Search

Background It is suggested that goals are hierarchically organised, with goals at the highest level representing fundamental values and motivations. These abstract goals are said to have a series of sub-goals which represent a means of reaching higher-level goals. While a number of studies have explored goals in the context of psychosis, little is known about idiographic goal generation processes in those experiencing psychosis. Methods Using a Behaviour Sequence Analysis approach, the aim of the current study was to assess the feasibility of the goal task for use with individuals experiencing psychosis. A total of 73 adults receiving care from UK rehabilitation services completed a goal task designed to elicit higher-level goals. Results Results indicated that the goal task may be a feasible tool to support those experiencing psychosis to generate lower- and higher-level goals. Conclusions The goal task utilised in the current study may therefore be a valuable goal generation tool for use by clinicians.

Objectives: Goal orientation (approach versus avoidance) and difficulties in emotion regulation have been independently associated with depression and anxiety. However, there is a lack of research that has simultaneously examined approach and avoidance goal motives and emotion regulation difficulties in depression and anxiety. The present study aims to draw together these separate lines of investigation to better understand the nature of depression and anxiety from a motivational and emotional regulation perspective. Specifically, it aims to investigate whether increased emotion regulation difficulties indirectly mediate, in part, distinct relationships between approach and avoidance goal motives and depressive and anxious symptoms. Method: An online study comprised 210 participants recruited via Facebook and MTurk. Participants completed self-reported measures to rate their approach and avoidance goal motives, emotion regulation and depressive and anxious symptoms. Results: Counter to prediction, no significant relationship was demonstrated between impaired approach motives and increased depressive symptoms. However, as predicted, avoidance goal motives were associated with depressive and anxious symptoms. Further, increased emotion regulation difficulties indirectly mediated relationships between avoidance goal motives and both depressive and anxious symptoms. Conclusion: Our findings indicate that emotion regulation difficulties play a significant role in explaining the relationship between avoidance (but not approach) oriented motives in goal pursuit and emotional symptom.

Health-related behaviours contribute to the global burden of cardiovascular disease (CVD). Cardiovascular imaging can be used to screen asymptomatic individuals for increased risk of CVD to enable earlier interventions to promote health-related behaviours to prevent or reduce CVD risk. Some theories of behaviour and behaviour change assume that engagement in a given behaviour is a function of individual threat appraisals, beliefs regarding the performance of behaviour, self-efficacy for performing the desired behaviour and/or dispositions to act (e.g. behavioural intentions). To date, little is known about the impact of cardiovascular imaging interventions on these constructs. This article summarises evidence related to perceived threat, efficacy beliefs, and behavioural intentions after CVD screening. We identified 10 studies (2 RCTs and 8 non-randomised studies, n = 2498) through a combination of screening citations from published systematic reviews and meta-analyses and searching electronic databases. Of these, 7 measured behavioural intentions and perceived susceptibility and 3 measured efficacy beliefs. Findings showed largely encouraging effects of screening interventions on bolstering self-efficacy beliefs and strengthening behavioural intentions. Imaging results that suggest the presence of coronary or carotid artery disease also increased perceived susceptibility to CVD. However, the review also identified some gaps in the literature, such as a lack of guiding theoretical frameworks and assessments of critical determinants of health-related behaviours. By carefully considering the key issues highlighted in this review, we can make significant strides towards reducing CVD risks and improving population health.

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.

Chronic pain, experienced as pain persisting for three months or longer, is associated with risk of poor mental health and disability. Research has implicated adaptive goal processes as important to mental wellbeing in a range of populations. However, research has rarely assessed these mechanisms in relation to pain characteristics and mental wellbeing in chronic pain populations. This study aimed to examine the potentially mediating roles of goal flexibility and goal tenacity in the relationships between pain intensity and pain interference and mental wellbeing among individuals with chronic pain. Community members who self-identified as experiencing non-cancer chronic pain (N = 315) completed an online self-report survey on goal tenacity, goal flexibility, mental wellbeing, pain intensity, and pain interference. Unexpectedly, pain intensity was not significantly related to mental wellbeing, when controlling for pain interference. However, pain interference was directly and significantly associated with mental wellbeing. Both goal flexibility and goal tenacity mediated the relationship between pain interference and mental wellbeing, whilst controlling for pain intensity. The results provide support for the protective role of adaptive goal processes in mental wellbeing in those with chronic pain and highlight the importance of pain interference in relation to mental wellbeing.

Background and Aims: Higher total fruit and vegetable (FV) intakes have beenassociated 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 fromthe 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 withlower 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.

Aims Psychological distress and changes in health-related quality of life (HRQoL) may occur after screening for disease. Reporting outcomes related to potential benefits and harms of screening is a key recommendation in the guidelines for reporting high-quality trials or interventions. However, no reviews have directly investigated outcomes related to psychological distress and/or changes in HRQoL following imaging assessment of cardiovascular risk and communication of cardiovascular findings to asymptomatic adults. A scoping review was conducted to map research on psychological distress and/or HRQoL following screening. Methods and results Six electronic databases (MEDLINE, PsychINFO, Social Work Abstracts, Psychology and Behavioural Sciences Collection, CINAHL, and EMBASE) were searched for articles that assessed psychological distress and/or HRQoL following screening. Two investigators independently screened titles and abstracts for all records retrieved using predefined criteria. Studies were conducted among active smokers, military personnel, athletes, post-menopausal women, and high-risk individuals. Seven constructs related to psychological distress and HRQoL appeared across 11 articles (randomized controlled trials, n = 4 and non-randomized studies, n = 7). Worry, depression, perceived stress, anxiety, and quality of life were most prominent. Multiple-item measures of psychological distress (e.g. Taylor Anxiety Score and Beck Depression Inventory) were used in 5/9 (56%) studies. Key findings on psychological distress and/or changes in HRQoL following screening were mixed. Conclusions Findings support the need for multiple-item measures with better psychometric properties to examine the psychological responses to screening results in future studies. Strategies to support individuals during and following vascular screening to maximise potential benefits of screening and minimize harms are discussed.