Jenna L Wells

Biographic Data

ID202300
NAMEJenna L Wells
GIVEN NAMESJenna L
FAMILY NAMEWells
SIGNATUREWELLS J L
AFFILIATIONSCornell University
ORCID0000-0002-4240-7015
VERIFIEDYes
TOTAL WORKS9
TOTAL CITATIONS9
WORKS AS AUTHOR9
WORKS AS EDITOR0
FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR2019
LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR2025
H-INDEX2

  • The role of specific affects in the psychopathology of dementia family caregivers

    Open AccessJenna L Wells, David S Heath et al.ARTICLEEmotion2025

    Caregiving for a person with dementia is a highly emotional experience and can evoke numerous negative and positive affects. Not surprisingly, dementia caregivers are vulnerable to mood and anxiety disorders. In this study, 95 caregiver-person with dementia dyads had a 10-min, unrehearsed conversation about a relationship conflict in the laboratory between 2013 and 2019. After the conversation, caregivers reported the extent to which they experie…

  • Does Positivity Resonance Signify Love? Markers of Positivity Resonance in Long‐Term Married Couples Relate to Trait and State Love

    Open AccessJocelyn Lai, Marcela C Otero et al.ARTICLEPersonal Relationships2025References: 10

    Positivity resonance is a collective emotion experienced by two or more individuals during moments of shared positive affect; it is theorized to constitute the experience of love, yet this claim has not been empirically tested. Using archival data from 148 long‐term married couples, we examined whether dyad‐level indicators of positivity resonance are linked to dyad‐level indicators of trait and state love. Trait love was assessed as a latent var…

  • Caregivers’ positive emotional language predicts their depression trajectories after dementia caregiving ends

    Open AccessJenna L Wells, Julian A Scheffer et al.ARTICLEThe Journals of Gerontology…2025References: 9

    Caregivers who use more positive words when describing their connection with the care recipient may be more resilient, underscoring the potential role of positive emotional qualities of the caregiving relationship in preserving caregivers' mental health after caregiving ends

  • Diminished preparatory physiological responses in people with dementia

    Open AccessK H Chen, Julian A Scheffer et al.ARTICLEThe Journals of Gerontology…2025References: 3

    Objectives Emotional impairments in people with dementia can be taxing for family caregivers. However, caregivers differ in their resilience to these challenges. We previously found that, compared to healthy controls and people with Alzheimer’s disease, people with frontotemporal lobar degeneration (FTLD) have smaller physiological responses when anticipating upcoming emotional stimuli. This impairment may leave these people with FTLD unprepared …

  • Positivity resonance in long-term married couples

    Open AccessJenna L Wells, Claudia M Haase et al.ARTICLEJournal of Personality and Social…2022Cited by: 4

    The Positivity Resonance Theory of coexperienced positive affect describes moments of interpersonal connection characterized by shared positive affect, caring nonverbal synchrony, and biological synchrony. The construct validity of positivity resonance and its longitudinal associations with health have not been tested. The current longitudinal study examined whether positivity resonance in conflict interactions between 154 married couples predict…

  • Shared emotions in shared lives

    Open AccessCasey L Brown, K H Chen et al.ARTICLEEmotion2021

    Motivated by collective emotions theories that propose emotions shared between individuals predict group-level qualities, we hypothesized that co-experienced affect during interactions is associated with relationship quality, above and beyond the effects of individually experienced affect. Consistent with positivity resonance theory, we also hypothesized that co-experienced positive affect would have a stronger association with relationship quali…

  • Physiological linkage during shared positive and shared negative emotion

    Open AccessK H Chen, Kuan-Hua Chen et al.ARTICLEJournal of Personality and Social…2021Cited by: 5

    Physiological linkage refers to the degree to which peoples' physiological responses change in coordinated ways. Here, we examine whether and how physiological linkage relates to incidents of shared emotion, distinguished by valence. Past research has used an "overall average" approach and characterized how physiological linkage over relatively long time periods (e.g., 10-15 min) reflects psychological and social processes (e.g., marital satisfac…

  • Poor Disgust Suppression Is Associated with Increased Anxiety in Caregivers of People with Neurodegenerative Disease

    Open AccessJenna L Wells, Alice Y Hua et al.ARTICLEThe Journals of Gerontology…2020References: 4

    Findings suggest that caregivers who are unable to suppress emotional behavior in response to disgusting stimuli may be at greater risk for anxiety. Given high levels of anxiety in caregivers, it may be useful to evaluate interventions that improve ability to downregulate emotional behavior

  • Behavioral indices of positivity resonance associated with long-term marital satisfaction

    Open AccessMarcela C Otero, Jenna L Wells et al.ARTICLEEmotion2019

    Positivity resonance-defined as a synthesis of shared positive affect, mutual care and concern, plus behavioral and biological synchrony-is theorized to contribute to a host of positive outcomes, including relationship satisfaction. The current study examined whether, in long-term married couples, behavioral indices of positivity resonance (rated using a new behavioral coding system) are associated with concurrent shared positive affect using a w…