Temporal dynamics of affective-somatic networks in daily life.

Abstract

Comprising affective states and physical health complaints, the psychosomatic system is integral to psychosocial functioning and quality of life. Its elements constitute a dynamically interacting network, a reality that demands an analytical shift: from static, between-person perspectives to the investigation of temporal dynamics within individuals. Using 14-day daily diaries from 176 students, we applied a multilevel vector autoregressive (MVAR) model to examine psychosomatic network structure, estimating between-person and within-person (contemporaneous and temporal) networks and computing node strength centrality. The temporal network revealed a reciprocal alertness-shame cycle and attentiveness inhibiting negative states and physical complaints, with cross-domain interactions governed more by delayed than instantaneous pathways. Notably, "attentive" and "alert" emerged as influential hubs across all network levels, highlighting their regulatory importance. These findings link daily within-person dynamics to stable individual differences through the same psychosomatic states.