Author ORCID Identifier:
Date of Graduation
5-2026
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy in Psychology (PhD)
Degree Level
Graduate
Department
Psychological Science
Advisor/Mentor
Makhanova, Anastasia
Committee Member
Shields, Grant
Second Committee Member
Veilleux, Jennifer
Keywords
Depression; Ecological Momentary Assessment; Hormonal Contraceptives; Positive Affect; Social Support
Abstract
Hormonal contraceptive (HC) use has been linked to alterations in women’s social processes and mental health, but their role in shaping moment-to-moment affective responses to daily social experiences remains poorly understood. The present study used ecological momentary assessment (EMA) data collected from two samples of women (n = 196) to examine whether within-person associations between social support, social criticism, and affect differed between HC users and naturally cycling women. Participants completed moment-to-moment assessments of perceived social support, social criticism, positive affect, and negative affect, along with nightly depression symptoms via the LifeData app. Multilevel models tested these associations, while moderated mediation models examined whether social-affective pathways predicted nightly depression symptoms, and if there were differences in these associations among HC users. Overall, within-person increases in social support were associated with greater positive affect. However, this association was blunted among HC users compared to naturally cycling women, with the strongest differences among oral contraceptive-using women. Within-person increases in social criticism were associated with lower positive affect, but this pattern did not differ significantly between groups. Decreases in social support and increases in social criticism were associated with higher negative affect, but these associations did not differ between groups. Time-lagged analyses were not significant. Finally, HC use did not moderate social-affective pathways in predicting nightly depression symptoms. These findings suggest that HC use, particularly oral contraceptive use, may be associated with blunted positive affective responses to social support. This pattern of associations could have meaningful implications for women’s social and emotional health.
Citation
Joslin, M. D. (2026). Hormonal Contraceptives Modulation of Dynamic Social-Affective Processes: An Ecological Momentary Assessment Study of Social Support, Criticism, Affect, and Depression. Graduate Theses and Dissertations Retrieved from https://scholarworks.uark.edu/etd/6210
