Relationship among automatic thoughts, activities and events, and affect in children

Negative automatic thoughts and pleasant activities are associated with negative affect (NA) and positive affect (PA), respectively. However, it has not been confirmed whether negative and positive automatic thoughts and aversive and pleasant activities and events are uniquely associated with NA and PA. Further, automatic thoughts are believed to be more associated with affect in older children. To test these possibilities, 234 fourth and sixth graders completed the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule for Children, the Automatic Thought Inventory for Children, and a pleasant and aversive activity and event survey. Analyses revealed that negative automatic thoughts and aversive activities and events were associated with NA, and positive automatic thoughts and pleasant activities and events were associated with PA for both fourth and sixth graders. Expectancy for support was associated with NA only for sixth graders. The results indicate the valence-specific relationship, but only partial support was obtained for age differences in the strength of the relationship.