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Purpose: Musculoskeletal strength can be impaired in pediatric solid organ transplant recipients. Exercise training programs can be beneficial but in-person delivery can be challenging; virtual exercise programs can alleviate some of these challenges. This feasibility study aimed to deliver an 8-week virtual exercise program in pediatric solid organ transplant recipients. Method: Program delivery occurred 3 times per week for 30 minutes. An exercise stress test was completed prior to program start. The Bruininks-Oseretsky Test of Motor Proficiency strength subtest and self-report surveys were used to assess musculoskeletal strength, quality of life, fatigue, and physical activity. Contact was maintained through a text messaging platform. Z scores were calculated using standardized normative data. Medians (interquartile range) are reported for all other data. Results: Eleven participants completed the program (2 liver, 5 kidney, 4 heart; 58% females; median age = 11.5 [10.3–13.8] y). Six participants attended ≥60% of classes, 5 participants attended <50% of classes. After 8 weeks, strength scores improved (Z score, Pre: −1.0 [−1.65 to −0.60] to Post: −0.2 [−1.30 to 0.40]; P =.007) with no change in other outcome measures. Conclusion: The virtual exercise program was delivered without technical issues and received positive participant feedback. Engagement and costs need to be considered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this study was to examine the effects of a 24-week aerobic exercise training program on daily psychological processes and occurrence of stressors in a group of previously physically underactive family caregivers of patients with dementia. As part of the Fitness, Aging, and STress (FAST) randomized controlled trial, 68 participants (F = 55; M = 13) were randomized to either a staff-supported, 24-week aerobic training (N = 34) program or waitlist control (N = 34) group. Approximately 2 weeks prior to randomization, ecological momentary assessments were completed 6 times per day for 7 days and again in the 24th week of the trial to assess exposure to levels of momentary positive affect, negative affect, rumination, control, and the occurrence of stressors throughout the day. These secondary analyses with data from 56 of the participants revealed that the intervention group showed a significantly larger increase in daily positive affect and perceptions of control compared to control participants over the course of the intervention. A treatment effect was also found for negative affect and rumination, whereby both decreased to a greater extent in the intervention group when compared with participants in the control condition. The 24-week aerobic training program had significant impacts on daily psychological processes in family caregivers, deepening our understanding of the robust effects of exercise on mental health.

Meditation is becoming increasingly practiced, especially for stress-related medical conditions. Meditation may improve cellular health; however, studies have not separated out effects of meditation from vacation-like effects in a residential randomized controlled trial. We recruited healthy women non-meditators to live at a resort for 6 days and randomized to either meditation retreat or relaxing on-site, with both groups compared with 'regular meditators' already enrolled in the retreat. Blood drawn at baseline and post intervention was assessed for transcriptome-wide expression patterns and aging-related biomarkers. Highly significant gene expression changes were detected across all groups (the 'vacation effect') that could accurately predict (96% accuracy) between baseline and post-intervention states and were characterized by improved regulation of stress response, immune function and amyloid beta (Aβ) metabolism. Although a smaller set of genes was affected, regular meditators showed post-intervention differences in a gene network characterized by lower regulation of protein synthesis and viral genome activity. Changes in well-being were assessed post intervention relative to baseline, as well as 1 and 10 months later. All groups showed equivalently large immediate post-intervention improvements in well-being, but novice meditators showed greater maintenance of lower distress over time compared with those in the vacation arm. Regular meditators showed a trend toward increased telomerase activity compared with randomized women, who showed increased plasma Aβ42/Aβ40 ratios and tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α) levels. This highly controlled residential study showed large salutary changes in gene expression networks due to the vacation effect, common to all groups. For those already trained in the practice of meditation, a retreat appears to provide additional benefits to cellular health beyond the vacation effect.

Telomere length, a reliable predictor of disease pathogenesis, can be affected by genetics, chronic stress and health behaviors. Cross-sectionally, highly stressed postmenopausal women have shorter telomeres, but only if they are inactive. However, no studies have prospectively examined telomere length change over a short period, and if rate of attrition is affected by naturalistic factors such as stress and engagement in healthy behaviors, including diet, exercise, and sleep. Here we followed healthy women over 1 year to test if major stressors that occurred over the year predicted telomere shortening, and whether engaging in healthy behaviors during this period mitigates this effect. In 239 postmenopausal, non-smoking, disease-free women, accumulation of major life stressors across a 1-year period predicted telomere attrition over the same period-for every major life stressor that occurred during the year, there was a significantly greater decline in telomere length over the year of 35 bp (P

Chronic inflammation and oxidative stress have been implicated in the pathophysiology of Major Depressive Disorder (MDD), as well as in a number of chronic medical conditions. The aim of this study was to examine the relationship between peripheral inflammatory and oxidative stress markers in un-medicated subjects with MDD compared to non-depressed healthy controls and compared to subjects with MDD after antidepressant treatment. We examined the relationships between IL-6, IL-10, and the IL-6/IL-10 inflammatory ratio vs. F2-isoprostanes (F2-IsoP), a marker of oxidative stress, in un-medicated MDD patients (n=20) before and after 8 weeks of open-label sertraline treatment (n=17), compared to healthy non-depressed controls (n=20). Among the un-medicated MDD subjects, F2-IsoP concentrations were positively correlated with IL-6 concentrations (p

Many ancient contemplative traditions believe presence of mind promotes greater longevity, a belief that is hard to test. Scientific evidence suggests that mind wandering predicts unhappiness, whereas presence in the moment predicts wellbeing. It is important to test whether a tendency toward mind wandering is associated with biological measures of longevity beyond self-reported measures of well-being. Telomere length has recently emerged as a proxy measure of biological aging and correlate of severe stress. We assessed the association between telomere length and tendency to be present versus tendency to mind wander in 239 healthy women. Those who reported high mind wandering had shorter telomeres, consistently across immune cell types (granulocytes, lymphocytes), than did those who reported low mind wandering, even after adjusting for stress. Telomere length varies widely between adults, and these findings suggest that presence of mind may explain some of these differences. A present attentional state may promote a healthy biochemical milieu and, in turn, cell longevity. © The Author(s) 2013.

Background. Accumulating evidence supports leukocyte telomere length (LTL) as a biological marker of cellular aging. Poor sleep is a risk factor for age-related disease; however, the extent to which sleep accounts for variation in LTL is unknown. Methods. The present study examined associations of self-reported sleep duration, onset latency, and subjective quality with LTL in a community-dwelling sample of 245 healthy women in midlife (aged 49-66 years). Results. While sleep duration and onset latency were unrelated to LTL, women reporting poorer sleep quality displayed shorter LTL (r = 0.14, P = 0.03), independent of age, BMI, race, and income (b = 55.48, SE = 27.43, P = 0.04). When analyses were restricted to participants for whom sleep patterns were chronic, poorer sleep quality predicted shorter LTL independent of covariates and perceived psychological stress. Conclusions. This study provides the first evidence that poor sleep quality explains significant variation in LTL, a marker of cellular aging. Copyright © 2011 Aric A. Prather et al.

Meditation is becoming increasingly practiced, especially for stress-related medical conditions. Meditation may improve cellular health; however, studies have not separated out effects of meditation from vacation-like effects in a residential randomized controlled trial. We recruited healthy women non-meditators to live at a resort for 6 days and randomized to either meditation retreat or relaxing on-site, with both groups compared with ‘regular meditators' already enrolled in the retreat. Blood drawn at baseline and post intervention was assessed for transcriptome-wide expression patterns and aging-related biomarkers. Highly significant gene expression changes were detected across all groups (the ‘vacation effect') that could accurately predict (96% accuracy) between baseline and post-intervention states and were characterized by improved regulation of stress response, immune function and amyloid beta (Aβ) metabolism. Although a smaller set of genes was affected, regular meditators showed post-intervention differences in a gene network characterized by lower regulation of protein synthesis and viral genome activity. Changes in well-being were assessed post intervention relative to baseline, as well as 1 and 10 months later. All groups showed equivalently large immediate post-intervention improvements in well-being, but novice meditators showed greater maintenance of lower distress over time compared with those in the vacation arm. Regular meditators showed a trend toward increased telomerase activity compared with randomized women, who showed increased plasma Aβ42/Aβ40 ratios and tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α) levels. This highly controlled residential study showed large salutary changes in gene expression networks due to the vacation effect, common to all groups. For those already trained in the practice of meditation, a retreat appears to provide additional benefits to cellular health beyond the vacation effect.

Health emerges from coordinated psychobiological processes powered by mitochondrial energy transformation. But how do mitochondria regulate the multisystem responses that shape resilience and disease risk across the lifespan? The Mitochondrial Stress, Brain Imaging, and Epigenetics (MiSBIE) study was established to address this question and determine how mitochondria influence the interconnected neuroendocrine, immune, metabolic, cardiovascular, cognitive, and emotional systems among individuals spanning the spectrum of mitochondrial energy transformation capacity, including participants with rare mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) lesions causing mitochondrial diseases (MitoDs). This interdisciplinary effort is expected to generate new insights into the pathophysiology of MitoDs, provide a foundation to develop novel biomarkers of human health, and integrate our fragmented knowledge of bioenergetic, brain-body, and mind-mitochondria processes relevant to medicine and public health., Competing Interests: Declaration of interests The authors have no competing interests to declare., (Copyright © 2024 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.)

Objectives: Late adolescence (15-19 years) is a period of heightened susceptibility to stress, but regular physical activity may attenuate reactivity to stressors. We aimed to explore the effects of physical activity intensity on older adolescents' stress-reactivity and self-reported mental health., Design and Methods: Three-arm randomised controlled trial in New South Wales, Australia (April-June 2021). Thirty-seven older adolescents (16.1 ± 0.2 years, 59.5 % female) were randomised to: i) non-active control (CON), ii) light-intensity physical activity (LPA), or iii) moderate-to-vigorous-intensity physical activity (MVPA). Physical activity groups participated in 2 x 20-min sessions/week for 6 weeks. Salivary cortisol (sCort) reactivity to induced stress was assessed using the Trier Social Stress Test for Groups and quantified as area under the curve (sCort AUC ; Primary outcome). Secondary outcomes included peak cortisol (sCort Peak ), subjective-reactivity, perceived stress, and non-specific psychological distress. Group differences were assessed using multiple linear regression and quantified using Cohen's d., Results: No statistically significant effects were observed for sCort AUC or sCort Peak and the pattern of effects for subjective-reactivity was inconsistent. Effects for self-reported mental health were also non-significant (p > .05 for all) but of meaningful magnitude, favouring LPA and MVPA over CON (d's = -0.38 to -0.54). Delivery fidelity was high, satisfaction was moderate-to-high, and there was no evidence of harm. However, recruitment, retention for sCort measures, and adherence were lower than expected., Conclusion: Suboptimal recruitment, retention, and adherence limited our ability to conclude on the effect of physical activity intensity on older adolescents' sCort-reactivity to induced stress. We observed potentially meaningful effects on self-reported mental health for both physical activity conditions, which could be confirmed in a future powered trial., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.)

Objective: Growing research indicates that daily stress is associated with poorer same-day cognitive performance, for example, memory and attention. However, it is unclear whether this relationship holds across diverse ages and engagement in physical activity (PA), or whether these factors might buffer the relationship between daily stress and subjective cognitive function., Methods: Ecological momentary assessment data were collected from adults aged 25 to 88 years across British Columbia, Canada. For 14 days, participants ( N = 204) wore a triaxial physical activity monitor, reported stressor occurrence in mobile surveys four times per day, and rated their subjective attention and memory at the end of each day., Results: Multilevel models evaluated daily stressor occurrence as a predictor of subjective attention and memory, with same-day PA engagement and age as moderators. Subjective attention and memory were lower on days when a stressor had occurred, compared to stressor-free days. Neither PA nor age moderated the within-person associations of daily stressors with subjective cognition., Conclusion: The lack of stress-buffering effects for same-day PA and age raises questions about the contexts in which PA promotes cognitive functioning and about age-related processes underlying stress and cognition. Future work could examine the mechanisms that might explain the link between daily stress and cognition function, as well as the associations of different intensity and forms of physical activity on stress across age groups., (Copyright © 2024 by the American Psychosomatic Society.)

Exercise and nature exposure are independently recognised for their positive relationship with health, but their combined effects are not fully understood. The present review summarises the evidence that compares physiological and perceptual differences of a single bout of exercise performed outdoors versus indoors. Nine databases were searched for articles published before March 2021 which utilised controlled designs to assess at least one physiological outcome during or after a single acute bout of outdoor exercise. When appropriate, quantitative analyses were completed. Quality of articles was assessed using the Cochrane Risk of Bias Assessment Tool. The findings of 38 articles (Total N  = 1168) were examined. Participants were primarily healthy. Summarised outcomes included objective exercise intensity, perceived exertion, performance, neuroendocrine and metabolic responses, cardiovascular responses, thermoregulation, enjoyment, intention for future exercise, and perceptions of the environment. Outdoor environments increased enjoyment ( N  = 234, K  = 10, g  = 1.24, 95% CI = [0.59, 1.89], p  < 0.001). Findings for remaining outcomes were non-significant or inconclusive and challenging to interpret due to high risk of bias. Overall, outdoor exercise appears to feel more enjoyable than indoor exercise when matched for intensity, with equivocal physiological benefit.

Purpose: Musculoskeletal strength can be impaired in pediatric solid organ transplant recipients. Exercise training programs can be beneficial but in-person delivery can be challenging; virtual exercise programs can alleviate some of these challenges. This feasibility study aimed to deliver an 8-week virtual exercise program in pediatric solid organ transplant recipients., Method: Program delivery occurred 3 times per week for 30 minutes. An exercise stress test was completed prior to program start. The Bruininks-Oseretsky Test of Motor Proficiency strength subtest and self-report surveys were used to assess musculoskeletal strength, quality of life, fatigue, and physical activity. Contact was maintained through a text messaging platform. Z scores were calculated using standardized normative data. Medians (interquartile range) are reported for all other data., Results: Eleven participants completed the program (2 liver, 5 kidney, 4 heart; 58% females; median age = 11.5 [10.3-13.8] y). Six participants attended ≥60% of classes, 5 participants attended <50% of classes. After 8 weeks, strength scores improved (Z score, Pre: -1.0 [-1.65 to -0.60] to Post: -0.2 [-1.30 to 0.40]; P = .007) with no change in other outcome measures., Conclusion: The virtual exercise program was delivered without technical issues and received positive participant feedback. Engagement and costs need to be considered.

Importance: During the COVID-19 pandemic, health care workers (HCWs) reported a significant decline in their mental health. One potential health behavior intervention that has been shown to be effective for improving mental health is exercise, which may be facilitated by taking advantage of mobile application (app) technologies., Objective: To determine the extent to which a 12-week app-based exercise intervention can reduce depressive symptoms, burnout, and absenteeism in HCWs, compared with a wait list control condition., Design, Setting, and Participants: A 2-group randomized clinical trial was conducted, with participants screened from April 6 to July 4, 2022. Participants were recruited from an urban health care organization in British Columbia, Canada. Participants completed measures before randomization and every 2 weeks thereafter., Interventions: Exercise condition participants were asked to complete four 20-minute sessions per week using a suite of body weight interval training, yoga, barre, and running apps. Wait-listed control participants received the apps at the end of the trial., Main Outcomes and Measures: The primary outcome consisted of the between-group difference in depressive symptoms measured with the 10-item Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale. The secondary outcomes corresponded to 3 subfacets of burnout (cynicism, emotional exhaustion, and professional efficacy) and absenteeism. Intention-to-treat analyses were completed with multilevel structural equation modeling, and Feingold effect sizes (ES) were estimated every 2 weeks., Results: A total of 288 participants (mean [SD] age, 41.0 [10.8] years; 246 [85.4%] women) were randomized to either exercise (n = 142) or wait list control (n = 146) conditions. Results revealed that ESs for depressive symptoms were in the small to medium range by trial's end (week 12, -0.41 [95% CI, -0.69 to -0.13]). Significant and consistent treatment effects were revealed for 2 facets of burnout, namely cynicism (week 12 ES, -0.33 [95% CI, -0.53 to -0.13]) and emotional exhaustion (week 12 ES, -0.39 [95% CI, -0.64 to -0.14]), as well as absenteeism (r = 0.15 [95% CI, 0.03-0.26]). Adherence to the 80 minutes per week of exercise decreased from 78 (54.9%) to 33 (23.2%) participants between weeks 2 and 12., Conclusions and Relevance: Although exercise was able to reduce depressive symptoms among HCWs, adherence was low toward the end of the trial. Optimizing adherence to exercise programming represents an important challenge to help maintain improvements in mental health among HCWs., Trial Registration: ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT05271006.

With an increasing number of children attending regular early childhood education and care (ECEC), this setting presents an opportunity to develop physical activity habits and movement skills of children. These behaviours play an important role in the development and well-being of children. In 2017, an Active Play Standard was introduced in British Columbia, Canada, to mandate practices related to physical activity, screen time and movement skill development in licensed ECEC. A capacity-building initiative including training and online resources was released alongside these guidelines to support implementation. The purpose of this study was to qualitatively examine the barriers and facilitators ECEC practitioners faced in implementing the standard, and to explore the role of the capacity-building initiative. Data were collected via semi-structured telephone interviews with educators (n = 23). Data were coded using thematic analysis and sorted into three major themes influencing provision of physical activity opportunities: attributes and impact of the Active Play standard and capacity-building workshop, characteristics of providers and characteristics of ECEC settings. Future studies should consider targeting factors including organizational culture and climate, and provider capacity to provide physical activity and fundamental movement skill programming, and support for facility level policies and collaborative planning processes that create a positive physical activity culture., (© The Author(s) 2022. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.)

Background: With the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, many exercise programs moved online. The purpose of this study was to examine the extent to which older adults' social identification with other exercise program members contributed to their psychological flourishing and exercise program adherence., Methods: The study represented a secondary analysis of data derived from the Seniors COVID-19 Pandemic and Exercise (SCOPE) Trial, in which older adults were randomized to a waitlist control condition or one of two online (personal v group) exercise programs. Only data from participants in the trial intervention conditions ( N  = 162; M age = 73.52 years; SD  = 5.61) were utilized in this secondary analysis. We assessed psychological flourishing and social identification at baseline and every two weeks, as well as program adherence over each 2-week block, for 12 weeks., Results: Based on stepwise multilevel modeling the results revealed that older adults' social identification with others in their respective exercise program had a direct effect on psychological flourishing ( ΔR 2 Unique Marginal = 0.063, p < .001) and program adherence ( ΔR 2 Unique Marginal = 0.014, p = .03)., Conclusions: The results highlight the value of bolstering older adults' social identification with others in an online exercise program to support adherence and well-being.

Objective: It has been proposed that cumulative stress, one's experience of chronic stressors across multiple domains, worsens health by altering the extent to which daily stressors impact daily affect and physical symptoms. Recent work confirms that high cumulative stress exacerbates the association between daily stressor exposure and increased daily negative affect, though it remains untested the extent to which cumulative stress and daily stressor exposure interact to predict daily symptoms., Method: We employed data from the second wave of the midlife in the U.S. Survey (N = 2,022; M age = 56.2; 57.2% female) to examine whether levels of cumulative stress compound daily symptoms on days with (vs. without) stressful events. Experiences of life stressors across eight domains, occurrence of daily stressors, and occurrence, number, and severity of daily physical symptoms were analyzed using multilevel modeling., Results: Greater cumulative stress and experiencing (vs. not experiencing) a daily stressor independently increased the odds of occurrence, number, and severity of daily symptoms (ps ≤ .016). Moreover, after adjusting for covariates (e.g., sociodemographic characteristics, chronic health conditions, percent of days with reported stressors, and health behaviors), the associations between daily stressor exposure and odds of occurrence, number, and severity of daily symptoms were potentiated as levels of cumulative stress increased (ps ≤ .009)., Conclusions: The negative implications of daily stressor exposure for daily health may be most pronounced in those who report higher levels of cumulative stress across multiple life domains and across time. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

Introduction: Early childhood is a key time for the development of physical activity behaviors and physical literacy. A growing proportion of children spend a significant portion of their daytime in early childhood education and care settings where an early childhood educator cares for them. This systematic review (PROSPERO CRD42018087249) aimed to identify the differences between effective and noneffective educator-led interventions with a goal to improve physical literacy and/or physical activity in children aged 3-5 years in early childhood education and care settings., Methods: Interventions were included if they aimed to improve at least 1 physical literacy component or physical activity time in children aged 2-6 years through educator training. MEDLINE, Embase, CINAHL, ERIC, Australian Education Index, and Sport Discus were searched in March 2018 and April 2021. Risk of bias was assessed through a modified Cochrane assessment tool., Results: Data from 51 studies were analyzed in 2021 and 2022 and summarized narratively. Thirty-seven interventions aimed to promote physical activity, and 28 sought to promote physical literacy; 54% and 63% of these were effective, respectively. Interventions that were underpinned by theory, included ongoing support, or measured intervention fidelity were more effective, especially when all 3 were done., Discussion: This review was limited by a high risk of bias and inconsistency in reporting results across interventions. Reporting physical activity by minutes per hour and reporting both sub and total scores in physical literacy assessments will allow for greater cross-comparison between trials. Future training of educators should be underpinned by theory and incorporate ongoing support and objective fidelity checks., (Copyright © 2023 American Journal of Preventive Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Background: The aim of this study was to examine whether a low-cost standing desk intervention that reduced occupational sitting was associated with changes in work-time cognitive-affective states in real time using ecological momentary assessments at the start and end of the trial., Methods: Forty-one office employees (91.7% female, mean age = 39.8 [10.1] y) were randomized to receive a low-cost standing desk or a waitlist control. Participants received 5 surveys each day for 5 workdays via smartphone application prior to randomization and at trial's end. Ecological momentary assessment assessed current work-time psychological states (valence and arousal, stress, fatigue, and perceived productivity). Multilevel models assessed whether changes in work-time outcomes over the course of the intervention were significantly different between treatment groups., Results: There were no significant differences in outcomes between the groups except for fatigue, with the control group reporting a significant decrease in daily fatigue following the intervention (P < .001). The intervention group reported no significant changes in any of the work-time outcomes across the study period (P > .05)., Conclusions: A low-cost standing desk intervention to reduce occupational sedentary behavior did not negatively impact work-time outcomes such as productivity and fatigue in the short term.

A growing body of research is exploring the potential added health benefits of exercise when performed outdoors in nature versus indoors. This systematic review aimed to compare the effects of exercise in outdoor environments versus indoor environments on psychological health, physical health, and physical activity behaviour. We searched nine databases from inception to March 2021 for English language, peer-reviewed articles: MEDLINE, Embase, PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, CINAHL, SportsDiscus, GreenFile, and CENTRAL. We included randomized and non-randomized trials that compared multiple bouts of exercise in outdoor versus indoor environments, and that assessed at least one outcome related to physical health, psychological health, or physical activity behaviour. Due to minimal outcome overlap and a paucity of studies, we performed a narrative synthesis. We identified 10 eligible trials, including 7 randomized controlled trials, and a total of 343 participants. Participant demographics, exercise protocols, and outcomes varied widely. In the 10 eligible studies, a total of 99 comparisons were made between outdoor and indoor exercise; all 25 statistically significant comparisons favoured outdoor exercise. Interpretation of findings was hindered by an overall high risk of bias, unclear reporting, and high outcome heterogeneity. There is limited evidence for added health or behaviour benefits of outdoor exercise versus indoor exercise. Rigorous randomized controlled trials are needed with larger samples and clear reporting.

Physical activity behaviour displays temporal variability, and is influenced by a range of dynamic psychological processes (e.g., affect) and shaped by various co-occurring events (e.g., social/environmental factors, interpersonal dynamics). Yet, most physical activity research tends not to examine the dynamic psychological processes implicated in adopting and maintaining physical activity. Intensive longitudinal methods (ILM) represent one particularly salient means of studying the complex psychological dynamics that underlie and result from physical activity behaviour. With the increased recent interest in using intensive longitudinal data to understand specific dynamic psychological processes, the field of exercise and health psychology is well-positioned to draw from state-of-the-art measurement and statistical approaches that have been developed and operationalised in other fields of enquiry. The purpose of this review is to provide an overview of some of the fundamental dynamic measurement and modelling approaches applicable to the study of physical activity behaviour change, as well as the dynamic psychological processes that contribute to such change.

Background: Previous research suggests that there is a bidirectional relationship between incidental affect (i.e., how people feel in day-to-day life) and physical activity behavior. However, many inconsistencies exist in the body of work due to the lag interval between affect and physical activity measurements., Purpose: Using a novel continuous-time analysis paradigm, we examined the temporal specificity underlying the dynamic relationship between positive and negative incidental affective states and moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA)., Methods: A community sample of adults (n = 126, Mage = 27.71, 51.6% Male) completed a 14-day ambulatory assessment protocol measuring momentary positive and negative incidental affect six times a day while wearing a physical activity monitor (Fitbit). Hierarchical Bayesian continuous-time structural equation modeling was used to elucidate the underlying dynamics of the relationship between incidental affective states and MVPA., Results: Based on the continuous-time cross-effects, positive and negative incidental affect predicted subsequent MVPA. Furthermore, engaging in MVPA predicted subsequent positive and negative incidental affect. Incidental affective states had a greater relative influence on predicting subsequent MVPA compared to the reciprocal relationship. Analysis of the discrete-time coefficients suggests that cross-lagged effects increase as the time interval between measurements increase, peaking at about 8 h between measurement occasions before beginning to dissipate., Conclusions: The results provide support for a recursive relationship between incidental affective states and MVPA, which is particularly strong at 7-9 hr time intervals. Future research designs should consider these medium-term dynamics, for both theory development and intervention., (© Society of Behavioral Medicine 2022. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.)

Physical activity may play a role in promoting or preventing substance use among youth. The purpose of this study was to examine the association between different types of physical activity [i.e., non-competitive school sport, competitive school sport, outside of school sport and minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA) per day] and substance use (i.e., current smoking, e-cigarette, cannabis, binge drinking) among Canadian youth. Interaction effects between physical activity and school connectedness were also examined. Using data from the COMPASS study (2018-19; n = 73,672), four multi-level logistic regression models were developed to investigate whether physical activity lessened or worsened the odds of (1) smoking; (2) e-cigarette use; (3) cannabis use; and (4) binge drinking. Models were stratified by gender to reflect the inherent differences between genders. Models were adjusted for demographic factors and other covariates. Sport participation was consistently associated with substance use, whereas less evidence was found for meeting MVPA guidelines. Non-competitive school sport lessened the odds of cannabis use for males and females. However, non-competitive school sport only lessened the odds of e-cigarette use for females but increased the odds of binge drinking for males. Participation in competitive school sport lessened the odds of cigarette smoking but increased the odds of e-cigarette use and binge drinking for males and females. Outside of school sport lessened the odds of cigarette smoking and cannabis use but increased the odds of e-cigarette use and binge drinking for males and females. A significant moderation effect was found for males participating in sport outside of school and meeting MVPA guidelines who were at a lower risk of e-cigarette use in the presence of high levels of school connectedness. Our study provides evidence for further consideration and provision of extracurricular activities, specifically non-competitive sport, in protecting against substance use. Caution is required in claiming that sport participation or physical activity, in general, is negatively associated with substance use among youth., Competing Interests: The 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., (Copyright © 2022 Fagan, Duncan, Bedi, Puterman, Leatherdale and Faulkner.)

Background: Exposure to chronic psychological stress across multiple life domains (multi-domain chronic burden) is associated with poor health. This may be because multi-domain chronic burden influences daily-level emotional processes, though this hypothesis has not been thoroughly tested., Purpose: The current study tested whether (a) multi-domain chronic burden is associated with greater exposure to daily stressors and (b) multi-domain chronic burden compounds negative affect on days with stressors compared to stressor-free days., Methods: The MIDUS Study (Wave II) and the National Study of Daily Experiences sub-study were conducted from 2004 to 2006 (N = 2,022). Participants reported on eight life domains of psychological stress used to create a multi-domain chronic burden summary score. For eight consecutive days, participants reported the daily occurrence of stressful events and daily negative affect., Results: Participants with greater multi-domain chronic burden were significantly more likely to report daily stressors. There was also a significant interaction between multi-domain chronic burden and daily stressors on negative affect: participants with higher multi-domain chronic burden had greater negative affect on stressor days than stressor-free days compared to those with lower multi-domain chronic burden., Conclusion: Participants with higher multi-domain chronic burden were more likely to report daily stressors and there was a compounding effect of multi-domain chronic burden and daily stressors on negative affect. These results suggest that experiencing a greater amount of psychological stress across multiple life domains may make daily stressors more toxic for daily affect., (© Society of Behavioral Medicine 2022. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.)

Mitochondria contain their own genome that can be released in multiple biofluids such as blood and cerebrospinal fluid, as cell-free mitochondrial DNA (cf-mtDNA). In clinical studies, blood cf-mtDNA predicts mortality and higher cf-mtDNA levels are associated with mental and physical stress. However, the dynamics of cf-mtDNA has not been defined, and whether it can be measured non-invasively like other neuroendocrine markers in saliva has not been examined. Here we report cf-mtDNA in human saliva and establish its natural within-person dynamic behavior across multiple weeks. In a small proof-of-principle cohort of healthy adults, we first develop an approach to rapidly quantify salivary cf-mtDNA without DNA isolation, and demonstrate the existence of salivary cf-mtDNA. We then deploy this approach to perform an intensive repeated-measures analysis of two healthy men studied at 4 daily timepoints over 53-60 consecutive days (n = 212-220 observations each) with parallel measures of steroid hormones, self-reported daily mood, and health-related behaviors. Salivary cf-mtDNA exhibited a robust awakening response reaching up to two orders of magnitude 30-45 min after awakening, varied from day-to-day, and moderately correlated with the cortisol awakening response. In exploratory analyses, no consistent association with self-reported daily mood/health-related behaviors were found, although this requires further examination in future studies. Dynamic variation in cf-mtDNA was inversely related with salivary interleukin 6 (IL-6), inconsistent with a pro-inflammatory effect of salivary cf-mtDNA. The highly dynamic behavior of salivary cf-mtDNA opens the door to non-invasive studies examining the relevance of mtDNA signaling in relation to human health., (Copyright © 2022 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Objective: To examine whether premenopausal reproductive age, as indicated by serum antimüllerian hormone (AMH), is associated with leukocyte aging biomarkers., Design: Prospective cohort analysis., Setting: The Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults study, a population-based study of Black and White adults from four US communities (Birmingham, AL; Chicago, IL; Minneapolis, MN; Oakland, CA)., Patient(s): Premenopausal women with serum AMH measures at examination year 15 as well as leukocyte aging markers., Intervention(s): None., Main Outcome Measure(s): Telomere length, mitochondrial deoxyribonucleic acid (mtDNA) copy number, and intrinsic and extrinsic epigenetic age acceleration (EAA) at examination years 15, 20, and 25 as well as change between examination years., Result(s): Women were 40.2 (standard deviation, 3.7) years of age at examination year 15 when the AMH and initial measures of telomere length and mtDNA copy number (n = 386) were obtained and EAA occurred. After adjustment for chronological age, race, and smoking history, AMH quartile at examination year 15 was not associated with telomere length at examination years 15 and 25 or telomere length change between these years, mtDNA copy number at examination years 15 and 25 or change between these years, or intrinsic EAA at examination years 15 and 20 or change between these years. Women in the second AMH quartile had faster extrinsic EAA than women in the lowest AMH quartile (β-coefficient, 1.84; 95% confidence interval, 0.20-3.49)., Conclusion(s): In a population-based cohort, AMH did not have associations with leukocyte telomere length, mtDNA copy number, or intrinsic EAA., (Copyright © 2022 American Society for Reproductive Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Background: The number of adults across the globe with significant depressive symptoms has grown substantially during the COVID-19 pandemic. The extant literature supports exercise as a potent behaviour that can significantly reduce depressive symptoms in clinical and non-clinical populations., Objective: Using a suite of mobile applications, at-home exercise, including high intensity interval training (HIIT) and/or yoga, was completed to reduce depressive symptoms in the general population in the early months of the pandemic., Methods: A 6-week, parallel, multiarm, pragmatic randomised controlled trial was completed with four groups: (1) HIIT, (2) Yoga, (3) HIIT+yoga, and (4) waitlist control (WLC). Low active, English-speaking, non-retired Canadians aged 18-64 years were included. Depressive symptoms were measured at baseline and weekly following randomisation., Results: A total of 334 participants were randomised to one of four groups. No differences in depressive symptoms were evident at baseline. The results of latent growth modelling showed significant treatment effects in depressive symptoms for each active group compared with the WLC, with small effect sizes (ESs) in the community-based sample of participants. Treatment groups were not significantly different from each other. Effect sizes were very large (eg, week 6 ES range=-2.34 to -2.52) when restricting the analysis only to participants with high depressive symptoms at baseline., Conclusions: At-home exercise is a potent behaviour to improve mental health in adults during the pandemic, especially in those with increased levels of depressive symptoms. Promotion of at-home exercise may be a global public health target with important personal, social and economic implications as the world emerges scathed by the pandemic., Trial Registration Number: NCT04400279., Competing Interests: Competing interests: None declared., (© Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2022. Re-use permitted under CC BY-NC. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ.)

Sleep is an important process that can influence and be influenced by daily events and emotions. We examined the bidirectional relationships between sleep, daily events, and emotions with a daily diary method completed by 181 mothers ( M age = 41.91, SD = 5.06). They answered morning and evening questionnaires for 1 week at three different points in time separated by nine months each, 21 days in total. Measures of sleep quality and emotional experiences each morning were assessed, and they reported on their best and worst experience of the day, peak emotional responses to these events, and affect in the evening. Sleep behavior, including total sleep time and sleep efficiency, was objectively quantified using wrist actigraphy. Multilevel modeling analyses showed that longer sleep duration and better subjective quality predicted greater positive emotions and lower negative emotions upon waking, and lower levels of peak perceived stressfulness, but not peak positivity ratings. Daily experiences did not predict sleep duration. Conversely, negative affect in the evening and greater peak perceived stressfulness during the day predicted worse sleep quality that night, whereas positive affect and positive events were not related to sleep. Although correlational, these findings suggest that good sleep can improve waking affect and help mitigate the impact of stressful experiences but does not amplify responses to the positive events of the day. In turn, daily perceived stress reactivity impairs sleep quality. These novel findings show stronger bidirectional relationships between sleep with daily stress, than sleep with daily positivity., Supplementary Information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s42761-022-00112-x., Competing Interests: Conflict of InterestThe authors declare no competing interests., (© The Author(s) 2022, corrected publication 2022.)

Studies have linked higher digital screen use with poorer mental health. However, there is limited experimental evidence to suggest a causal relationship. In this trial, we aimed to investigate the effects of limiting recreational digital screen use on mental well-being, mood, and biomarkers of stress in healthy young and middle-aged adults. We randomly allocated 89 families (including 164 adults) to participate in an extensive screen media reduction intervention or control. Participants in the intervention group were instructed to decrease their recreational screen use to less than 3 hours/week/person. Intervention compliance was assessed using applications and tv-monitors. Overall subjective mental well-being and mood, and collected daily biomarkers of stress (salivary cortisol and cortisone) was assessed at baseline and 2-week follow-up. Reducing recreational digital screen use resulted in significantly improved self-reported well-being and mood in adults allocated to the intervention compared to control. We observed no intervention effects for biomarkers of stress. (ClinicalTrials.gov : NCT04098913, 23/09/2019)., Competing Interests: Competing interestsThe authors declare no competing interests., (© The Author(s) 2022.)