Adolescent Daily Critical Action During the 2024 US Election

ABSTRACT The 2024 US election was stressful. Taking critical actions (i.e., behaviors that address social or economic inequality) may reduce or exacerbate election stress and negative emotions. This daily diary study, spanning 20 consecutive days throughout the 2024 election, takes an exploratory and descriptive approach to understand adolescents’ daily critical action and its association with political stress and emotions. Participants ( N = 32, M age = 15.53, SD = 1.19), most of whom were White (59.4%), female (62.5%) and Democrat (71.9%), reported taking critical action frequently, especially before and a few days following the election. Participants were more likely to take critical action on days when they reported political stress and negative emotions. Lagged (spill‐over) effects were not significant when controlling for same‐day constructs. Critical action may increase or decrease stress and negative emotions. If adolescents use critical action as a coping mechanism, they may do so in an immediate fashion.