Search

Individuals' psychological distress is associated with disinhibited eating (external and emotional eating). The aim of the current study was to examine the moderating associations of COVID-19-related stress on parents' psychological distress (anxiety, hostility, depression) and external and emotional eating. One hundred and sixty U.S. parents of three- to five-year-old children (M

Vaccine hesitancy-delays in vaccine uptake when one is readily available-is an important public health issue. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the role of psychosocial factors in influencing cognitions and behaviors related to vaccine uptake have been examined. Using an online sample of unvaccinated U.S. adults (N = 300), we examined the influence of COVID-19-related social media-based comparison information (e.g., others' attitudes about taking the vaccine)-as well as the moderating impact of (dis)similarity mindsets and indirect influence of affective associations, norm perceptions, and self-evaluations of efficacy-on vaccination uptake intentions. Participants reported higher intentions for vaccine uptake following exposure to cautious comparison models (e.g., those that engaged in health prevention behaviors, intended to get vaccinated) versus risky comparison models (e.g., those who did not engage in health prevention behaviors, did not intend to get vaccinated) and neutral comparison models and this effect was indirect through positive affective associations about taking the vaccine. There were no main or interactive effects of (dis)similarity mindsets. Understanding the psychosocial factors that influence health cognitions and behaviors in the context of an infectious disease pandemic will advance theoretical development and aid in creating interventions targeting vaccine uptake.

How perceivers' impressions of a researcher's personality might vary as a function of the messiness of the researcher's office was explored in the current set of experiments. Participants from the US were randomly assigned to sit in a researcher's office (A) that was either clean, neat, organized, and uncluttered or one (office B) that was somewhat messy (experiment 1) or very messy (experiments 2 & 3). They guessed the Big 5 traits of the researcher afterward. In each experiment, participants thought that the office B researcher was less conscientious than the office A researcher. In experiments 2 and 3, participants also thought that the office B researcher was less agreeable and more neurotic than the office A researcher. Discussion centers on how the degree of office messiness might matter in terms of whether perceivers view the office owner as possessing one or more negative personality traits.

Parents play an important role in shaping child eating and weight outcomes through feeding practices. Controlling feeding practices are positively related to child obesogenic eating and obesity risk. Although many parents' characteristics have been examined in relation to controlling feeding practices, less is known about the role of coparenting. The current study seeks to examine whether coparenting (supportive versus undermining) predict controlling feeding practices (use of food for emotion regulation, food as a reward, pressure to eat, restriction for health, restriction for weight). A total of 160 parents (56% females) of preschool-aged children between 3- and 5-years old completed an online survey. After accounting for parent characteristics (i.e., sex, BMI, age), regression analyses showed that supportive coparenting was not predictive of controlling feeding practices. However, regression analyses showed that undermining coparenting predicted greater use of food for emotion regulation, food as a reward, and restriction for weight, but was not predictive of pressure to eat and restriction for health. Implications associated with these findings are discussed.