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Frequency of cannabis use and cognitive vulnerabilities such as anxiety sensitivity (i.e., the fear of bodily sensations), have been independently linked with poor physical health, however the interplay between these health-mental health processes may compound poor physical health and functioning in cannabis users. Thus, the current study evaluated the direct and interactive effects of cannabis use frequency and anxiety sensitivity on physical health and functioning among cannabis-using veterans. Participants (N = 138) were post-9/11 United States veterans recruited from a Veterans Affairs hospital who reported cannabis use in the past six months. Cannabis use frequency in the past month and anxiety sensitivity were significantly negatively correlated with perceived overall physical health. There was a significant interaction between cannabis use frequency and anxiety sensitivity, such that more frequent cannabis use was associated with poorer overall health and role functioning due to health problems among veterans with higher anxiety sensitivity (but not lower). Findings suggest that anxiety sensitivity is a cognitive vulnerability linked to poor perceived physical health and impairment among frequent cannabis users and could be targeted, along with cannabis use, for health-promotion in cannabis users.

BACKGROUND:The acute effects of aerobic exercise on improved mood and anxiety reduction have been demonstrated across clinical and nonclinical populations. Limited work has evaluated the acute effects of aerobic exercise on negative affect, obsessions, and compulsions in patients with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD). METHOD:Fifty-five patients (64% female) with treatment-resistant OCD were randomized to either 12 weeks of aerobic exercise (AE) or health education contact (HEC) control. Participants rated negative affect (i.e., mood and anxiety), obsessions and compulsions before and after each weekly AE or HEC session. Multilevel models were constructed to evaluate the effect of intervention condition, treatment week (time), and their interaction in terms of acute change in affect, obsession, and compulsions. RESULTS:Results reflected a main effect of condition, such that AE resulted in significantly larger increases in positive mood, and reductions in anxiety and compulsions, as compared to HEC. There was also a main effect of time in predicting acute anxiety reduction, such that linear reductions in anxiety over the course of treatment were observed. No significant effects were observed for acute changes in obsessions. LIMITATIONS:The sample was small and was limited in demographic heterogeneity. Bouts of aerobic exercise were not standardized in terms of duration and mode, which could impact affective response to exercise, and acute affective OCD effects were exclusively self-reported. DISCUSSION:The current findings may help elucidate potential mechanisms of action of exercise on OCD outcomes. In addition, these results point toward the potential of designing exercise interventions that can teach patients to utilize individual bouts of physical activity, "in-the-moment" to improve mood and reduce anxiety and compulsions.

IntroductionAerobic exercise may improve smoking abstinence via reductions in craving and negative affect and increases in positive moods. Acute changes in craving and affect before and after structured exercise sessions have not been examined during the weeks prior to and following quit attempts nor has smoking status been examined in relation to these effects. Given that regular cigarette smoking can be perceived as affect enhancing and craving reducing, it is not known whether exercise could contribute additional affective benefit beyond these effects.MethodParticipants (N = 57; 68.4% women) were low-active daily smokers randomized to cessation treatments plus either group-based aerobic exercise (AE) or a health-education control (HEC). Mood, anxiety, and craving were assessed before and after each intervention session for each of the 12 weeks. Carbon monoxide (CO) breath samples ≤ 5ppm indicated smoking abstinence.ResultsDuring the prequit sessions, significantly greater decreases in anxiety following AE sessions relative to HEC sessions were observed. Changes in mood and craving were similar after AE and HEC sessions prior to quitting. Postquit attempt, significant reductions in craving and anxiety were observed after AE sessions but not following HEC. During the postquit period, positive mood increased following AE sessions relative to HEC only among individuals who were abstinence on that day.ConclusionsAE may be effective in acutely reducing anxiety prior to a quit attempt and both anxiety and craving following the quit attempt regardless of abstinence status. The mood-enhancing effects of AE may occur only in the context of smoking abstinence.ImplicationsThe current findings underscore the importance of examining the acute effects of aerobic exercise prior to and after a cessation attempt and as a function of smoking status. Given the equivocal results from previous studies on the efficacy of exercise for smoking cessation, increasing our understanding of how aerobic exercise produces its reinforcing benefits for smokers attempting to quit could potentially inform the refinement (e.g., timing/sequencing) of exercise interventions within smoking cessation programs.

This pilot study tested a single-session digital values affirmation for behavioral activation (VABA) intervention. Hypotheses predicted the VABA intervention would be more effective than an active control condition in improving mood, decreasing COVID-19 fear/worry and depressive symptoms, and promoting positively reinforcing behaviors during early weeks of the COVID-19 pandemic. Participants were a diverse sample of undergraduate students (N = 296) under a state-wide lockdown. Students were randomized to either VABA, a 10-min values clarification and affirmation task, or Control, a time- and attention-matched task. Positive and negative affects were assessed pre- and post-intervention. At next-day follow-up, positive and negative affects were reassessed, as well as past 24-h behavioral activation and depressive symptoms. Within-group increases in positive affect were observed in both conditions (VABA d = 0.39; Control d = 0.19). However, VABA produced a significantly larger increase than Control (F[2] = 3.856, p =.022, d = 0.22). At 24-h follow-up, behavioral activation, which was significantly higher in VABA versus Control (t[294] = −5.584, p <.001, d = 0.65), predicted fewer depressive symptoms (R2 change =.019, β = -.134, p =.003). VABA is an ultra-brief intervention that appears to have acute effects on mood-enhancement and behavioral activation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ObjectiveSmoking cessation self-efficacy and adaptive coping are posited as two important treatment targets in smoking cessation interventions, especially in the context of handling strong urges to smoke. Yet, less is known about whether intervention-related changes in these constructs predict long-term smoking outcomes. The current study aimed to examine changes in smoking urges, smoking cessation self-efficacy, and adaptive coping following a health-focused and cognitive-behavioral telephone-delivered smoking cessation treatment, and the association to smoking reduction during long-term, 12-month follow-up.MethodsParticipants (n = 61) were daily smokers enrolled in a 12-week pilot trial that tested the efficacy of two different health-focused interventions with an adjunct of traditional telephone-delivered cessation counseling. Smoking urges, smoking cessation self-efficacy, and adaptive coping were assessed as baseline and immediately post-treatment. Average of seven-day cigarettes use per day were assessed at post-treatment, and 6- and 12-months post-baseline follow-up timepoints.ResultsSmoking urges were significantly lower post-treatment, and smoking cessation self-efficacy and adaptive coping were significantly higher post-treatment, relative to baseline. After adjusting for baseline values, post-treatment smoking urges were significantly positively associated with cigarette use at post-treatment and 6-month follow-up. Post-treatment smoking cessation self-efficacy, but not adaptive coping, was significantly negatively predictive of cigarette use at post-treatment and 6- and 12-month follow-up timepoints. Post-treatment smoking cessation self-efficacy emerged as significant indirect predictor of the association between post-treatment smoking urges and post-treatment cigarette use.ConclusionsInterventions that target smoking cessation self-efficacy may facilitate long-term reductions in smoking among daily smokers undergoing a quit attempt.

Smokers report weight and appetite control as motivators to smoking continuance. These concerns are particularly salient for smokers who use cigarettes to suppress appetite and manage weight. Dieting may influence weight, shape, and appetite-related smoking motivation; however, this has not yet been examined. This study tested associations between five diet types and smoking motivation to control weight, shape, and appetite among adult daily cigarette smokers (N = 550). A multivariate analysis was used to test the incremental association between diet types and Smoking-Related Weight and Eating Episodes Test (SWEET) subscales, adjusting for age, body mass index, sex, and cigarette dependence. Smokers who diet (n = 83, 15.1%) reported higher scores on all SWEET subscales compared to smokers not on a diet. Low-calorie dieting was associated with greater smoking motivation to cope with body dissatisfaction, and low-sugar dieting was associated with greater motivation for smoking to prevent withdrawal-related appetite increases. Treatment implications for smoking cessation are discussed., Author(s): Kathryn A. Coniglio [sup.1] , Rachel Rosen [sup.1] , Emily K. Burr [sup.1] , Samantha G. Farris [sup.1] Author Affiliations: (1) grid.430387.b, 0000 0004 1936 8796, Department of Psychology, [...]

Health anxiety, which is defined as fear of having or contracting serious physical illness, is particularly salient in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. We conducted a mixed methods study in which 578 narrative samples were analyzed using Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count (LIWC) software to determine linguistic markers from six LIWC categories relevant to cognitive-behavioral features of health anxiety. Broad linguistic predictors were analyzed through three backward elimination regression models in order to inform subcategory predictors of each area of health anxiety. Thus, both broad and specific linguistic predictors of general health anxiety, virus-relevant body vigilance, and fears of viral contamination were examined. Greater use of affective category words in written narratives predicted general health anxiety, as well as body vigilance and viral contamination fears. These findings represent the first direct demonstration of linguistic analysis of health anxiety and provide nuanced information about the nature and etiology of health anxiety. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]