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Objective High neuroticism, low agreeableness, and low conscientiousness are consistent correlates of drug use, though such patterns may be due to common familial influences rather than effects of personality per se. The present study aimed to explore associations of Big Five traits with various forms of drug use independent of confounding familial influences by leveraging differences within twin pairs to identify potentially causal (i.e., within-pair) effects of personality on use. Method 980 same-sex twin pairs from the Australian Twin Registry Cohort III (Mage = 31.70, 71% female) were interviewed regarding lifetime (mis)use of cannabis, cocaine/crack, prescription and illicit stimulants, prescription and illicit opioids, sedatives, hallucinogens, dissociatives, inhalants, and solvents, and completed a Big Five inventory. Co-twin control analyses predicted the use of each drug from all traits simultaneously. Results Individual-level analyses generally showed the expected associations of neuroticism, agreeableness, and conscientiousness with drug use. Familial effects were also somewhat generalized: high neuroticism, high openness to experience, and low agreeableness were associated with the use of several drug types. More specificity emerged for within-pair effects. High neuroticism was associated with prescription drug misuse; high extraversion was associated with cocaine/crack and stimulant use; high openness to experience was associated with cannabis use; low agreeableness was associated with cocaine/crack use and illicit opioid use; and no within-pair effects emerged for conscientiousness. Conclusions Trait associations common across drugs may be primarily attributable to familial effects. There appears to be more drug-specific influence of personality on use with respect to potentially causal within-pair effects. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).

Background This study explored the cross-sectional and longitudinal associations between everyday emotion dimensions and internalizing symptoms during the transition to early adolescence. We tested associations between children's intensity and instability of daily negative emotions (NE), positive emotions (PE), and daily NE differentiation (NED) with children's self-reported and their mothers' report of children's internalizing symptoms, across six waves, each wave separated by six months. Methods The sample included 199 ethnically diverse mother [Mage at baseline = 40.1 years (SD = 6.1] and child [Mage at baseline = 10.1 (SD = 0.90), 51% girls] dyads, who participated in six 7-day waves of ecological momentary assessment (EMA). During each wave, children reported on PE (i.e. happy and joyful) and NE (i.e. mad, sad, and stressed) up to eight random times per day through smartphone-based EMA. Children and mothers reported on children's internalizing symptoms at each wave. We used random-intercept cross-lagged panel models (RI-CLPMs) to test within- and between-person effects. Results At the within-person level, increased NE and decreased PE intensity, more unstable NE and PE, and decreased NED at any given wave were positively associated with children's self-reported internalizing symptoms but not with mother-reported child symptoms. However, emotion dimensions did not predict child-reported nor mother-reported child symptoms at the next wave. At the between-person level, higher average NE, more unstable PE and NE, and lower NED were positively associated with average child-reported and mother-reported child internalizing symptoms. Conclusions This study suggests that emotional intensity, instability, and differentiation could be conceptualized as manifestations of internalizing symptoms but not as risk factors for its progression, or residual manifestations of it, among typical children.

Background The bi-directional associations between affective states and movement behaviors (e.g., physical activity, sedentary behavior) have been observed in children. It is unclear if the strength of these bi-directional associations varies with age as children transition from childhood to adolescence. Purpose This multi-wave ecological momentary assessment (EMA) study investigates the acute time-varying associations between affect and movement behaviors among youth. Methods Children (N = 195, baseline mean age = 10.72, range = 8–12 years, mean BMI-z = 0.49, 51% female) participated in a six-wave EMA study across three years. Each EMA survey captured momentary positive and negative affect. Time spent in moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) and sedentary time in the 15-min window before and after each EMA survey was calculated using accelerometry data. Time-varying effect models (TVEM) examined the acute bi-directional associations between momentary positive/negative affect and MVPA/sedentary time across ages 8 to 14. Results Children provided 14,246 valid activity-matched EMA surveys across all waves. TVEM plots revealed that the directionality and the strength (time-varying slopes) of associations between momentary affect and activity levels vary across ages. Positive affect was associated with higher MVPA levels and lower sedentary time at younger ages, whereas negative affect linked to lower MVPA levels and more sedentary time at older ages. Conclusions The acute associations between momentary affect and (in)activity levels may vary as a function of children's age. Applying TVEM to intensive longitudinal data could provide valuable information for developing age-tailored interventions that promote healthy lifestyles among children and adolescents.

Mothers may use controlling feeding practices (i.e., pressure to eat and restriction) to regulate their child’s weight. However, these practices may have unintended consequences on the weight and mental health of children. The first aim of this study was to investigate differences in maternal controlling feeding practices by child gender, age, and maternal ethnicity. The second aim was to examine cross-sectional associations among maternal controlling feeding practices, child body mass index z-scores (BMI-z), global internalizing symptoms (i.e., depression and anxiety symptoms), and self-esteem. The third aim was to determine whether child sex and mother ethnicity moderate these associations. A sample of 202 ethnically diverse mother-child dyads (children ages 8-12; 49% female) completed self-report questionnaires and had weight and height measurements taken. Results showed no differences in maternal controlling feeding practices by gender, ethnicity, or age. Pressure to eat was negatively related to child BMI-z, and restriction was positively related to BMI-z. Moreover, pressure to eat was negatively related to child self-esteem. There were no associations between maternal controlling feeding practices and global internalizing symptoms. Further, no associations differed by child gender or mother ethnicity. Maternal controlling feeding practices may be used to move a child’s weight toward a healthy weight range. Overall, there was little evidence for associations between feeding practices and poor mental health; although, pressure to eat was related to poorer self-esteem in children. KEYWORDS: Maternal; Feeding; Practices; Child; BMI-z; Mental; Health; Controlling; Restricting

People differ from each other to the extent to which momentary factors, such as context, mood, and cognitions, influence momentary health behaviors. However, statistical models to date are limited in their ability to test whether the association between two momentary variables (i.e., subject-level slopes) predicts a subject-level outcome. This study demonstrates a novel two-stage statistical modeling strategy that is capable of testing whether subject-level slopes between two momentary variables predict subject-level outcomes. An empirical case study application is presented to examine whether there are differences in momentary moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) levels between the outdoor and indoor context in adults and whether these momentary differences predict mean daily MVPA levels 6 months later. One hundred and eight adults from a multiwave longitudinal study provided 4 days of ecological momentary assessment (during baseline) and accelerometry data (both at baseline and 6 month follow-up). Multilevel data were analyzed using an open-source program (MixWILD) to test whether momentary strength between outdoor context and MVPA during baseline was associated with average daily MVPA levels measured 6 months later. During baseline, momentary MVPA levels were higher in outdoor contexts as compared to indoor contexts (b = 0.07, p < .001). Participants who had more momentary MVPA when outdoors (vs. indoors) during baseline (i.e., a greater subject-level slope) had higher daily MVPA at the 6 month follow-up (b = 0.09, p < .05). This empirical example shows that the subject-level momentary association between specific context (i.e., outdoors) and health behavior (i.e., physical activity) may contribute to overall engagement in that behavior in the future. The demonstrated two-stage modeling approach has extensive applications in behavioral medicine to analyze intensive longitudinal data collected from wearable sensors and mobile devices.

Less than 1% of children in the United States concurrently meet guidelines for fruit/vegetable intake, physical activity, screen time, and sugar-sweetened beverages. Prior evidence suggests that parents of this 1% potentially cope with stress differently. This qualitative study used a positive deviance-based approach to locate mothers whose children avoided negative feeding outcomes despite being ‘high-risk’ for obesity. Semi-structured interviews were conducted in Spanish for two groups: low-income, Hispanic mothers whose children were normal weight and met recommendations for fruits/vegetables and physical activity (n = 5); and a comparison group whose children had obesity and did not meet guidelines (n = 8). Topics included weight-related parenting practices, attitudes toward health, and stress management. Interviews were transcribed, translated, and coded using NVivo for theoretically driven thematic analysis. Results suggested that mothers viewed stress differently. Mothers of healthy weight children believed stress could be prevented, such as by paying children more attention or directing one’s attention away from stressors; comparison group mothers tended to report stress about managing their child’s eating and about financial worries. Future research is needed to understand the underlying sources of these differences (e.g. personality traits, coping practices) and test whether stress prevention interventions can promote healthy parental feeding practices.

Marriage and parenthood are associated with alcohol use and use disorder (AUD), although they are confounded such that many studies struggle to identify their unique and/or causal effects. The present study utilized a genetically-informed discordant twin design that strengthens the putative causal role of marital and parental status in the presentation of AUD symptoms by using each individual’s co-twin as their own control while simultaneously modeling both predictors among men and women. Participants were 980 complete same-sex twin pairs from the Australian Twin Registry (M(age)=31.70 [SD=2.48]; 71% women). Marital status, parental status, and past year AUD symptoms were assessed via semi-structured interview. Three random-intercept generalized linear mixed models were fit in men and women including 1) marital status only, 2) parental status only, and 3) both marital and parental status; demographics, past year pregnancy, age of first drink, age of regular drinking, personality traits, and antisociality were included as covariates. Models tested for quasi-causal and familial effects. The sole-predictor marital status model (model 1) provided the best fit among men, while the simultaneous-predictor marital and parental status model (model 3) provided the best fit among women. Sole-predictor models showed familial effects of both predictors among men, and quasi-causal and familial effects of both predictors among women; the simultaneous-predictor model revealed familial effects of marital status only among men, and quasi-causal effects of parental status only among women. The present study elucidates important sex differences in the presentation of AUD among midlife adults in the context of notable developmental milestones.

Objectives Weight loss maintenance (WLM) is the next major challenge in obesity treatment. While most individuals who lose weight intend to keep their weight off, weight regain is common. Temporal Self-Regulation Theory posits that whether intentions lead to behavior depends on self-regulatory capacity, including delay discounting (DD; the tendency to discount a larger future reward in favor of a smaller immediate reward). Episodic Future Thinking (EFT; mental imagery of a future event for which a health goal is important) may improve DD and promote behavior change. Described herein is a trial protocol designed to examine whether EFT improves DD within the context of weight loss maintenance. Method Participants who lose ≥5% of initial body weight in an online behavioral weight loss intervention will be randomly assigned to a standard weight loss maintenance program (WLM-STD) or a weight loss maintenance program plus EFT (WLM + EFT). Both interventions involve periodic phone and in-person treatment sessions. Participants in WLM + EFT will engage in daily EFT training via smartphone. To control for contact, participants in WLM-STD will engage in daily Healthy Thinking (reviewing strategies for weight management) on their smartphone. Our primary hypothesis is that WLM + EFT will yield better improvements in DD compared to WLM-STD. We will also explore whether DD mediates the relationship between intervention allocation and physical activity (secondary outcome). Weight and contextual variables will be explored. Conclusions This study is the first to test whether EFT improves DD within the context of weight loss maintenance; results from this experimental medicine approach could have important implications for understanding the impact of both EFT and DD on sustained behavior change. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).

BackgroundDespite abundant research on the potential causal influence of childhood maltreatment (CM) on psychological maladaptation in adulthood, almost none has implemented the discordant twin design as a means of examining the role of such experiences in later disordered gambling (DG) while accounting for genetic and family environmental confounds. The present study implemented such an approach to disentangle the potential causal and familial factors that may account for the association between CM and DG.MethodsParticipants were 3750 twins from the Australian Twin Registry [Mage = 37.60 (s.d. = 2.31); 58% female]. CM and DG were assessed separately via two semi-structured telephone interviews. Random-intercept generalized linear mixed models were fit to the data; zygosity, sex, educational attainment, childhood psychiatric disorder, adult antisocial behavior, and alcohol use disorder (AUD) were included as covariates.ResultsNeither quasi-causal nor familial effects of CM predicted DG after adjusting for covariates. Educational attainment appeared to reduce the risk of DG while AUD appeared to increase risk; evidence also emerged for familial effects of antisocial behavior on DG. Post-hoc analyses revealed a familial effect of CM on antisocial behavior, indicating that the association between CM and DG identified in unadjusted models and in prior studies may be accounted for by genetic and shared family environmental effects of antisociality.ConclusionsThese findings add to the meager literature showing that CM does not exert a causal effect on DG, and present novel evidence that familial effects of antisocial behavior may account for the association between CM and DG identified in extant non-twin research.

ObjectiveTo describe a configurable mobile health (mHealth) framework for integration of physiologic and environmental sensors to be used in studies focusing on the domain of pediatric asthma.Materials and MethodsThe Biomedical REAl-Time Health Evaluation (BREATHE) platform connects different sensors and data streams, contextualizing an individual’s symptoms and daily activities over time to understand pediatric asthma’s presentation and its management. A smartwatch/smartphone combination serves as a hub for personal/wearable sensing devices collecting data on health (eg, heart rate, spirometry, medications), motion, and personal exposures (eg, particulate matter, ozone); securely transmitting information to BREATHE’s servers; and interacting with the user (eg, ecological momentary assessments). Server-side integration of electronic health record data and spatiotemporally correlated information (eg, weather, traffic) elaborates on these observations. An initial panel study involving pediatric asthma patients was conducted to assess BREATHE.ResultsTwenty subjects were enrolled, during which BREATHE accrued seven consecutive days of continuous data per individual. The data were used to confirm knowledge about asthma (use of controller inhalers, time-activity behaviors, personal air pollution exposure), and additional analyses provided insights into within-day associations of environmental triggers and asthma exacerbations. Exit surveys focusing on mHealth usability, while positive, noted several translational challenges.DiscussionBased on these promising results, a longitudinal panel study to evaluate individual microenvironments and exposures is ongoing. Lessons learned thus far reflect the need to address various usability aspects, including convenience and ongoing engagement.ConclusionBREATHE enables multi-sensor mHealth studies, capturing new types of information alongside an evolving understanding of personal exposomes.

Background Research has shown that affect is associated with everyday movement behaviors in children and adults. However, limited work to date has investigated dyadic influences of momentary affect on moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) and sedentary time among children and their mothers using ecological momentary assessment (EMA). Methods Mothers and their children (eight to 12-years-old at baseline) from the Los Angeles metropolitan area participated in a longitudinal study with six semi-annual measurement waves across three years. During each measurement wave, mothers and children reported momentary negative and positive affect via a custom smartphone-based EMA application across seven days (randomly sampled up to eight times per day). Each dyad member’s momentary affective states were used to predict their own and the other dyad member’s accelerometer-measured MVPA and sedentary time in the prompt-matched 45-min time window. Multilevel modeling within the actor-partner interdependence model (APIM) framework was applied to accommodate the nested dyadic nature of the data. Results At the within-subject level, when children had higher-than-usual positive affect, they engaged in greater MVPA and less sedentary time in the prompt-matched 45-min window (actor effects; ps p p ps Conclusions This study extends the literature by demonstrating that mothers’ and children’s everyday physical activity and sedentary time are not only associated with their own affective states, but also may be influenced by the affective states of each other. Our findings suggest that affective states have the potential to influence movement behaviors in mother-child dyads’ everyday lives. Affective underpinnings of physical activity and sedentary behaviors should be further studied in order to develop family-based intervention strategies to influence these behaviors.

Identifying vulnerable windows for a given problematic behavior and providing timely and appropriate support are critical for building an effective just-in-time (JIT) intervention for behavioral change. We developed and evaluated an implementation intention (II) based, JIT cessation intervention prototype to support Asian American young adult smokers to prevent lapses in their cessation attempts in real-time. We examined how a JIT II reminder may prevent lapses during self-identified high-risk smoking situation (HRSS) as a microtemporal process. We also tested whether the effect of JIT reminder changes over the course of study and differed between those who used their own versus project loan phones. Asian American young adult smokers (N = 57) who were interested in quitting or reducing smoking participated in a 4 week, mobile-based, cessation study (MyQuit USC, MQU). MQU is a JIT mobile app that deploys a user-specified II reminder at user-specified HRSS and assesses momentary lapse status. Generalized mixed linear models were conducted to assess the effect of the JIT intervention on lapse prevention. We found a significant interaction effect (p = .03) such that receiving JIT reminder reduced the likelihood of lapses for participants using their own phones but not for the loaners. The results also showed that when participants enacted the suggested II, they were less likely to lapse (p

Psychology of sport and exercise 50 (2020) 101742, 49 S., Technological and digital progress benefits physical activity (PA) research. Here we compiled expert knowledge on how Ambulatory Assessment (AA) is utilized to advance PA research, i.e., we present results of the 2nd International CAPA Workshop 2019 "Physical Activity Assessment - State of the Science, Best Practices, Future Directions" where invited researchers with experience in PA assessment, evaluation, technology and application participated. First, we provide readers with the state of the AA science, then we give best practice recommendations on how to measure PA via AA and shed light on methodological frontiers, and we furthermore discuss future directions. AA encompasses a class of methods that allows the study of PA and its behavioral, biological and physiological correlates as they unfold in everyday life. AA includes monitoring of movement (e.g., via accelerometry), physiological function (e.g., via mobile electrocardiogram), contextual information (e.g., via geolocation-tracking), and ecological momentary assessment (EMA; e.g., electronic diaries) to capture self-reported information. The strengths of AA are data assessment that near real-time, which minimizes retrospective biases in real-world settings, consequentially enabling ecological valid findings. Importantly, AA enables multiple assessments across time within subjects resulting in intensive longitudinal data (ILD), which allows unraveling within-person determinants of PA in everyday life. In this paper, we show how AA methods such as triggered e-diaries and geolocation-tracking can be used to measure PA and its correlates, and furthermore how these findings may translate into real-life interventions. In sum, AA provides numerous possibilities for PA research, especially the opportunity to tackle within-subject antecedents, concomitants, and consequences of PA as they unfold in everyday life. In-depth insights on determinants of PA could help us design and deliver impactful interventions in real-world contexts, thus enabling us to solve critical health issues in the 21st century such as insufficient PA and high levels of sedentary behavior. (DIPF/Orig.)

Background Limited research exists on the association of eating-related guilt and mental health across middle childhood to early adolescence. Therefore, this study was guided by two aims: (1) to examine cross-sectional and longitudinal associations between eating-related guilt and mental health (i.e., internalizing symptoms and self-esteem) and (2) to examine how executive functioning deficits moderate the cross-sectional association between eating-related guilt and mental health. Methods Children (N = 202) completed self-report measures of eating-related guilt, internalizing symptoms, and self-esteem across three years in six semi-annual waves. A self-report measure of executive functioning deficits was completed at Wave 6. Results Eating-related guilt was positively associated with internalizing symptoms cross-sectionally, but there were no prospective associations. There was a significant parallel association between eating-related guilt and internalizing symptoms slopes, suggesting increases in eating-related guilt were positively associated with internalizing symptoms across waves. Eating-related guilt and self-esteem were unrelated. There was an interaction of eating-related guilt and executive functioning deficits in relation to internalizing symptoms and self-esteem such that at high executive functioning deficits, there was a relation between higher eating-related guilt and higher internalizing symptoms and lower self-esteem. Limitations Constructs were assessed with self-report measures, with eating-related guilt being assessed with an abbreviated measure. For the second aim, only cross-sectional data were available for executive functioning. Conclusions Eating-related guilt and internalizing symptoms appear to track together across middle childhood and early adolescence; executive functioning deficits may explain risk for negative outcomes for children experiencing eating-related guilt.

BACKGROUND: Motivation and self-regulation are two psychological systems that have been shown to be related to childhood obesity. OBJECTIVE: This study evaluated independent and interactive associations of approach-oriented motivation (i.e., Drive and Reward Responsiveness) and self-regulation (i.e., self-control and behavioral regulation) in relation to age- and sex-adjusted body mass index z-scores (BMI-z) in children. METHODS: Children (55% female; M(age)=12.5 years±0.93) completed questionnaires assessing motivation and self-regulation, and anthropometric measurements were taken by research staff cross-sectionally. RESULTS: Regressions revealed no independent associations of approach motivation or self-regulation and BMI-z. There were interactions between the drive facet of approach motivation, which assesses motivation to follow goals, and self-regulation in relation to BMI-z. Children with lower motivation to follow goals and lower self-regulation had higher BMI-z, and children with lower motivation to follow goals and higher self-regulation had lower BMI-z. Children with higher motivation to follow goals had similar BMI-z at all levels of self-regulation. CONCLUSION: For children with low motivation to follow goals, self-regulation may be an important buffer of high BMI-z.

OBJECTIVE: A 10-day ecological momentary assessment (EMA) study was conducted to test a dual-process model of older adults’ sedentary behavior. DESIGN: Older adults (n = 104, 60–98 years) answered 6 EMA questionnaires/day to assess conscious processes (i.e. momentary intentions, self-efficacy to limit sedentary behavior over the next two hours) and wore an activPAL accelerometer to measure sedentary behavior. Habit strength for sedentary behavior, a non-conscious process, was self-reported at an introductory session. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: Time spent sitting in the two hours after the EMA prompt. RESULTS: Older adults engaged in less sedentary behavior on occasions when their intentions (b = −1.63, p = 0.02) and self-efficacy (b = −2.01, p = 0.003) to limit sedentary behavior were stronger than one’s average level of intentions or self-efficacy, respectively; however, older adults’ average level of intentions (b = −5.30, p = 0.05) or self-efficacy (b = 2.77, p = 0.27) to limit sedentary behavior were not associated with sedentary behavior. Older adults with stronger sedentary behavior habits engaged in greater sedentary behavior in the two hours following the EMA prompt (b = 2.04, p = 0.006). CONCLUSION: Sedentary behavior is regulated by conscious and non-conscious processes. Interventions targeting older adults’ sedentary behavior should promote momentary intention formation and self-efficacy beliefs to limit sitting as well as content to disrupt habitual sedentary behavior.

In the UK and some US states, video-recorded investigative interviews of child victims/witnesses can be presented in court as the child’s evidence-in-chief. However, there is scarce advice ...

Over 50,000 youth, mostly between the ages of 13 and 17 years, migrated to the United States (US) without familial accompaniment in fiscal year 2018. The tripartite process of pre-flight, flight, and resettlement exposes these unaccompanied immigrant children (UIC) to multiple, and often ongoing, traumatic events that can significantly and adversely impact their mental health into adulthood. However, the ethical considerations for psychologists working with this growing population, with limited exceptions, remain largely unaddressed. As more and more UIC flee their home countries due to violence, abuse, and economic instability only to experience further stressors during the processes of detainment, custodial placement, and acculturative adjustment in the US, there is an increasing need for psychological services; thus, the importance of preparation of mental health providers is increasingly significant. Psychologists must have the requisite skills and knowledge of the complex experiences of UIC, and of how these intersect with salient cultural, developmental, and systemic factors, as a means of providing competent and ethical mental health treatment. The present article highlights several ethical issues that arise when providing psychological services to UIC, with particular consideration paid to the embeddedness of UIC in various organizational entities with which psychologists will likely need to interface when working with this population. Implications and recommendations for practicing psychologists and training programs are discussed.

The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM; 5th ed.) reassignment of gambling disorder as an addictive disorder alongside the substance-related addictive disorders encourages research into their shared etiologies. The aims of this study were to examine: (a) the associations of Big Five personality dimensions with alcohol, nicotine, cannabis, and gambling disorders, (b) the comorbidity between these disorders, (c) the extent to which common personality underpinnings explain comorbidity, (d) whether results differed for men and women, and (e) the magnitude of personality differences corresponding to the 4 disorders. Participants were 3,785 twins and siblings (1,365 men, 2,420 women; Mage = 32 years, range = 21-46 years) from the Australian Twin Registry who completed psychiatric interviews and Big Five personality inventories. The personality profile of high neuroticism, low agreeableness, and low conscientiousness was associated with all 4 addictive disorders. All but 1 of the pairwise associations between the disorders were significant. After accounting for Big Five traits, the associations were attenuated to varying degrees but remained significant. The results were generally similar for men and women. The results suggest that the Big Five traits of neuroticism, agreeableness, and conscientiousness are associated with the general propensity to develop an addictive disorder and may in part explain their co-occurrence; however, they may be more broadly associated with the propensity for any psychiatric disorder. The effect sizes of the personality associations suggest that the diagnosis of gambling disorder as operationalized by the DSM may be more severe than the other addictive disorders. Calibration of the diagnosis of gambling disorder to the other addictive disorders may be warranted. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).

This study aimed to explore students’ first year experience to provide insights that may prove to be useful for institutional policy and practice. A semi-structured interview was conducted on 30 undergraduates from a private university to examine their perceptions, experiences, and attitudes towards first year experience. Themes were derived from the analysis of the transcribed interview transcripts. The results showed that in general students pursue tertiary education as it can guarantee their career prospect and intellectual development. Moreover, classroom engagement and academic staff engagement on students were less crucial in comparison to peer engagement. However, the students’ perceptions of studentship and quality of teaching were positive. Lastly, most students were satisfied with their first year experience in the university. Practical implications, recommendations and limitations for future practice are put forth

Background Momentary affect and stress in mothers and their children may be an important predictor of food intake in the natural environment. This study hypothesized that there would be parallel actor and partner effects such that mothers' and children's negative affect (NA), positive affect (PA), and ability to cope with stress would be associated with their own and the other dyad member's unhealthy and healthy food intake in a similar pattern. Method Participants included 202 mother-child dyads (child age range = 8-12 years) who responded to randomly prompted ecological momentary assessment surveys via smartphone up to 7 times per day over 8 days, excluding time at school. At each prompt, mothers and children reported on their current NA, PA, and ability to cope with stress and foods consumed in the past 2 hr. Results Mothers' momentary ability to cope with stress predicted their own and their child's pastries/sweets intake and their own fries/chips intake, and children's momentary ability to cope with stress predicted their own pastries/sweets intake. Mothers and children who reported higher NA on average consumed more pastries/sweets, and children with higher NA on average consumed more fast food. Finally, mothers' momentary PA predicted their own fruit/vegetable consumption. Conclusions Findings provided evidence that the affect and ability to cope with stress of children and mothers predicted subsequent food intake. Given both actor and partner effects, the results show that targeting momentary mothers' and children's ability to cope with stress may have the greatest effect on reducing unhealthy food intake. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).

Objectives Higher levels of positive affect and feelings of energy are associated with greater physical activity (PA) and lower sedentary time (ST). However, whether fluctuations in these feelings contribute to the regulation of these behaviors is unclear. This study examined the extent to which subject-level variability (i.e., degree of intraindividual variability) in positive affect and feeling energetic predicted participants’ overall levels of PA and ST. Design This analysis combined data from four ecological momentary assessment (EMA) studies (agerange: 8–73 years) with ambulatory monitoring via waist-worn accelerometry (N = 661). Methods Positive affect and energy were assessed through EMA several times per day across 4–7 days. Accelerometer data was used to create the following behavioral outcomes: (1) meeting MVPA guidelines (children: 60 minutes/day, adults: 30 minutes/day) and (2) minutes of ST per hour of accelerometer wear. A two-stage analytic approach was used to test the study aim. In the first stage, mixed-effects location scale modeling decomposed mean levels and variability in positive affect and energy. In the second stage, a linear or logistic regression (depending on whether the outcome was continuous or dichotomous, respectively) was tested to investigate associations between subject-level mean and variability in EMA ratings and the behavioral outcome. Results Greater subject-level variability but not subject-level mean of feeling energetic was associated with lower odds of meeting MVPA guidelines (β = −0.43, p Conclusions Fluctuations in physical feeling states may deplete self-regulatory resources involved in planning and implementing PA behavior. Alternatively, being more physically active may stabilize one's perceived energy levels.

OBJECTIVE: Longitudinal within-subject (WS) associations of mothers’ momentary assessed physical activity (PA) parenting practices were examined with children’s objectively measured PA during the same 2-hr time frame. METHOD: Mother–child dyads (n = 189) completed five ecological momentary assessment (EMA) measurement bursts over 3 years. During each 7-day burst, mothers EMA-reported their past 2 hr PA parenting practices (i.e., encouraging their child to be physically active, taking their child someplace to be physically active), and children (M(age)=9.6 years, SD = 0.9) wore an accelerometer to measure moderate-to-vigorous PA (MVPA). Two-part multilevel models were used, with zero portions representing not meeting MVPA and positive portions representing any MVPA, controlling for demographic covariates. Cross-level interaction terms of child sex and age with parenting were created to test moderation effects. RESULTS: When mothers reported taking their child to be physically active, children were more likely to get some MVPA (b = −0.56, p

Food cues in the environment may contribute to obesity as the consumption of unhealthy foods may reinforce reward pathways in the brain. To understand how person-level differences in reward sensitivity may be associated with diet quality, this study aimed to examine the moderating role of the availability of fast food in the environment on the relationship between reward sensitivity and diet quality in adolescents. Participants (n = 152, 55% female, Mage: 12.5 ± 0.93 y) completed the drive and reward subscales of the Behavioral Inhibition System (BIS)/Behavioral Activation System (BAS) Scale to assess reward sensitivity and completed two 24 h dietary recalls from which Healthy Eating Index (HEI) scores (total score and subscales of adequacy and moderation) were calculated. Fast-food environment (FFE) was operationalized as the total number of fast-food outlets within 1 km around participants’ home address. Linear regressions were used to examine the main effects and interactions between reward sensitivity and FFE in relation to HEI score. Interactions were found between FFE and BAS drive (p = 0.02) and BAS reward (p &lt, 0.01) on HEI adequacy. There were no interaction effects on HEI moderation or HEI total scores. For individuals who had lower access exposure to fast-food outlets (−1 SD), there was a stronger positive association between higher BAS drive (t = 2.85, p = 0.01, 95% CI (0.35, 1.94)) and HEI adequacy scores and between higher BAS reward (t = 3.27, p &gt, 0.01, 95% CI (0.72, 2.93)) and HEI adequacy scores. By examining reward sensitivity to potential food cues in residential neighborhood food environments, it is possible to understand which adolescents are more sensitive to environmental food cues and implement interventions to buffer these influences.

Objectives This study used ecological momentary assessment (EMA) to empirically test the theoretical propositions that habit for and level of physical activity (PA) and sedentary behaviour (SB) should be associated with degree of context stability of those behaviours. Design Older adults (N = 104) completed a 10-day EMA protocol and continuous accelerometer monitoring. Methods As part of the EMA protocol older adults answered 6 EMA prompts per day to assess current behaviour as well as social and physical contexts of behaviour. Temporal context was determined via time stamps of EMA questionnaires. Context stability was calculated as the reversed entropy scores of the contexts (physical, social, temporal, behavioural [i.e., type]) of PA and SB weighted for total frequency of context prompts. Habit for PA and SB (operationalized as self-reported behavioural automaticity) was assessed via baseline questionnaire. An ActivPAL monitor was worn to assess average daily time spent in moderate-vigorous PA (MVPA), light PA, and SB, and number of sit-to-stand transitions. Results More stable physical contexts for physical activity predicted more MVPA (β = 10.22) and more stable social contexts for sitting predicted more SB (β = 1.36). More variety of time people tended to report engaging in SB, the more SB engaged in (β = -13.76). No context stability scores predicted light PA, sit-to-stand transitions, or habit. Conclusions Although context stability was related to behaviour, this did not appear to be explained by habit, as habit did not differ by the degree of context stability surrounding bouts of PA or SB.

Adults with serious mental illness engage in limited physical activity, which contributes to significant health disparities. This study explored the use of both ecological momentary assessments (EMAs) and activity trackers in adults with serious mental illness to examine the bidirectional relationship between activity and affect with multilevel modeling. Affective states were assessed up to seven times per day using EMA across 4 days. The participants (n = 20) were equipped with a waist-worn accelerometer to measure moderate to vigorous physical activity. The participants had a mean EMA compliance rate of 88.3%, and over 90% of completed EMAs were matched with 30-min windows of accelerometer wear. The participants who reported more positive affect than others had a higher probability of engaging in moderate to vigorous physical activity. Engaging in more moderate to vigorous physical activity than one’s usual was associated with more negative affect. This study begins to address the effect of momentary mood on physical activity in a population of adults that is typically difficult to reach.

Background: Psychological stress has adverse effects on health-related behaviors, yet longitudinal research is lacking. Research examined how children’s and mothers’ perceived stress are associated with children’s physical activity and sedentary behavior trajectories across 3 years. Methods: Mothers and their children (N = 186 dyads; 8–12 y at baseline, 57% Hispanic) completed 6 assessments across 3 years. Children and mothers self-reported perceived stress using the Stress in Children Scale and Perceived Stress Scale, respectively. Children’s moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA) and sedentary behavior were assessed using accelerometers. Mixed models examined interactions of mothers’ and children’s perceived stress by time elapsed in the study on children’s MVPA and sedentary behavior. Results: The perceived stress × time elapsed interactions were significant for children’s MVPA and sedentary behavior (Ps P Conclusion: Interventions to promote physical activity and reduce screen time in children should mitigate the effects of psychological stress, especially among mothers, on these behaviors.

The COVID-19 pandemic and associated restrictions and mandates have had pronounced implications on the well-being of individuals. This study conducted exploratory analyses of the relationship between COVID-19-related life changes and COVID-19-related perceived stress and associations between COVID-19-related perceived stress and dysregulated maternal eating behaviors, child feeding practices, and body mass index (BMI) in Los Angeles mothers. Mothers (Mage = 37.6 ± 6.9) of children aged 5-11 (N = 197, response rate 92.5%) completed an online questionnaire assessing COVID-19-related life changes, COVID-19-related perceived stress, mechanisms used to cope with COVID-19, child feeding practices, their own eating behavior, demographics, and height and weight. The highest proportion of participants reported changes to work, disruptions due to childcare challenges, and increased home responsibilities. Higher COVID-19-related perceived stress was experienced by those who reported loss of work hours (29%), loss of job (15.2%), reduced ability to afford childcare (18.8%), and reduced ability to afford rent/mortgage (19.8%) (ps

A large body of literature on child-focused research regarding healthy eating within the family context has focused on behavioral management strategies, such as reinforcement, or parental modeling through personal intake or encouragement. However, food preparation behaviors among mothers have been understudied. Also unknown is how maternal food preparations behaviors vary across population subgroups and contexts. The study objective was to elucidate momentary characteristics (i.e., time of day, weekday, and family meals) and personal characteristics (i.e., ethnicity, working status, household characteristics, body mass index, income, and child’s age) associated with maternal fruit and vegetable (F/V) preparation through ecological momentary assessment (EMA). 186 mothers (M(age)=40.81) of children (M(age)=9.61, 49.5% female) completed six semi-annual waves, each lasting seven days. Mothers completed up to eight EMA surveys a day, which assessed family meals and F/V preparation, and reported personal characteristics through paper questionnaires. Multilevel generalized estimating equations examined the likelihood of F/V preparation. Momentary, within-day characteristics (i.e., occurrence of family meals, weekdays, afternoons) were associated with greater likelihood of mothers’ fresh F/V preparation (ps

Background The majority of older adults are physically inactive; therefore, strategies are needed to effectively promote sustained engagement in physical activity. Purpose This study was designed to investigate acute bidirectional relationships between affective and physical feeling states and activity-related behaviors among older adults in the context of everyday life using Ecological Momentary Assessment (EMA). Methods Older adults (n = 103, Mage = 72, Range: 60–98) participated in a 10-day study where they completed up to 6 smartphone-based EMA prompts/day. At each EMA prompt, participants reported their current positive and negative affect and physical feeling states. Participants wore an activPAL accelerometer to measure time spent standing and time spent stepping before and after the prompt. Separate multilevel random coefficient linear and logistic regression models examined these bidirectional relationships. Results On occasions when older adults engaged in more standing and more stepping than was typical for them in the 15 and 30 min prior to the EMA prompt, they tended to report greater feelings of energy at the prompt. On occasions when older adults reported greater feelings of energy than was typical for them, they engaged in more standing and more stepping in the 15 and 30 min following the EMA prompt. Positive and negative affect was unrelated to activity-related behaviors. Conclusions Feelings of energy appear to be strongly linked to activity-related behaviors in older adults; however, this was not the case for positive or negative affect. These findings may have implications for optimal delivery of just-in-time intervention context based on affective states or current behaviors.

We aimed to test how deviations in a mother's own parenting stress (PS) levels across her child's transition to adolescence contribute to subsequent changes in her child's internalizing symptom levels. We tested both linear and curvilinear effects, as well as the extent to which a child's perception of his or her mother's attunement alters these links. We further explored whether overall maternal PS levels (relative to the other mothers) further moderate the within-dyad association. These effects were tested in a community sample consisting of 202 mother-child dyads during transition to early adolescence. The dyads were examined within and across six waves, each separated by 6 months. During each wave, the mothers (Mage at baseline = 40.1 years [SD = 6.1]) reported on their PS, while children (Mage at baseline = 10.1 years [SD = .90]) reported on their internalizing symptoms and their perceived maternal attunement. Multilevel within-dyad analyses revealed a U-shaped effect of mothers' PS on concurrent child symptoms, whereas the prospective association was not significant. Maternal attunement moderated the concurrent effects, changing the tipping point at which the concurrent potential benefits of rising PS were outweighed by the potential negative consequences of overburdening the child. Increases in PS prospectively predicted increased symptoms in the child but not when maternal attunement was above the mothers' average level. Global PS levels did not moderate these effects. The results underscore the contribution made by mothers' PS to the emotional trajectories of their children and show that these effects vary as a function of deviations in maternal attunement. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).

Objectives Older adults engage in excessive sedentary behaviors which hold significant health implications. Examining affect responses during sedentary behavior is not well understood despite the wealth of evidence linking affect and motivation. Contextual influences (i.e., social and physical) likely influence affective responses during sedentary behavior and therefore warrant further investigation. Method Older adults (n = 103, Mage = 72, range: 60–98) participated in a 10-day study where they received 6 randomly timed, smartphone-based Ecological Momentary Assessment (EMA) prompts/day. Participants reported their affect, current behavior, and context at each EMA prompt. Participants also wore an activPAL accelerometer to measure their sedentary behavior duration. Separate multilevel models examined the extent to which the context influences affective responses during self-report sedentary (vs nonsedentary) behaviors. Results The social context moderated the association between sedentary behavior and negative affect. The physical context moderated the association between sedentary behavior and positive affect. Discussion Interventions should consider the context of behaviors when designing interventions to reduce sedentary behavior as some contextual factors may attenuate, while other contexts may exacerbate, associations between activity-related behaviors and indicators of well-being.

PurposeIdentify how higher Body Mass Index (BMI) and weight discrimination are associated with romantic relationship formation and termination in young adults, and if the association was consistent for males and females.MethodsFirst-year students (N = 1096) at entry to university (Time 1) provided BMI and self-reports of weight discrimination and romantic relationship status (in a relationship vs single); 550 were successfully resampled four months later (Time 2). Logistic generalized estimating equations (GEEs) examined if Time 1 relationship status was predicted by BMI and weight discrimination. Logistic GEEs were used to determine if Time 1 BMI and weight discrimination predicted Time 2 relationship status for the strata of students in, and out, of a relationship at Time 1.ResultsAt baseline, students were less likely to be in a relationship if they had a higher BMI (OR = 0.94, 95% CI = 0.92, 0.96) or reported weight discrimination (OR = 0.69, 95% CI = 0.53, 0.90). When stratified by gender, the association between higher BMI and weight discrimination with relationship status was only observed for females. Longitudinally, a BMI-based selection effect was observed for romantic relationship formation, but not termination. Of the students who were single at Time 1, each one unit higher baseline BMI decreased the odds of the student transitioning to a relationship by 9% at Time 2 (OR = 0.91, 95% CI = 0.85, 0.96). When stratified by gender the association of higher BMI decreased odds of relationship formation was only significant for females. No weight discrimination differences for selection in or out of a romantic relationship were observed.ConclusionsThese findings suggest a weight-related selection effect for romantic relationship initiation, but not termination, in young female adults with lower BMIs. Weight discrimination was not associated with romantic relationship initiation or termination in this sample.

Adolescence presents with its own substance use risks, behaviors, and outcomes that result from a complex intersection of neurocognitive, biological, and social changes that occur during this sensitive neurodevelopmental period. We provide an overview of trends in adolescent alcohol, cannabis, and tobacco use in the United States and the various developmental factors that interact to influence substance use behavior. We then discuss pubertal processes and biological development, the development of cognitive skills, increases in self-monitoring behaviors, and changes in social landscape in the context of neurobiological development and their impact on adolescent substance abuse. Neurobiological risk for problem substance use in adolescence is a moving target, but is one that can also provide much insight into risk, prevention, and treatment. Research to identify neurobiological mechanisms of intervention and treatment response is already underway.

Objective: We examined the acute bidirectional relationships between affective states and moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) or sedentary behavior (SB) in children, and whether perceived stress moderates these associations. Method: A total of 180 children (mean age = 9.6 years, 51.7% female, 53.9% Hispanic) completed a 7-day ecological momentary assessment (EMA) study, where they received 3–7 random prompts per day asking about their current affective states. MVPA and SB during this period were measured by waist-worn accelerometers. Children’s and mothers’ perceived stress were measured by paper questionnaires. Multilevel models tested the within-person (WP) and between-person (BP) associations of (a) MVPA and SB 30 and 60 min before an EMA prompt with subsequent affective states at the prompt, and (b) affective states at the prompt with MVPA and SB in the subsequent 30 and 60 min after the prompt. Interaction terms were used to assess whether children’s and mothers’ perceived stress moderated these associations. Results: Children reported a higher positive affect after engaging in more MVPA than usual (WP; s = 0.04, SE = 0.02, p < .05) and a lower positive affect after spending more SB than usual (WP; s = -0.02, SE = 0.01, p < .05) in the previous 30 min. Children’s affective states were unrelated to time in MVPA and SB within the subsequent 30 min. Parent’s perceived stress level attenuated the relationship between children’s time spent in MVPA 60 min before a prompt and self-reported positive affect at that prompt (s = -0.01, SE = 0.01, p < .05). Conclusions: MVPA and SB acutely impacted children’s psychological well-being, with the benefits of MVPA on positive affect across longer intervals attenuated among children whose mothers had higher perceived stress.

OBJECTIVE Affective response during physical activity may be a key factor reinforcing future behavior. However, little is known about how affective responses during physical activity may differ across phases of behavior change. This study used real-time Ecological Momentary Assessment (EMA) to examine within-subject differences in affective response during physical activity in daily life as individuals transitioned across phases of behavior change. METHOD A sample of 115 adults (M = 41.0 years, 74% female) participated in an intensive longitudinal study with measurement bursts at 0, 6, and 12-months. Each burst consisted of 8 randomly-prompted EMA occasions per day across 4 days. EMA self-report items assessed current activity level (i.e., physical activity or nonphysical activity), and positive and negative affect. Questionnaires measured phase of behavior change (e.g., preaction [no regular physical activity], action [regular physical activity

The present study introduces an adaptation of the Griffiths Question Map (GQM; Griffiths and Milne 2006) which extends the chronological, visual map of question types used in an investigative interview to include child interviewee’s responses (through the addition of the Interview Answer Grid, IAG). Furthermore, it provides a rare evaluation of repeated interviews with children. From a sample of transcripts of Scottish repeated interviews with child victims, two ‘good’ and two ‘poor’ first interviews were chosen based on interviewer question types. First and second investigative interviews of these four children were mapped using the GQM and IAG in order to examine across the two interviews the similarity of interviewer and interviewee behaviours and the consistency and investigative-relevance of information provided. Both ‘good’ and ‘poor’ interviews were found to include practices discouraged by interviewing guidelines, which would not have been identified by examining question proportions alone. Furthermore, ‘good’ first interviews were followed by second interviews which began with poor question types, suggesting a possible impact of confirmation bias. Social support was also assessed and found to be used infrequently, mainly in response to the child being informative rather than pre-emptively by interviewers in an attempt to encourage this. Children were also found to disclose throughout their second interviews, suggesting that rapport-maintenance is vital for single and multiple interviews. The use of the GQM and IAG is encouraged as a technique for determining interview quality.

BACKGROUND: Stress may compromise parenting practices related to children’s dietary intake, physical activity, and sedentary behavior. PURPOSE: The current study used Ecological Momentary Assessment (EMA) to examine microtemporal sequences underlying maternal stress and subsequent weight-related parenting practices. METHODS: Mothers (n = 199) of children aged 8–12 years participated in two separate 7-day waves of EMA with up to eight randomly prompted surveys per day during children’s nonschool time. EMA items assessed stress and weight-related parenting practices. RESULTS: When mothers reported experiencing greater stress than usual, they subsequently engaged in less physical activity parenting (e.g., encouraging physical activity; p < .05) and more sedentary screen behavior parenting (e.g., limiting TV/video games; p < .05) over the next 2 hr. CONCLUSIONS: Addressing within-day variations in maternal stress may be an important component of parent-focused child obesity prevention interventions.

Despite being a significant public health concern, the role of opioid prescriptions in potentiating risk of opioid misuse in the context of pediatric pain has been underinvestigated. To address this gap, the present review identifies theory-based hypotheses about these associations, reviews the extant literature on opioid prescriptions that supports these hypotheses, and provides routes for future empirical studies. A multilevel model of mechanisms through which opioid prescriptions may impact pain and other negative outcomes in youth, including risk for opioid misuse and related problems, is proposed with particular attention paid to the role that psychologists can play in informing policies and developing preventative interventions in healthcare settings.

To examine the associations between high-fat/high-sugar foods (HFHS) and fruit and vegetable (FV) consumption and affective states in women.The researchers used electronic ecological momentary assessment to capture HFHS and FV consumption in the past 2 hours (predictor) and current affective states (outcome) across 1 week among 202 women. Multilevel linear regression was conducted. Weight status was tested as a moderator.Consumption of FV in the past 2 hours was positively associated with feeling happy (P .05). Women who consumed more HFHS or fewer FV than others in the study reported higher average sadness (both P .05). Overweight or obese women who reported more frequent HFHS consumption than others had higher average stress than normal weight women (P .05).The association between HFHS consumption and stress might be stronger in overweight or obese than normal weight women. Future studies could further enhance the electronic ecological momentary assessment method to explore other time-varying moderators and mediators of food consumption and affect.

Background The sexual decision-making literature suggests that sexual arousal and behavior are associated. The somatic marker hypothesis suggests that individual neuropsychological differences in decision making, as measured by the Iowa Gambling Task (IGT), may moderate these associations; however, this hypothesis has yet to be tested with event-level sexual behavior data. Purpose We hypothesized that (a) daily sexual arousal would be positively associated with likelihood of engaging in sex and condomless anal sex (CAS) and (b) IGT scores would moderate these associations such that the associations would be stronger among those with higher IGT scores. Methods We used daily diary data from 334 highly sexually active gay and bisexual men to examine the main and interaction effects of sexual arousal and IGT scores on sexual engagement and CAS. Results As hypothesized, daily sexual arousal was positively associated with greater odds of both sexual engagement and CAS with casual male partners. Individual-level IGT performance significantly moderated the day-level association between arousal and sexual engagement, which was stronger for men with higher IGT scores. There was no main effect of IGT scores on either sexual behavior outcome, nor did it moderate the association between arousal and CAS. Conclusions These findings highlight the influence of sexual arousal on sexual engagement, which differed by IGT scores; the effect of arousal on CAS was much less variable and may not be moderated by neurocognitive factors. This study supports the importance of exploring integrated behavioral/biomedical interventions to improve individual decision making to prevent HIV infection.