Affective sensitivity to air pollution (ASAP) describes the extent to which affect, or mood, fluctuates in accordance with daily changes in air pollution, which can vary between individuals, according to a study published August 7, 2024 in the open-access journal PLOS ONE by Michelle Ng from Stanford University, U.S., and colleagues.

Specifically, the authors applied statistical models to intensive repeated measures data obtained from 150 US individuals for more than a year. The researchers used the models to examine whether and how individuals' daily affective states fluctuate with the daily concentrations of outdoor air pollution in their county.

They looked at two components of individuals' affective state: arousal, the level of physiological activation, and valence, the positivity or negativity of their mood.

The work demonstrated the viability of using air pollution data obtained from local air quality monitors alongside psychological data to assess individuals' ASAP. The researchers found that individuals' affect arousal was lower than usual on days with higher than usual air pollution. Most importantly, there were substantial differences in ASAP between individuals.

The finding that individuals' day-to-day affect may be disrupted by air pollution has important implications.

Affective Sensitivity to Air Pollution (ASAP): Person-specific associations between daily air pollution and affective states

https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0307430