Recovering · Recovery
Experience sampling Association
Switching away from a strategy that isn't working helped low mood, not anxiety
Among 158 US adults and 144 Chinese adults reporting four times a day for 21 days, keeping a strategy that worked was generally adaptive, while switching away from an ineffective one helped momentary depressed mood but not anxious mood, as found using experience sampling in two cultures.
Details
- Who was studied
- 158 US and 144 Chinese adults
- Observation window
- Four surveys a day for 21 days
- What was measured
- Regulation strategies, their effectiveness, momentary mood
- What this establishes
- An association, not cause and effect
Limits: Effectiveness was judged by participants themselves.
What it does not show: This establishes that the value of switching depends on the feeling involved, but not that switching is always better.
Relationship to Calmistry
Adds 'did it work?' and 'which feeling?' to coping fit. A recommendation should be checked against whether it helped.
Calmistry hypothesis · not yet tested in Calmistry's own instrument
Related findings
Checked against the original on 2026-10-08 · DOI 10.1038/s44220-024-00215-3
Chen et al. (2024), Nature Mental Health · Original publication