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Exercise resolutions are the most common goals people set each New Year. However, research has rarely examined adaptive goal processes and motives that may maintain wellbeing and resolution pursuit. We therefore investigated if (1) personal goal flexibility and tenacity maintain mental wellbeing and adherence to New Year exercise resolutions and if (2) underlying intrinsic and extrinsic motives maintain wellbeing and sustained exercise resolution adherence. A community sample ( N = 297) completed an online longitudinal study. At baseline, participants listed their most important exercise-related New Year resolution. Participants then completed measures to assess goal flexibility and tenacity, resolution motives, and mental wellbeing at baseline. At three follow-up surveys over a two-month period, participants completed self-report measures of wellbeing and adherence to their exercise resolution. As predicted, goal flexibility and tenacity each independently predicted wellbeing across time. Counter to prediction, neither goal flexibility nor tenacity predicted sustained exercise adherence. Notably, underlying intrinsic motives (but not extrinsic motives) maintained mental wellbeing and exercise adherence across time. Our findings indicate that goal flexibility and tenacity are beneficial in maintaining mental wellbeing and that pursuing resolutions for internalised motives is beneficial for one's mental wellbeing and exercise adherence.

Background and Aims: Higher total fruit and vegetable (FV) intakes have been associated with lower perceived stress. However, the relationship of FV intake with domains of perceived stress is unclear. The aim of this cross-sectional study was to explore the relationship between consumption of FV and four perceived stress domains (worries, tension, lack of joy and demands) in a population-based cohort of Australian adults., Methods: Participants (n = 8,640) were men and women aged ≥25 years from the Australian Diabetes, Obesity and Lifestyle (AusDiab) Study. Dietary intake was assessed using a 74-item validated Food Frequency Questionnaire. Perceived stress domains were determined using a validated 20-item version of the Perceived Stress Questionnaire, with higher scores representing higher perceived stress. Cut-offs for high perceived stress domains were obtained from the highest quartiles of each domain for each sex. Multivariable-adjusted logistic regression was performed to investigate cross-sectional associations., Results: The mean age of participants (50.1% females) was 47.8 (SD 15) years. Those with higher intakes of FV, combined and separately, had a significantly lower odds (16-36%) for higher worries, tension and lack of joy, independent of other lifestyle factors., Conclusion: In Australian adults, higher consumption of FV was associated with lower odds of worries, tension and lack of joy. Following the dietary guidelines for the recommended intake of FV may help improve feelings of worries, tension and lack of joy, which are linked to mental health problems., Competing Interests: CB and JH report grants from FruitWest, and from Department of Agriculture and Food WA, outside the submitted work. DM and JS report grants from Abbott Australasia Pty Ltd., Alphapharm Pty Ltd., AstraZeneca, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Eli Lilly Australia, GlaxoSmithKline, Janssen-Cilag, Merck Sharp and Dohme, Novartis Pharmaceuticals, Novo Nordisk Pharmaceuticals, Roche Diagnostics Australia, Sanofi Aventis and Sanofi-synthelabo, during the conduct of the study. RD received a Primary Growth Partnership grant via the Ministry of Primary Industries in New Zealand with Fonterra Co-operative Group Ltd., outside the submitted work. The remaining authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest. The reviewer LY declared a shared affiliation with the author RD to the handling editor at the time of review., (Copyright © 2022 Radavelli-Bagatini, Sim, Blekkenhorst, Bondonno, Bondonno, Woodman, Dickson, Harms, Magliano, Shaw, Daly, Hodgson and Lewis.)

Background & Aims: Poor nutritional habits are linked to higher perceived stress, but the relationship between fruit and vegetable (FV) intake and stress is uncertain. The primary aim of this cross-sectional study was to explore the relationship between FV intake and perceived stress in a population-based cohort of men and women aged ≥25 years from the Australian Diabetes, Obesity and Lifestyle (AusDiab) Study. A secondary aim was to investigate the relationship between serum carotenoids, biomarkers of FV intake, and perceived stress., Methods: In Australian men and women, dietary intake was assessed using a Food Frequency Questionnaire in 1999-2000 (n = 8689). Perceived stress was assessed using a validated Perceived Stress Questionnaire [PSQ index values ranging from 0 (lowest) to 1 (highest)]. Serum carotenoids were measured in a subset of participants (n = 1187) using high-performance liquid chromatography. Multivariable-adjusted linear and logistic regression were performed to investigate the associations between FV intake and perceived stress., Results: Mean age of participants was 47.4 (SD 14.1) years (49.8% females). Participants with the highest intakes of FV had 10% lower PSQ index values than those with the lowest intake [Q4: 0.27 ± 0.004 vs. Q1: 0.30 ± 0.004 (mean ± SE), p = 0.004]. Similar associations were found for fruits and vegetables, analysed separately. In subgroup analyses higher FV intake was associated with lower perceived stress in the middle-aged adults [≥45-<65 years (p = 0.004)], but not in the younger (<45 years) and older participants (≥65 years). Higher FV intake was also significantly associated with lower perceived stress in men (p = 0.009) and women (p = 0.012), separately. Serum carotenoid levels were inversely associated with perceived stress before, but not after adjusting for age and other confounding factors., Conclusion: In Australian adults, higher FV intake was associated with lower perceived stress, particularly in the middle-aged adults. These findings support current recommendations that fruit and vegetables are essential for health and well-being., Competing Interests: Conflict of interest CPB and JMH report grants from FruitWest, and from Department of Agriculture and Food WA, outside the submitted work. DJM and JES report grants from Abbott Australasia Pty Ltd, Alphapharm Pty Ltd, AstraZeneca, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Eli Lilly Australia, GlaxoSmithKline, Janssen-Cilag, Merck Sharp & Dohme, Novartis Pharmaceuticals, Novo Nordisk Pharmaceuticals, Roche Diagnostics Australia, Sanofi Aventis and Sanofi-synthelabo, during the conduct of the study. RMD received a Primary Growth Partnership grant via the Ministry of Primary Industries in New Zealand with Fonterra Co-operative Group Ltd, outside the submitted work. All other authors have no potential conflicts of interest to report., (Copyright © 2021 Elsevier Ltd and European Society for Clinical Nutrition and Metabolism. All rights reserved.)

Background: Non-invasive screening for atherosclerosis or asymptomatic cardiovascular disease of the coronary and carotid arteries is commonly undertaken, and research has been focussed on how results from these screenings lead to behaviour change. However, no review has focused on the effects of these results on psychological distress and health-related quality of life (HRQoL). This protocol will outline how a scoping review will be conducted to map all available evidence on psychological distress and/or HRQoL outcomes following the provision of vascular imaging results of the coronary and carotid arteries. Methods: Arksey and O'Malley's (2005) framework subsequently enhanced by Levac et al. (2010)  and Peters et al (2015, 2017) will guide the scoping review. Databases such as MEDLINE (Clarivate), APA PsychINFO, EMBASE, Social Work Abstracts, Psychology and Behavioural Sciences Collection, and Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL) will be searched using MeSH terms  such as "Coronary stenosis", "Carotid Stenosis", "Psychological Distress" and "Quality of Life" and related terms. Two investigators will screen title and abstract and all articles meeting inclusion criteria will be extracted.  Data on authors, publication year, country of origin, aims/purpose, methodology, intervention, outcome measures as well as key findings that relate to the scoping review questions will be extracted for each included study. The findings will be presented using tables and thematic narrative synthesis. The scoping review will not produce a pooled estimate of the impact of vascular imaging results on psychological distress and HRQoL but will present information from the included studies related to psychological distress and HRQoL. Conclusion:  The review will highlight and address gaps in knowledge and provide direction for future investigations., Competing Interests: No competing interests were disclosed., (Copyright: © 2021 Anokye R et al.)

Objectives: Bariatric surgery is an effective weight loss tool, but an under-communicated side effect may include the increased risk for alcohol problems. Few studies have examined contributors towards alcohol problems following surgery using a qualitative approach. Therefore, the current study aimed to generate insight informed by participants with problematic alcohol use following bariatric surgery, in comparison with participants without., Methods: Participants (14; females, n = 9; males, n = 5) completed semi-structured interviews using questions relating to alcohol use, relationship to food, support and surgical experiences. Thematic analysis was conducted to provide insight into the factors which influenced drinking behaviours that participants engaged in following bariatric surgery, and motivations for drinking or limiting alcohol., Results: Five core themes were identified between both participants with and without problematic alcohol use: (1) drinking motivations, (2) self-image, (3) impact of restriction on eating behaviour, (4) support needs and (5) surgical preparedness. A sixth core theme ("resilience") was identified specifically amongst participants without problematic alcohol use. Divergent experiences, cognitions and behaviours formed sub-themes within the five core themes and highlighted the differences between participants with and without problematic alcohol use within the core themes., Conclusion: This study is the first to qualitatively assess themes relating to the development of problematic alcohol use after bariatric surgery while additionally using a comparison group without problematic alcohol use. The findings highlight key features which contribute to problematic alcohol use, as well as experiences and cognitions that may be helpful in preventing this phenomenon in bariatric populations.

Vulvodynia is the experience of idiopathic pain characterized by burning, soreness, or throbbing in the external female genitalia or vulva and is estimated to be experienced by 4-16% of the female population, yet only half of women seek help regarding their symptoms. Of the women who do seek help, only around 2% obtain a diagnosis. Therefore, the aim of the current study was to explore the experiences of women with vulvodynia on their journey toward diagnosis, by using semi-structured interviews and an interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) methodology. Eight women were interviewed, and their experiences were analyzed and interpreted into three master themes, each with constituent sub-themes: (1) The Journey Is a Battle, (2) "What Is Vulvodynia?": Ambivalence Toward Diagnosis, and (3) Patriarchy, Women, and Sex. Overall, women perceived a healthcare system which was dismissive and shaming, with an inadequate knowledge of vulvodynia. This in turn impacted on women's psychological well-being. Psychological understanding, one-to-one therapy, and consultation and training for healthcare professionals may help to improve the psychological well-being of women with vulvodynia.

Vulvodynia, the experience of an idiopathic pain in the form of burning, soreness, or throbbing in the vulval area, affects around 4-16% of the population. The current review used systematic search strategies and meta-ethnography as a means of identifying, analyzing, and synthesizing the existing literature pertaining to women's subjective experiences of living with vulvodynia. Four key concepts were identified: (1) Social Constructions: Sex, Women, and Femininity: Women experienced negative consequences of social narratives around womanhood, sexuality, and femininity, including the prioritization of penetrative sex, the belief that it is the role of women to provide sex for men, and media portrayals of sex as easy and natural. (2) Seeking Help: Women experienced the healthcare system as dismissive, sometimes being prescribed treatments that exacerbated the experience of pain. (3) Psychological and Relational Impact of Vulvodynia: Women experienced feeling shame and guilt, which in turn led to the experience of psychological distress, low mood, anxiety, and low self-esteem. Moreover, women reported feeling silenced which in turn affected their heterosexual relationships and their peer relationships by feeling social isolated. (4) A Way Forward: Women found changing narratives, as well as group and individual multidisciplinary approaches, helpful in managing vulvodynia. The findings of the review conclude that interventions at the individual level, as well as interventions aimed at equipping women to challenge social narratives, may be helpful for the psychological well-being of women with vulvodynia.

Research has implicated motivation and goal regulation in susceptibility to mood disorders. We studied for the first time key facets of motivation and goal regulation concurrently in relation to affective symptoms. The cross-national sample comprised 510 university students from the United States (n = 279) and United Kingdom (n = 231). Participants completed self-report measures of motivation, conditional goal setting, urgency, depression, anxiety, and mania risk. Structural Equation Modeling results found that behavioral activation system scores correlated negatively with depression and positively with mania risk, but were unrelated to anxiety. High conditional goal setting correlated uniquely with higher depression but not to anxiety or mania risk. Urgency correlated with higher anxiety, depression, and mania risk. Behavioral inhibition system scores correlated negatively with mania risk but unexpectedly did not correlate with anxiety in the multivariate model. The behavioral activation, behavioral inhibition, conditional goal setting, and urgency results showed shared and distinct patterns of relationships with depression, anxiety and mania risk. Our findings indicate unique and common risk vulnerabilities in depressive, anxious, and manic syndromes and extend an integrative knowledge of these syndromes in relation to goal regulation., (Copyright © 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Background: Attachment has been implicated in the development of social anxiety. Our aim was to synthesise the extant literature exploring the role of adult attachment in these disorders., Method: Search terms relating to social anxiety and attachment were entered into MEDLINE, PsycINFO and Web of Science. Risk of bias of included studies was assessed using and adapted version of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality assessment tool. Eligible studies employed validated social anxiety and attachment assessments in adult clinical and analogue samples. The review included cross sectional, interventional and longitudinal research., Results: Of the 30 identified studies, 28 showed a positive association between attachment insecurity and social anxiety. This association was particularly strong when considering attachment anxiety. Cognitive variables and evolutionary behaviours were identified as potential mediators, concordant with psychological theory., Limitations: Due to a lack of longitudinal research, the direction of effect between attachment and social anxiety variables could not be inferred. There was substantial heterogeneity in the way that attachment was conceptualised and assessed across studies., Conclusions: The literature indicates that attachment style is associated with social anxiety. Clinicians may wish to consider attachment theory when working clinically with this population. In the future, it may be useful to target the processes that mediate the relationship between attachment and social anxiety., (Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Alcohol dependence is characterized by conflict between approach and avoidance motivational orientations for alcohol that operate in automatic and controlled processes. This article describes the first study to investigate the predictive validity of these motivational orientations for relapse to drinking after discharge from alcohol detoxification treatment in alcohol-dependent patients. One hundred twenty alcohol-dependent patients who were nearing the end of inpatient detoxification treatment completed measures of self-reported (Approach and Avoidance of Alcohol Questionnaire; AAAQ) and automatic (modified Stimulus-Response Compatibility task) approach and avoidance motivational orientations for alcohol. Their drinking behavior was assessed via telephone follow-ups at 2, 4, and 6 months after discharge from treatment. Results indicated that, after controlling for the severity of alcohol dependence, strong automatic avoidance tendencies for alcohol cues were predictive of higher percentage of heavy drinking days (PHDD) at 4-month (β = 0.22, 95% CI [0.07, 0.43]) and 6-month (β = 0.22, 95% CI [0.01, 0.42]) follow-ups. We failed to replicate previous demonstrations of the predictive validity of approach subscales of the AAAQ for relapse to drinking, and there were no significant predictors of PHDD at 2-month follow-up. In conclusion, strong automatic avoidance tendencies predicted relapse to drinking after inpatient detoxification treatment, but automatic approach tendencies and self-reported approach and avoidance tendencies were not predictive in this study. Our results extend previous findings and help to resolve ambiguities with earlier studies that investigated the roles of automatic and controlled cognitive processes in recovery from alcohol dependence. (PsycINFO Database Record, ((c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).)

Research suggests a link between Persecutory Delusions (PDs) and early interpersonal difficulties. However, little research has explored the first-hand experience of navigating such adversities in those who later developed PDs. The current study reports on a qualitative investigation of the early interpersonal experiences and challenges faced by a sample of individuals who have recovered from PDs, using a semi-structured interview. A sample of seven individuals who have previously experienced PDs were recruited from two National Health Services (NHS) and an Early Intervention Psychosis service in England. Using an Interpretative Phenomenological Analytic (IPA) approach, the analysis identified three main themes (early experiences, impact of early experiences, coping with adversity). Early experiences captured early inconsistent and problematic relationships in childhood, and experiences of victimization. Exploring the impact of these early events revealed important roles for the participants' inconsistent sense of self, their negative perception of others, and their disturbed social functioning and substance use. Coping with adversity revealed distinct forms of avoidant and proactive coping. The findings are consistent with models of PDs that emphasise the impact of early interpersonal experiences, and offer support for attachment and cognitive factors., (Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Previous studies indicate that many people perceive themselves to be addicted to food. However, little is known about how the concept of 'food addiction' is defined amongst members of the lay public. The current study examined beliefs about the cognitive and behavioural manifestations of food addiction. Participants (N = 210) completed an internet-delivered questionnaire in which they indicated whether or not they perceived themselves to be a food addict and provided a brief explanation for their response. Over a quarter of participants (28%) perceived themselves to be food addicts and self-diagnosis was predicted by increased BMI and younger age, but not by gender. Thematic analysis was conducted to explore the causal attributions provided by self-perceived food addicts and non-addicts. Six characteristics were identified: 1) Reward-driven eating (i.e. eating for psychological rather than physiological reasons), 2) A functional or psychological preoccupation with food, 3) A perceived lack of self-control around food, 4) Frequent food cravings, 5) Increased weight or an unhealthy diet, and 6) A problem with a specific type of food. The emergent themes, and their frequency, did not differ between self-perceived food addicts and non-addicts. However, self-perceived food addicts and non-addicts reported divergent cognitions, behaviours and attitudes within each common theme. This study is the first to provide qualitative insight into beliefs about food addiction in both self-perceived food addicts and non-addicts. The findings appear to reflect a view of food addiction that is identifiable through several core behaviours., (Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Anxiety has been conceptualized in terms of increased avoidance motivation and higher expectancies of undesirable outcomes. However, anxiety research has hitherto not examined an important qualitative aspect of motivation: the degree to which reasons for goal pursuit are experienced as controlling and originating outside the core self. We asked 70 adolescents (34 boys, 36 girls; aged 16-18 years) to list their important approach and avoidance goals, and rate the extent to which they pursued each goal for intrinsic, identified, introjected and external reasons. Participants also rated goal importance, expectancies for goal outcomes, and completed an anxious symptom measure. Broadly in line with predictions, anxiety was significantly associated with introjected reasons for pursuing approach goals and external reasons for pursuing avoidance goals but not with autonomous reasons for goal pursuit. As predicted, anxiety was significantly associated with heightened expectancies of undesirable avoidance goal outcomes, but not with expectancies for desirable approach goal outcomes. Results suggest that the salient role of avoidance-based motivation in anxiety extends to introjected reasons underlying approach goal pursuit. Our findings point to the theoretical and clinical importance of addressing controlled reasons for goal pursuit in adolescent anxiety.

Relatively little research has studied emotional disturbance from a motivational perspective. The current study aimed to investigate personal goal systems at different levels of analysis, namely, personal goals, associated causal explanations and goal expectancies, as a function of dysphoria. Dysphoric (n = 28) and non-dysphoric (n = 28) adolescents (16-18-yr-olds) selected from a larger school sample completed tasks that measured number of approach goals and avoidance goals, causal explanations for goals, and perceived likelihood and control estimates for idiographic goals. As predicted dysphoric adolescents, relative to controls, generated a combination of more avoidance goals and fewer approach goals, and thought of more reasons that explain why goals would not be achieved and fewer reasons that explain why goals would be achieved (irrespective of goal type), and considered avoidance goal outcomes as more likely to occur and approach goal outcomes as less likely to occur. In addition, dysphoric adolescents anticipated less personal control in implementing their goals than controls. Overall, the data identified distinct personal goal systems that function differently in dysphoric and non-dysphoric adolescents.