Distress, Disease, and Dysfunction: Practical Implications of Affectivity Toward an Applied Science of Affective Determinants of Health (ADoH)

The domain of affectivity is broad and complex, with a rich history, albeit one that reflects astruggle to operationalize the target of its focus. Nevertheless, affectivity is the foundation of anemerging field referred to as affective determinants of health (ADoH), offering insights intoemotions, moods, and other subjective phenomena that qualify as affective experiences in humanhealth and functioning. Presently, the ADoH field lacks a coherent model and assessmentframework for healthcare and wellness practitioners to translate and leverage the affectivitydomain practically and effectively. This work endeavors to offer a practical definition ofaffectivity that allows ostensibly different subjective phenomena as loneliness, pain, depression,fatigue, and others to be construed as affective experiences, particularly when consideredthrough the lens of stress, which can serve as a bridge between the extensive bodies of medicalresearch on stress and the field of discrete affects more commonly studied by psychologists. Thisapproach positions certain affects as risk factors that comprise a foundation for clinical practiceand research. By reviewing some of the most pertinent literature on stress and other affectiveexperiences, viewed through the lens of stress, this work then argues for the routine assessmentof key ADoH risk factors, and the use of those indicators as transdiagnostic targets in populationhealth management, prevention, and point-of-care encounters.