NA was correlated with reports of their own (r = .338, p = .000) and others' (r = .216, p = .006) symptoms, particularly when symptoms were non-specific in nature (r = .221, p = .001). The correlation between informant-reports of others' affect and others' symptoms (r = .312, p = .000) remained significant (r = .256, p = .001) when self-reported NA was partialled out. When obtaining informant-reports on others' health it may be important to measure the informant's affective state, particularly when the information being sought is non-specific in nature. Limitations of the study, implications of its findings and possibilities for further research involving dyads each reporting on themselves and each other are discussed.