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This study assessed the relationship between modifiable psychological variables and depression, anxiety, and posttraumatic growth in women experiencing infertility. U.S. women (N = 457) who identified as experiencing infertility completed standardized self-report measures of mindfulness, self-compassion, positive affect, intolerance of uncertainty, relationship satisfaction, experiential avoidance, depression, anxiety, and posttraumatic growth. Clinical and demographic characteristics (age, duration trying to conceive, miscarriage, and childlessness) did not predict depression or anxiety. Lower positive affect and higher experiential avoidance were associated with depression and anxiety. Lower self-compassion was associated with depression; higher intolerance of uncertainty was associated with anxiety. There were indirect effects of mindfulness on anxiety and depression via these variables. Future research should explore whether intervening on these factors reduces depressive and anxiety symptoms. Promoting mindfulness may have beneficial effects on symptoms via its downstream effects on multiple coping variables. Counterintuitively, posttraumatic growth was associated with higher intolerance of uncertainty and experiential avoidance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background. Lifestyle medicine has emerged as a transformational force in mainstream health care. Numerous health promotion and wellness programs have been created to facilitate the adoption of increased positive, modifiable health behaviors to prevent and lessen the effects of chronic disease. This article provides a scoping review of available health promotion interventions that focus on healthy adult populations in the past 10 years. Methods. We conducted a scoping review of the literature searching for health promotion interventions in the past 10 years. Interventions were limited to those conducted among healthy adults that offered a face-to-face, group-based format, with positive results on one or more health outcomes. We then developed a new health promotion intervention that draws on multiple components of included interventions. Results. Fifty-eight articles met our inclusion criteria. Physical activity was the primary focus of a majority (N = 47) of articles, followed by diet/nutrition (N = 40) and coping/social support (N = 40). Conclusions. Efficacious health promotion interventions are critical to address the prevention of chronic disease by addressing modifiable risk factors such as exercise, nutrition, stress, and coping. A new intervention, discussed is this article, provides a comprehensive approaches to health behavior change and may be adapted for future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A paradigm shift in public health and medicine has broadened the field from a singular focus on the ill effects of negative states and psychopathology to an expanded view that examines protective psychological assets that may promote improved physical health and longevity. We summarize recent evidence of the link between psychological well-being (including positive affect, optimism, life meaning and purpose, and life satisfaction) and physical health, with particular attention to outcomes of mortality and chronic disease incidence and progression. Within this evolving discipline there remain controversies and lessons to be learned. We discuss measurement-related challenges, concerns about the quality of the evidence, and other shortcomings in the field, along with a brief discussion of hypothesized biobehavioral mechanisms involved. Finally, we suggest next steps to move the field forward. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This reply addresses observations of Drs. Larsen, Kruse, and Sweeny, and Scherer in their reviews of our published work on the link between positive psychological assets and outcomes of physical health. Inspired by Obama’s Precision Medicine Initiative we argue that the interplay between the emotion spectrum and health is likely a complex and heterogeneous amalgam of known and yet unidentified elements melding at the individual level. When exploring the emotion–health link, researchers are challenged to grapple with complex system models by considering multiple hierarchies of information that span individual-level factors, genetic blueprints, and cultural and environmental context. Research is needed to more fully elucidate the mechanism through which emotion influences health, with careful consideration of differences across race/ethnicity, culture, and context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]