Table 4.

Level 1 and 2 Variance Decomposition, Descriptive Statistics, and Paired T-Tests of Word Use and Physiological Reactivity Variables

Variable	Level 1 variance	Level 2 (co)variance	Range of scores	Mean (SD) in suffering condition	Mean (SD) in meal condition	t	df
Total word count	8570.03***	8102.77**	73–627	359.60 (110.58)	308.13 (140.17)	3.26**	49
Positive emotion words	4.35**	−.80	0–7.69	2.40 (1.23)	4.36 (1.81)	−6.92***	49
Negative emotion words	4.53***	−1.57***	0–7.60	3.21 (1.50)	.81 (.88)	9.88***	49
Cognitive words	11.80***	−2.12	11.88–28.89	20.79 (2.75)	22.92 (3.11)	−3.48***	49
Systolic blood pressure	40.34***	86.16***	− 11–50	11.17 (12.07)	8.20 (10.21)	2.46*	51
Diastolic blood pressure	28.61***	41.82***	−9–41	8.88 (9.46)	6.08 (6.34)	2.23*	51
Heart rate	3.63***	13.45***	−5–20	3.82 (4.56)	2.89 (3.68)	2.48*	48

Note. Level 1 variance represents the extent to which the outcome variable varies within the same caregiver. Level 2 variance represents the extent to which the caregiver’s mean score on the outcome variable varies across caregivers.

^*p < .05.

p < .01.

p < .001.