Daily Behavioral and Environmental Factors Association with Affective States and Quality of Life
Abstract: Nowadays, we collect vast amounts of behavioral and environmental data using wearable and environmental sensors, yet clarity remains limited about their associations with everyday affective states. This study explores correlations between passive behavioral data, environmental factors, and self-reported affective states in cognitively healthy adults for almost a year. Stress correlated most strongly with heart rate during sleep and weather variables. Positive Affect aligned primarily with sleep characteristics, such as total duration and interruptions. Negative Affect showed moderate correlations with sleep continuity and heart rate variability, suggesting the role of physiological regularity. Hostility correlated robustly with physical activity and weather. Anxiety exhibited strong associations with circadian disruptions and weather conditions, underlining environmental sensitivity. Depression was notably related to irregular sleep latency and air quality variability. Additionally, circadian disruptions from time-zone changes significantly impacted Affect, Anxiety, and Hostility, supporting existing jetlag research. These findings underscore the value of passive multimodal sensing, providing deeper insights into the interplay between physiology, environment, and mental health. The results highlight the potential of wearable technologies to facilitate personalized, continuous monitoring, contributing significantly to preventive health strategies and improving quality of life.
Maïssa Bouneb1, Igor Matias1,2, Katarzyna Wac1
[1Quality of Life Technologies Lab, 2Cognitive Aging Lab], University of Geneva, Switzerland
In PervasiveHealth 2025.
Article: here