Trauma-related intrusions moderate the persistence of negative affect in daily life: Evidence from ecological momentary assessment.

Emotional inertia, the moment-to-moment carryover of negative affect, has been implicated in psychological maladjustment but remains poorly understood in trauma-exposed individuals. This study examined whether momentary trauma-related intrusions strengthened emotional inertia in trauma-exposed individuals. Trauma survivors (N = 95; European Australian: n = 46, Chinese Australian: n = 49) completed a 7-day ecological momentary assessment (EMA) study, reporting trauma-related intrusions and negative affect four times daily. Multilevel lagged models examined within-person emotional inertia and its interaction with momentary trauma-related intrusions. Negative affect demonstrated significant emotional inertia, B = 0.20, 95% CI [0.15, 0.26], p < .001. Momentary trauma-related intrusions significantly strengthened this effect such that negative affect became more persistent when intrusions were present, B = 0.19, 95% CI [0.06, 0.33], p = .004. The findings suggest that trauma-related intrusions are associated with increased emotional inertia in daily life, potentially reflecting disruptions in affective recovery processes. These results highlight the importance of examining temporal emotional dynamics, beyond mean levels of distress, to understand posttraumatic adjustment.