Working memory and daily internalizing problems: Pubertal timing moderates adult relations

Working memory is a transdiagnostic risk factor for internalizing problems such as depression and anxiety. Little is known, however, about how associations between working memory and internalizing symptoms play out in the daily lives of individuals, who may have different developmental experiences, particularly pubertal timing, that have psychological impacts into adulthood. The goal of this 100-day intensive longitudinal study was to determine whether adult links between working memory and daily internalizing symptoms were moderated by gender and pubertal timing. Ninety-one adults (46.2% women; 59.3% White; M_age = 27.77 years, SD_age = 8.19) took a trait working memory test in a research laboratory, indicated their retrospective pubertal timing, and then reported on their anhedonic depression, anxious arousal, and general distress symptoms every day for up to 100 days (~94% average completion rate). Daily symptom averages and intraindividual standard deviations (reflecting symptom fluctuations) were calculated. Moderated moderation analyses revealed that the day-to-day experience of internalizing symptoms was linked to both cognitive and pubertal vulnerabilities in gendered ways: Late maturing women with higher working memory reported the lowest levels of daily distress and fewer fluctuations in distress, whereas early maturing men with lower working memory reported the greatest fluctuations in daily distress and anxiety. Findings reflect gendered biopsychosocial contributions to internalizing symptoms, while highlighting that daily symptom fluctuations are important for understanding the nature of internalizing problems. Thus, findings call for future intensive longitudinal research that takes a lifespan perspective to internalizing problems with the goal of ultimately informing treatment.