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This study was designed to assess the psychological factors influencing life satisfaction of undergraduates. The instruments used were Perceived Stress Scale (PSS), Wong and Law Emotional Intelligence Scale (WLEIS), Rosenberge Self-esteem Scale (RSS), and Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS). A total number of 190 participants were purposively selected across various faculties in Ekiti State University. Four hypotheses were tested using Independent t-test to find the effects of perceived stress, emotional intelligence, and self-esteem on life satisfaction. Multiple regression was used to find the joint and individual influences of these variables. The results showed that there is no significant influence of perceived stress on life satisfaction (t (75) = 1.23, p = .22, 95% CI [-1.14, 4.83). There is no significant influence of self-esteem on life satisfaction (t (51) = -1.31, p = .20, 95% CI [-5.28, 1.11), and there is no significant joint influence of perceived stress, emotional intelligence and self-esteem on life satisfaction (F (3,187) = 1.79, p = .15, R2 =.03). Additionally, perceived stress (β = .07, p = .33), emotional intelligence (β = .14, p = 054) and self-esteem (β = .02, p = .83) did not have independent influences on life satisfaction. Implications of the present findings for future research are discussed, as well as potential interventions for improving life satisfaction.

Aim: Adults with mild-moderate intellectual disabilities (ID) have poorer diets and participate less in physical activity than adults in the general population. The current study aimed to gather perspectives of this group and their carers on how uptake of healthy eating and physical activity could be improved amongst adults with ID. Method: Qualitative interview study with 12 adults with ID and 12 carers using a Social Cognitive Theory based approach to understand their current behaviour and how to support behaviour change effectively with this group. Results: Participants reported that adults with ID may be more responsive to subjective, experiential benefits of health behaviours, including improved energy levels, mood and digestion than abstract changes in weight or muscle mass. Mastery of practical goals potentially leading to employment, purposeful activities and recognition of effort was also considered important. Fostering trust and rapport in their relationships with carers and providing training to carers on health promotion and management of challenging behaviour would also increase intervention effectiveness.Conclusion: Behaviour change interventions with adults with mild-moderate ID may be improved by tailoring content to their needs and involving carers in health promotion programmes.

Previous research has demonstrated a clear link between late chronotype and depression. The vulnerability factors underpinning this link, however, are unclear. Here the relationship between two specific emotion regulation strategies, cognitive reappraisal and expressive suppression, and chronotype was investigated using multiple regression. Two hundred and fourty participants (age range 18- 80, 189 females) completed validated self-report questionnaires assaying chronotype, neuroticism, depression symptomatology, sleep quality and emotion regulation. Eveningness was associated increased expressive suppression and morningness was associated with increased cognitive reappraisal after controlling for age, gender, depressive symptomatology, neuroticism and sleep quality. Trait expressive suppression and reduced cognitive reappraisal are known to increase depression risk. Our results suggest that eveningness is associated with impaired emotion regulation which may confer risk for future depression. These findings suggest modifiable markers that could be therapeutically targeted to prevent the onset of depression in late chronotype individuals.

Introduction: Passive detection of cigarette smoking offers potential for considerable benefits to researchers exploring smoking behaviour and designing precision behaviour change interventions. A number of systems have been developed that either use bespoke sensing technology, or rely on connected smartphones to run analytical software. Here we present StopWatch, a system for passive detection of cigarette smoking that runs on a smartwatch and does not require additional sensing or a connected smartphone.Methods: Our system uses motion data from the accelerometer and gyroscope in an Android smartwatch to detect the signature hand movements of cigarette smoking. It uses a three-stage analytical pipeline to transform raw motion data into motion features, and in turn into individual drags and instances of smoking. This pipeline runs on the smartwatch, and does not require a smartphone.Results: We validated the system in daily smokers (n=13) in laboratory and free-living conditions running on an Android LG G-Watch. In free-living conditions, over a 24 hour period, the system achieved precision of 86% and recall of 71%.Conclusions: StopWatch is a system for passive measurement of cigarette smoking that runs entirely on a commercially available smartwatch. It runs on an Android smartwatch and requires no smartphone so the cost is low. No bespoke sensing equipment is needed, and it uses a mass-market smartwatch, so participant burden is low. Performance is currently lower than other more expensive and complex systems, though adequate for some applications. Future developments will focus on enhancing performance, and validation on a range of smartwatches.

An emerging area of research in cognitive science is the utilization of networks to model the structure and processes of the mental lexicon in healthy and clinical populations, like aphasia. Previous research has focused on only one type of word similarity at a time (e.g., semantic relationships), even though words are multi-faceted. Here, we investigate lexical retrieval in a picture naming task from people with Broca’s and Wernicke’s aphasia and healthy controls by utilizing a multiplex network structure that accounts for the interplay between multiple semantic and phonological relationships among words in the mental lexicon. Extending upon previous work, we focused on the global network measure of closeness centrality which is known to capture spreading activation, an important process supporting lexical retrieval. We conducted a series of logistic regression models predicting the probability of correct picture naming. We tested whether multiplex closeness centrality was a better predictor of picture naming performance than single-layer closeness centralities, other network measures assessing local and meso-scale structure, psycholinguistic variables and group differences. We also examined production gaps, or the difference between the likelihood of producing a word with the lowest and highest closeness centralities. Our results indicated that multiplex closeness centrality was a significant predictor of picture naming performance, where words with high closeness centrality were more likely to be produced than words with low closeness centrality. Additionally, multiplex closeness centrality outperformed single-layer closeness centralities and other multiplex network measures, and remained a significant predictor after controlling for psycholinguistic variables and group differences. Furthermore, we found that the facilitative effect of closeness centrality was similar for both types of aphasia. Our results underline the importance of integrating multiple measures of word similarities in cognitive language networks for better understanding lexical retrieval in aphasia, with an eye towards future clinical applications.

The ongoing coronavirus pandemic is one of the biggest health crises of our time. In response to this global problem, various institutions around the world had soon issued evidence-based prevention guidelines. However, these guidelines, which were designed to slow the spread of COVID-19 and contribute to public well-being, are deliberately disregarded or ignored by some individuals. In the present study, we aimed to develop and test a multivariate model that could help us identify individual characteristics that make a person more/less likely to comply with COVID-19 prevention guidelines. A total of 617 participants took part in the online survey and answered several questions related to socio-demographic variables, political conservatism, religious orthodoxy, conspiracy ideation, intellectual curiosity, trust in science, COVID-19 risk perception and compliance with COVID-19 prevention guidelines. The results of structural equation modeling (SEM) show that COVID-19 risk perception and trust in science both independently predict compliance with COVID-19 prevention guidelines, while the remaining variables in the model (political conservatism, religious orthodoxy, conspiracy ideation and intellectual curiosity) do so via the mediating role of trust in science. The described model exhibited an acceptable fit (χ2(1611) = 2485.84, p < .001, CFI = .91, RMSEA = .032, SMR = .055). These findings thus provide empirical support for the proposed multivariate model and underline the importance of trust in science in explaining the different levels of compliance with COVID-19 prevention guidelines.

Despite the growing popularity of digital health interventions, limitations of traditional behavior change theories and a lack of theory integration hinder theory-driven behavior change applications. In this paper, we aim to review theories relevant to lifestyle behavior change from the broader psychology literature and then integrate these theories into a new theoretical framework called adaptive decision-making to address two specific problems. First, our framework represents lifestyle behaviors at two levels—one of individual daily decisions (action level) and one of larger behavioral episodes (reflection level)—to more closely match the temporal characteristics of lifestyle behaviors and their associated digital data. Second, the framework connects decision-making theories and learning theories to explain how behaviors and cognitive constructs dynamically influence each other, making it a suitable scaffold for building computational models. We map common digital intervention techniques onto the behavioral and cognitive processes in the framework and discuss possible contributions of the framework to both theory development and digital intervention design.

Understanding the mechanisms underlying the effects of behaviour change interventions is vital for accumulating valid scientific evidence, and useful to informing practice and policy-making across multiple domains. Traditional approaches to such evaluations have applied study designs and statistical models, which implicitly assume that change is linear, constant and caused by independent influences on behaviour (such as behaviour change techniques). This article illustrates limitations of these standard tools, and considers the benefits of adopting a complex adaptive systems approach to behaviour change research. It (1) outlines the complexity of behaviours and behaviour change interventions, (2) introduces readers to some key features of complex systems and how these relate to human behaviour change, and (3) provides suggestions for how researchers can better account for implications of complexity in analysing change mechanisms. We focus on three common features of complex systems (i.e., interconnectedness, non-ergodicity and non-linearity), and introduce Recurrence Analysis, a method for non-linear time series analysis which is able to quantify complex dynamics. The supplemental website provides exemplifying code and data for practical analysis applications. The complex adaptive systems approach can complement traditional investigations by opening up novel avenues for understanding and theorising about the dynamics of behaviour change.

The day-to-day variations of sleep and physical activity are associated with various health outcomes in adults, and previous studies suggested a bidirectional association between these behaviors. The daily associations between sleep and physical activity have been examined in observational or interventional contexts. The primary goal of the current systematic review and meta-analysis was to summarize existing evidence about daily associations between sleep and physical activity outcomes at inter- and intra-individual level in adults. A systematic search of records in eight databases from inception to July 2019 identified 33 peer-reviewed empirical publications that examined daily sleep-physical activity association in adults. The qualitative and quantitative analyses of included studies did not support a bidirectional daily association between sleep outcomes and physical activity. Multilevel meta-analyses showed that three sleep parameters were associated with physical activity the following day: sleep quality, sleep efficiency, and wake after sleep onset. However, the associations were small, and varied in terms of direction and level of variability (e.g., inter- or intra-individual). Daytime physical activity was associated with lower total sleep time the following night at an inter-person level with a small effect size. From a clinical perspective, care providers should monitor the effects of better sleep promotion on physical activity behaviors in their patients. Future studies should examine sleep and physical activity during a longer period and perform additional sophisticated statistical analyses. SYSTEMATIC REVIEW REGISTRATION: https://osf.io/w6uy5/.

Objectives Delivery of craving management tools via smartphone applications (apps) may improve smoking cessation rates, but research on such programmes remains limited, especially in real-world settings. This study evaluated the effectiveness of adding craving management tools in a cessation app (BupaQuit). Methods The study was a two-arm pragmatic pilot parallel randomised controlled trial, comparing a fully-automated BupaQuit app with craving management tool with a control app version without craving management tool. A total of 425 adult UK-based daily smokers were enrolled through open online recruitment (February 2015–March 2016), with no researcher involvement, and individually randomised within the app to the intervention ( n = 208) or control ( n = 217). The primary outcome was self-reported 14-day continuous abstinence assessed at 4-week follow-up. Secondary outcomes included 6-month point-prevalence and sustained abstinence, and app usage. The primary outcome was assessed with Fisher's exact test using intent to treat with those lost to follow-up counted as smoking. Participants were not reimbursed. Results Re-contact rates were 50.4% at 4 weeks and 40.2% at 6 months. There was no significant difference between intervention and control arms on the primary outcome (13.5% vs 15.7%; p = 0.58; relative risk = 0.86, 95% confidence interval = 0.54–1.36) or secondary cessation outcomes (6-month point prevalence: 14.4% vs 17.1%, p = 0.51; relative risk = 0.85, 95% confidence interval = 0.54–1.32; 6-month sustained: 11.1% vs 13.4%, p = 0.55; relative risk = 0.83, 95% confidence interval = 0.50–1.38). Bayes factors supported the null hypothesis ( B[0, 0, 1.0986] = 0.20). Usage was similar across the conditions (mean/median logins: 9.6/4 vs 10.5/5; time spent: 401.8/202 s vs 325.8/209 s). Conclusions The addition of craving management tools did not affect cessation, and the limited engagement with the app may have contributed to this.

Objective: Although basing conclusions on confidence intervals for effect size estimates is preferred over relying on null hypothesis significance testing alone, confidence intervals in psychology are typically very wide. One reason may be a lack of easily applicable methods for planning studies to achieve sufficiently tight confidence intervals. This paper presents tables and freely accessible tools to facilitate planning studies for the desired accuracy in parameter estimation for a common effect size (Cohen’s d). In addition, the importance of such accuracy is demonstrated using data from the Reproducibility Project: Psychology (RPP).Results: It is shown that the sampling distribution of Cohen’s d is very wide unless sample sizes are considerably larger than what is common in psychology studies. This means that effect size estimates can vary substantially from sample to sample, even with perfect replications. The RPP replications’ confidence intervals for Cohen’s d have widths of around 1 standard deviation (95% confidence interval from 1.05 to 1.39). Therefore, point estimates obtained in replications are likely to vary substantially from the estimates from earlier studies.Conclusion: The implication is that researchers in psychology -and funders- will have to get used to conducting considerably larger studies if they are to build a strong evidence base.

In the coronavirus “infodemic,” people are exposed to official recommendations but also to potentially dangerous pseudoscientific advice claimed to protect against COVID-19. We examined whether irrational beliefs predict adherence to COVID-19 guidelines as well as susceptibility to such misinformation. Irrational beliefs were indexed by belief in COVID-19 conspiracy theories, COVID-19 knowledge overestimation, type I error cognitive biases, and cognitive intuition. Participants (N = 407) reported (1) how often they followed guidelines (e.g., handwashing, physical distancing), (2) how often they engaged in pseudoscientific practices (e.g., consuming garlic, colloidal silver), and (3) their intention to receive a COVID-19 vaccine. Conspiratorial beliefs predicted all three outcomes in line with our expectations. Cognitive intuition and knowledge overestimation predicted lesser adherence to guidelines, while cognitive biases predicted greater adherence, but also greater use of pseudoscientific practices. Our results suggest an important relation between irrational beliefs and health behaviors, with conspiracy theories being the most detrimental. This is the peer‐reviewed version of the article: Teovanović, P.; Lukić, P.; Zupan, Z.; Lazić, A.; Ninković, M.; Žeželj, I. Irrational Beliefs Differentially Predict Adherence to Guidelines and Pseudoscientific Practices during the COVID-19 Pandemic. Applied Cognitive Psychology 2021, 35 (2), 486–496. [https://doi.org/10.1002/acp.3770]

BackgroundExcessive consumption of energy-dense food increases the risk of obesity, which in turn increases the risk of non-communicable diseases, including heart disease, type 2 diabetes and most non-smoking-related cancers. Health warning labels (HWLs) that communicate the adverse health consequences of excess energy consumption could reduce intake of energy-dense foods. The aim of the current study was to estimate the impact on selection of energy-dense snacks of (a) image-and-text HWLs (b) text-only HWLs and (c) calorie information. Methods A between-subjects, 3 (HWL: image-and-text, text-only, no label) x 2 (calorie information: present, absent), factorial experimental design. Participants (N=4,134) were randomised to view a selection of energy-dense and non-energy-dense snacks with one of five label types or no label. The primary outcome was the proportion of participants selecting an energy-dense snack in a hypothetical vending machine task.ResultsThe proportion of participants selecting an energy-dense snack was reduced in all label groups, relative to the no label group (image-and-text HWL: 37%; image-and-text HWL with calories: 38%; text-only HWL: 48%; text-only HWL with calories: 44%; calories only: 54%; no label: 59%). Participants were least likely to select an energy-dense snack in the image-and-text HWL group and most likely in the no label group (OR = 0.46, 95%CI = 0.40, 0.54, p < 0.001).Conclusions Health warning labels – particularly those including an image and text - have the potential to reduce selection of energy-dense snacks in an online setting. Their impact on selection and consumption in real-world settings awaits testing.Trial registration: The study protocol (https://osf.io/6n7h9, registered: April 1st 2019) and data analysis plan (https://osf.io/zvrs5) were pre-registered on the Open Science Framework. KeywordsHealth warning labels, pictorial labels, graphic warnings, snacks, food, choice architecture, energy-dense

The coronavirus outbreak manifested in Norway in March 2020. It was met with a combination of mandatory changes (closing of public institutions) and recommended changes (hygiene behavior, physical distancing). It has been emphasized that health-protective behavior such as increased hygiene or physical distancing are able to slow the spread of infections and flatten the curve. Drawing on previous health-psychological studies during the outbreak of various pandemics, we investigated psychological and demographic factors predicting the adoption and engagement in health-protective behavior and changes in such behavior, attitudes, and emotions over time. We recruited a non-representative sample of Norwegians (n = 8676) during a 15-day period (March 12–26 2020) at the beginning of the COVID-19 outbreak in Norway. Employing both traditional methods and exploratory machine learning, we replicated earlier findings that engagement in health-protective behavior is associated with specific demographic characteristics. Further, we observed that increased media exposure, perceiving measures as effective, and perceiving the outbreak as serious positively was related to engagement in health-protective behavior. We also found indications that hygiene and physical distancing behaviors were related to somewhat different psychological and demographic factors. Over the sampling period, reported engagement in physical distancing increased, while experienced concern or fear declined. Contrary to previous studies, we found no or only small positive predictions by confidence in authorities, knowledge about the outbreak, and perceived individual risk, while all of those variables were rather high. These findings provide guidance for health communications or interventions targeting the adoption of health-protective behaviors in order to diminish the spread of COVID-19.

Supplemental Digital Content is Available in the Text. We present a fully characterized face stimulus database focusing on expressions of pain, surpassing previous sets in terms of size, quality, diversity, and characterization., Introduction: Facial expressions of pain serve an essential social function by communicating suffering and soliciting aid. Accurate visual perception of painful expressions is critical because the misperception of pain signals can have serious clinical and social consequences. Therefore, it is essential that researchers have access to high-quality, diverse databases of painful expressions to better understand accuracy and bias in pain perception. Objectives: This article describes the development of a large-scale face stimulus database focusing on expressions of pain. Methods: We collected and normed a database of images of models posing painful facial expressions. We also characterized these stimuli in terms of the presence of a series of pain-relevant facial action units. In addition to our primary database of posed expressions, we provide a separate database of computer-rendered expressions of pain that may be applied to any neutral face photograph. Results: The resulting database comprises 229 unique (and now publicly available) painful expressions. To the best of our knowledge, there are no existing databases of this size, quality, or diversity in terms of race, gender, and expression intensity. We provide evidence for the reliability of expressions and evaluations of pain within these stimuli, as well as a full characterization of this set along dimensions relevant to pain such as perceived status, strength, and dominance. Moreover, our second database complements the primary set in terms of experimental control and precision. Conclusion: These stimuli will facilitate reproducible research in both experimental and clinical domains into the mechanisms supporting accuracy and bias in pain perception and care.

In this study, we investigated the perception of risk and the worries about COVID-19 infection in both healthcare workers and general population in Italy. We studied the difference in risk perception in these two groups, and how this related to demographic variables and psychological factors such as stress, anxiety, and death anxiety. To this aim, we administered an online questionnaire about COVID-19 together with other questionnaires assessing the psychological condition of participants. First, we found that the exposition to infection risk, due to living area or job, increased the perceived stress and anxiety (i.e. medical staff in North Italy was more stressed and anxious respect to both medical- and non-medical participants from Center and South Italy). Then, we conducted hierarchical logistic regression models on our data to assess the response odds ratio relatively to each predictor on each dependent variable. We found that health workers reported higher risk perception, level of worry, and knowledge as related to COVID-19 infection compared to general population. Also psychological state, gender, and living area were important predictors of these factors. Instead, judgments about behaviors and containment rules were more linked to demographics, such as gender and alcohol consumption. We discussed these results in the light of risk factors for psychological distress and possible interventions to meet the psychological needs of healthcare workers.

Intervention effectiveness does not only depend on fidelity of intervention delivery, but also the enactment, or use, of behavior change techniques (BCTs) by the participants. For example, it is not sufficient that intervention provider prompts an intervention participant to self-monitor their physical activity, but crucially, the participant enacts self-monitoring. Theoretical and conceptual work integrating various strands of research into ‘what a person can do for oneself’ to change behavior is needed. This paper argues how this would aid in designing for, assessing, and promoting the use individuals’ self-management techniques, and ultimately, our understanding of sustained behavior change. The recently published, integrative compendium of self-enactable techniques to change and self-manage motivation and behavior can act as a useful starting point for this work. An increased focus on the enactment of BCTs would help clarify intervention processes, help explain trial outcomes, and potentially enhance intervention effectiveness.

Flooding can have a major impact on people's safety and livelihood. Understanding people's flood-related behaviours may assist in the development of more effective strategies aimed at lessening the impact of floods including mortality and morbidity. This systematic review examined peer-reviewed literature published from January-1989 to April-2019 on human behaviour in and around floodwater to identify behaviour patterns as well as protective and risk factors. We extracted three main themes from a thematic analysis of included studies (N = 54): activities and risk-taking behaviours (n = 24); loss reduction, knowledge, and warnings (n = 37); and diet and hygiene (n = 4). This review had limitations which prevented definitive conclusions being made. What does seem apparent is the limited knowledge of the social psychological mechanisms that guide behavioural responses in a flood event. Further exploration of methods to improve preparedness, increase the likelihood of evacuation, and reduce ‘risky’ behaviour during floods is needed. Future studies should prioritise addressing these gaps to enhance the evidence-base for reducing the impact of floods including flood-related mortality and morbidity.

Aim: Media as a source of information can shape public opinion toward COVID-19 response. Identifying how and where people seek information during COVID-19 outbreak is vital to convey the most effective message about managing the COVID-19 crisis. The purpose of this study was to determine the source of information and investigate the role of various demographic factors - age, gender, educational attainment, and perceived economic level – on source of information. Subject and Methods: An online survey (n = 4,624) was conducted on the Turkish public during early stages of the COVID-19. Results: The results showed that internet journalism and social media were the most preferable source of information. Higher age, educational attainment, and economic level were related to higher levels of seeking information from TV, newspaper, internet journalism, and informative meetings. Females obtained information more from their friends and family, and social media than males. High school graduates or below watched more TV and obtained less information from internet journalism, while university graduates sought information from their families and friends, and that postgraduates attended informative meeting and read newspapers. People with medium and high economic status respectively watched more TV and read more newspapers while people with low socioeconomic status attended less in informative meetings. Conclusion: In sum, this study provides evidence that a source of information might be influenced by demographic factors. Researchers and policymakers can use a source of information to develop crisis-response strategies by considering variations in the demographic factors.

Background: Many people aim to eat healthily. Yet, affluent food environments encourage consumption of energy dense and nutrient-poor foods, making it difficult to accomplish individual goals such as maintaining a healthy diet and weight. Moreover, goal-congruent eating might be influenced by affects, stress and intense food cravings and might also impinge on these in turn. Directionality and interrelations of these variables are currently unclear, which impedes targeted intervention. Psychological network models might be helpful as they allow to identify unique associations between numerous variables as well as their directionality when based on longitudinal time-series data. Methods: Across 14 days, 84 participants reported their momentary states as well as eating episodes four times a day. We used multi-level vector autoregressive network models based on ecological momentary assessment data of momentary affects, perceived stress and stress coping as well as goal-congruent eating behaviour. Results: Neither of the momentary measures of stress (experience of stress or stress coping), momentary affects or cravings uniquely predicted goal-congruent eating. Yet, temporal effects indicated that higher anticipated stress coping predicted subsequent goal-congruent eating. Thus, the more confident participants were in their coping with upcoming challenges, the more they ate in line with their goals. Conclusion: Most eating behaviour interventions focus on hunger and craving alongside negative and positive affect, thereby overlooking additional important variables like stress coping. Furthermore, self-regulation of eating behaviours seems to be represented by how much someone perceives a particular eating episode as matching their individual eating goal. To conclude, stress coping might be a novel intervention target for eating related Just-In-Time Adaptive Interventions in the context of intensive longitudinal assessment.

Objective: Social distancing has been one of the primary interventions used to slow the spread of COVID-19. State-wide stay-at-home orders received a large degree of attention as a public health intervention to increase social distancing, but relatively little peer-reviewed research has examined the extent to which stay-at-home orders affected people’s behavior. Method: This study used GPS-derived movement from 2,858 counties in the United States from March 1 to May 7, 2020 to test the degree to which changes in state-level stay-at-home orders were associated with movement outside the home. Results: From the first week of March to the first week of April, people in counties within states that enacted stay-at-home orders decreased their movement significantly more than people in counties within states that did not enact state-level stay-at-home orders. From the first week of April to the first week of May, people in counties within states that ended their stay-at-home orders increased their movement significantly more than people in counties within states whose stay-at-home orders remained in place. The magnitude of change in movement associated with state-level stay-at-home orders was many times smaller than the total change in movement across all counties over the same periods of time in both cases. Conclusions: Stay-at-home orders are likely insufficient to reduce people’s movement outside the home without additional public health actions. Existing research on behavior change would be useful to determine what additional interventions could support social distancing behaviors during the COVID-19 pandemic if becomes necessary to reduce movement in the future.

The current study examined anxiety and distress among members of the first community to be quarantined in the United States due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition to being historically significant, the current sample was unusual in that those quarantined were all members of a Modern Orthodox Jewish community and were connected via religious institutions at which exposure may have occurred. We sought to explore the community and religious factors unique to this sample, as they relate to the psychological and public health impact of quarantine. Community organizations were trusted more than any other source of COVID 19-related information, including federal, state, and other government agencies, including the CDC, WHO and media news sources. This was supported qualitatively with open-ended responses in which participants described the range of supports organized by community organizations. These included tangible needs (i.e. food delivery), social support, virtual religious services, and dissemination of COVID-19 related information. The overall levels of distress and anxiety were elevated and directly associated with what was reported to be largely inadequate and inconsistent health related information received from local departments of health. In addition, the majority of participants felt that perception of or concern about future stigma related to a COVID-19 diagnosis or association of COVID-19 with the Jewish community was high and also significantly predicted distress and anxiety. The current study demonstrates the ways in which religious institutions can play a vital role in promoting the well-being of their constituents. During this unprecedented pandemic, public health authorities have an opportunity to form partnerships with religious institutions in the common interests of promoting health, relaying accurate information and supporting the psychosocial needs of community members, as well as protecting communities against stigma and discrimination.

The current study presents a Bayesian re-analysis of a meta-analysis publisehd by Zheng and colleagues (2016) in the British Journal of Sports Medicine. The current findings generally comport with those of Zheng and colleagues, suggesting a modest effect, especially on global cognition.

Native-born Latinx Americans are at greater risk for alcohol use and misuse than their foreign-born peers (i.e., the alcohol immigrant paradox). To understand this phenomenon, we conducted a qualitative study with Mexican American adults in the community to explore their perspectives on reasons that may explain the alcohol immigrant paradox. Community adults from the Southwest United States were recruited to participate in the present focus group study (N = 32, Mage = 32.8, 63.0% women). Participants shared their observations, beliefs, and lived experiences regarding alcohol use and misuse during in-person semi-structured interviews. Using a combination of grounded theory and consensual qualitative research approaches, we identified three key themes that illuminated Mexican Americans’ perspectives regarding factors that may underlie the immigrant paradox in alcohol involvement: (1) exposure to risks in the U.S., (2) loss of Mexican values that are protective against alcohol misuse, and (3) deterrents specific to immigrants. Participants’ perceptions for reasons that explain nativity differences in alcohol use were consistent with erosion theory. To the effect of considering negative drinking-related social consequences, participants indicated that this nativity difference also may explain the immigrant paradox in alcohol involvement. This type of immigrant-specific deterrents to engaging in (hazardous) drinking is not currently represented in the literature. New knowledge gleaned from Mexican Americans’ perspectives can inform future research that examines the possible mechanisms and moderating conditions that underlie the alcohol immigrant paradox.

Objective Up to 50% of women prescribed tamoxifen do not take it as prescribed for the full duration, which increases risk of recurrence and mortality. The current paper describes the development of a self-management intervention aiming to improve adherence in breast cancer survivors taking tamoxifen. Methods The intervention was developed following an Intervention Mapping approach. The content of the intervention was determined by theories of health behaviour and empirical evidence. Development was an iterative process involving input from expert researchers, clinicians and patient representatives. Results The intervention was designed to improve both intentional and unintentional non-adherence. Key features included modifying unhelpful illness and treatment beliefs, improving confidence for coping with side effects and developing strategies for remembering to take tamoxifen. Conclusion Intervention Mapping proved a useful tool for developing an intervention which is grounded in theory and empirical evidence. The intervention has the potential to improve adherence in breast cancer survivors but needs to be trialled before the effectiveness of the intervention can be determined.

In absence of effective pharmaceutical treatments, the individual's compliance with a series of behavioral recommendations provided by the public health authorities play a critical role in the control and prevention of SARS-CoV2 infection. However, we still do not know much about the rate and determinants of adoption of the recommended health behaviors. This paper examines the compliance with the main behavioral recommendations, and compares sociocultural, psychosocial, and social cognitive explanations for its variation in the French population. Based on the current literature, these 3 categories of factors were identified as potential determinants of individual differences in the health preventive behaviors. The data used for these analyses are drawn from 2 cross-sectional studies (N = 2,000 in survey 1 and 2,003 in survey 2) conducted after the lockdown and before the peak of the COVID-19 epidemic in France. The participants were drawn from a larger internet consumer panel where recruitment was stratified to generate a socio-demographically representative sample of the French adult population. Overall, the results show a very high rate of compliance with the behavioral recommendations among the participants. A hierarchical regression analysis was then performed to assess the potential explanatory power of these approaches in complying with these recommendations by successively entering sociocultural factors, psychosocial factors, social cognitive factors in the model. Only the inclusion of the cognitive variables substantially increased the explained variance of the self-reported adoption of preventive behaviors (R2 change = 23% in survey 1 and 2), providing better support for the social cognitive than the sociocultural and psychosocial explanations.

Young adults’ attitudes toward COVID-19 are vital for their adherence to control measures taken by the government to break the chain of contamination. This study aims to measure differences in attitudes to this pandemic across various demographic groups of young adults living inside and outside of Dhaka. The predictors of optimistic attitudes toward COVID-19 also have been investigated. The study is cross-sectional in nature using data from the members of Secondary and Intermediate Level Students’ Welfare Association (SILSWA). Participants (n = 700) self-reported their attitudes toward controlling and defeating the pandemic. ANOVA and a two-sample t-test were utilized to find the differences in the mean attitude across demographic groups. Predictors of attitudes toward COVID-19 were searched using multivariate logistic regression. Psychologically distressed participants showed more negative attitudes toward winning over COVID-19 than participants with good mental health both inside and outside of Dhaka. Participants inhabiting in Dhaka demonstrated less optimism for controlling and beating the pandemic. Less psychological distress [AOR=0.51; 95 per cent CI: 0.35, 0.76; p=0.001] found to be the significant predictors of an optimistic attitude of young adults. Dissemination of précised and accurate information regarding COVID-19 coupled with mental health intervention based on necessity can improve the attitudes of young adults.

Successful delivery of a COVID-19 vaccine may be undermined if populations are not receptive to inoculation as a primary public health strategy for combatting the virus. We gathered nationally representative data from the general adult populations of Ireland (N=1,041) and the United Kingdom (UK; N=2,025) to determine rates of hesitancy and resistance to a future COVID-19 vaccine and to identify and psychologically profile vaccine hesitant/resistant individuals in a way that might aid future public health messaging. Vaccine hesitancy was evident for 26% and 25% of Irish and UK samples, respectively, while vaccine resistance was evident for 9% and 6%, respectively. Vaccine hesitant/resistant respondents in Ireland and the UK differed in relation to a number of sociodemographic, political, and health-related variables, but were similar across a broad array of psychological constructs. In both populations, those who were resistant to a COVID-19 vaccine were less likely to obtain information about the pandemic from traditional and authoritative sources and had similar levels of mistrust in these sources. The current findings may help public health officials to more effectively target vaccine hesitant and resistant individuals, develop effective communication strategies that take into account their specific psychological dispositions, and leverage dissemination channels that can successfully reach these individuals.

OBJECTIVE: First-time-in-college (FTIC) students, or college freshmen, are at a heightened risk of experiencing alcohol-related consequences, as these individuals are relatively inexperienced with alcohol and have tremendous pressure to assimilate to new norms. The current study investigates the use of a Deviance Regulation Theory (DRT) intervention, presented in a web-based format, to increase the use of Protective Behavioral Strategies (PBS) among FTIC students. METHOD: FTIC students (n = 157) completed weekly surveys for six weeks, which examined alcohol use and consequences, PBS use, and perceived PBS norms. Participants were randomly assigned one of three conditions: 1) a positive-framed message about individuals who do use PBS, 2) a negative-framed message about individuals who do not use PBS, or 3) a control group that received no messaging. RESULTS: Results suggest the negative-framed message increases PBS use across time for individuals high PBS norms, consistent with DRT. The positive-frame message did not change PBS use across time. However, the positive message was associated with more PBS use at the weekly-level when an individual had low PBS norms, consistent with DRT. Results also suggest PBS norms grew across time. CONCLUSIONS: These results provide initial support for the use of a DRT prevention program for FTIC students.

Many novel diseases are of zoonotic origin, likely including COVID-19. Describing diseases as originating from diverse exotic animals can increase risk perceptions and protective avoidance behaviors, but may also activate stereotypes, increasing discriminatory behaviors and disease stigma. Data from the first several weeks of the US COVID-19 pandemic tested how communications about zoonotic disease origins affect people’s risk perceptions, health behaviors, and stigma. Participants (N = 677) who read news articles describing exotic animals (e.g., snakes) as sources of COVID-19 viewed the virus as riskier and reported stronger intentions to engage in preventative behaviors (e.g., handwashing), relative to those who read about a familiar source (pigs). Reading exotic origin descriptions was associated with stronger intentions to avoid Asian individuals and animal products, both of which contributed to greater stigma for COVID-19. Results have implications for public health communicators who aim to increase risk perceptions without activating stigma or prejudice.

There is consistent evidence that the amount of food people consume can be influenced by external factors, such as food portion size or the amount of food others are eating. However research studies to date have suggested that people are generally unaware of the influence that these external factors have on food intake. In the present research we directly tested whether consumers are aware of how external factors can affect their food intake. In Study 1 we re-analysed data from a study in which an effect of portion size on food intake was observed and post-consumption, participants were asked whether they believed portion size had influenced their food intake. In Study 2 participants were asked to indicate whether several different external factors known to increase food intake would be likely to increase, decrease or have no effect on how much they would eat in hypothetical scenarios. In Study 1, a large proportion of participants (56%) believed that their food intake was influenced by portion size. In Study 2, a large proportion of participants accurately identified that external factors known to affect eating behaviour would be likely to increase their food intake: portion size (73%), social influence (40%), food variety (75%), and distraction (59%). Together these results suggest that consumers show awareness of the influence that external factors have on their food intake.

Objectives. To identify targetable psychosocial predictors of adherence to physical distancing during the COVID-19 pandemic using theories of health behaviour change. Methods. Using a cross-sectional sample (N = 1003) representative of the population in terms of age, gender, and urbanicity in Quebec, Canada, we examined social, cognitive, and emotional predictors of adherence to physical distancing. Results. Individuals were more likely to report adhering to physical distancing if they believed it is their civic duty to adhere (injunctive personal norms), that physical distancing will benefit others and the broader crisis (perceived benefits for others), and if they perceive that other people are following these directives (descriptive social norms). In contrast, perceived personal risk and emotional factors were not significantly related to physical distancing. Moderation analyses revealed unique predictors depending on health risk status, essential workers status, and urbanicity.Conclusions. These results highlight the importance of health beliefs and perceived social norms in shaping responses to physical distancing directives, and offer insights into ways to frame public health communications for different segments of the population.

During the outbreak of a pandemic like COVID-19 it is reasonable to expect a link between the amount of news people consume and how much they worry about their health and economic situation. In this study I exploit Google searches for "symptoms", "unemployment" and "news" as a proxy for how much people are worried about their health and economic situation and the amount of news they consume, respectively. I then use an integrable nonautonomous Lotka-Volterra model to study the interactions among these searches in three U.S. States (Mississippi, Nevada and Utah), the District of Columbia and in the U.S. as a whole. I find that the results are very similar in all areas analyzed, and for different specifications of the model. Prior to the pandemic outbreak the interactions among health worry, economic worry and news consumption are very weak. However, from around the beginning of the pandemic these interactions intensify greatly, and unemployment predates searches for news and for symptoms. Conversely, news and symptoms proceed in mutualism. I carry out the analysis with and without mediators like porn and alcoholic drink to ensure that the results remain robust.

Background: Research activities that promote replication and transparency are crucial in the area of smoking cessation, where tobacco and pharmaceutical companies may have vested interests in the findings of health promotion research. The aim of this study is to assess the transparency and reproducibility of smoking cessation behaviour change interventions. Methods: 100 randomised controlled trial behaviour change intervention papers published 2018-2019 from the Cochrane Tobacco Group Specialised Register of controlled trials. Inclusion criteria were that the studies must be full reports of Randomised Controlled Trials, eligible for use in the parallel Human Behaviour-Change Project. All papers were independently coded by two researchers, with inter-rater reliability of coding calculated using Krippendorff’s alpha. Results: 71% of identified papers were publicly available, with 73% pre-registered in a trial registry. However, sharing of research resources facilitating replication was lower, with 13% providing accessible materials, 7% accessible data and 1% accessible analysis scripts. No papers were described as replication studies. 94% of papers provided a funding source statement, with 80% of all studies being exclusively funded by public organisations. 88% of papers provided a conflict of interest statement, with 27% of all studies reporting conflicts of interest involving pharmaceutical companies, 17% involving private companies and 3% involving tobacco companies. Conclusion: Smoking cessation intervention evaluation reports followed good practices in terms of pre-registration and public availability of finished papers. However, the provision of open data, materials and analysis was extremely uncommon and none were claimed to be replications. Transparency was relatively high, with funding sources and conflicts of interest commonly reported and low levels of reported involvement from private and tobacco companies. Future research can compare this baseline assessment of reproducibility and transparency in the field of smoking cessation behaviour change interventions to assess changes.

Social distancing is currently the single most effective method to reduce the spread of COVID-19. As such, researchers across varying fields are rushing to identify variables that predict social distancing and which interventions can heighten social distancing. Yet, much of this research relies on self-report measures (in part because of social distancing guidelines themselves). In two studies we examine whether self-reported social distancing overlaps with real-world behavior. In Study 1, individuals’ self-reported social distancing predicted decreased movement as quantified by participants’ average daily step-counts (assessed via smartphone pedometers). For every increase of one in self-reported social distancing (z-scored), individuals’ daily steps decreased by approximately 21% (Exp(B) ~ .79). In Study 2, the degree of self-reported social distancing in different U.S. States predicted the degree to which people in those States reduced their overall movement and travel to non-essential retail as assessed by ~17 million smart-phone GPS coordinates (.34 < rs < .57). Collectively, our results indicate that self-report measures of social distancing track actual behavior both at the individual and at the group level.

Objective: The COVID-19 pandemic has powerfully shaped people’s lives. The current work investigated the emotional and behavioral reactions people experience in response to COVID-19 through their internet searches. We hypothesized that when the prevalence rates of COVID-19 increase, people would experience more fear, which in turn would predict greater rates of protective behaviors, seeking health-related knowledge, and panic buying. Methods: Prevalence rates of COVID-19 in the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, and Australia, were used as predictors. Fear-related emotions, protective behaviors, seeking health-related knowledge, and panic buying were indicated by internet search volumes in Google Trends. Cross-temporal analyses were conducted. Results: We found that increased prevalence rates of COVID-19 were associated with more searches for protective behaviors, health knowledge, and panic buying. This pattern was consistent across four countries, the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, and Australia. Fear-related emotions explained the associations between COVID-19 and the content of their information searches. Conclusion: Findings suggest that exposure to prevalence rates of COVID-19 and fear-related emotions may motivate people to search for relevant health-related information so as to protect themselves from the pandemic.

This study encompasses the knowledge of pakistani adult population about the symptoms and prevention of COVID-19 symptoms. The findings revealed that overall, 174 (87%) participants knew about COVID-19; 170 (85 %) believed that the disease is dangerous for elderly or already sick people, and 134(67%) thought that they know about the symptoms 144 (97 %) male and 63 (33 %) were female were aware about the common symptoms of COVID-19 such as fever, cough and tiredness. The current study concluded that there is still a need to improve the awareness of people regarding the symptoms and seriousness of the disease so that people take preventive measure to protect themselves and rapid transmission of the disease could be controlled.

BACKGROUND Digital contact tracing apps have been proposed as a method of controlling the spread of Covid-19. The effectiveness of this tool depends largely on adequate levels of uptake (e.g. whether the user downloads and registers on the application) and engagement (e.g. the extent of usage of the application or its components over time). It has been estimated that approximately 60% of the population would need to use the NHSX application in order for it to be effective in reducing the spread of COVID-19. It is therefore crucial that we understand the level of, and factors influencing, uptake and engagement with digital tracing applications in order to put appropriate measures in place to mitigate those issues. AIMS 1. To quantify the current data on COVID-19 digital contact tracing applications a. Uptake and engagement of COVID-19 digital contact tracing applications b. Examine whether uptake differs between countries c. Identify any predictors or correlates of uptake and engagement 2. To conduct two scoping reviews to identify key barriers and facilitators influencing engagement and uptake of a. COVID-19 digital contact tracing applications b. Health behaviour change applications, including government approved applications, from academic literature and behaviour change guidelines CONCLUSIONS • There is no evidence on the level of uptake and engagement with COVID-19 digital contact tracing applications. • There is a dearth of evidence regarding the barriers and facilitators to uptake and engagement with COVID-19 digital contact tracing applications. • The health behaviour change literature suggests a number of barriers and facilitators associated with uptake and engagement with applications.

This study examined the psychological distress experience of Nigerians amid COVID-19 pandemic. From March 20, 2020 to April 12, 2020, this descriptive survey used a snowballing sampling technique to select 502-Nigerian with an online semi-structured questionnaire containing Impact of Event Scale-Revised, GAD-7, Patient Health Questionnaire and Insomnia Severity Index. Gender had insignificant difference in the level of insomnia (χ2=04.93; df=3; p>0.05), however, 20.8% of males had sub-threshold of insomnia, 8.2% experienced moderate insomnia and 5.9% had severe insomnia; 32% females reported sub-threshold of insomnia, 12.4% had moderate insomnia while, 3.6% had severe insomnia. Also, gender had insignificant difference in the measures of depression (χ2=01.94; df=4; p>0.05); 55.4% males reported minimal depression, 22.3% had mild depression, 11.9% had moderate depression; 6.7% to 3.7% males had moderately to severe depression while, 49.3% of the females had minimal depression, 26.7% reported mild depression, 14.29% had moderate depression, 4.4% to 5.3% had moderately to severe depressive symptoms. Posttraumatic Stress Symptoms (PTSS) has no gender difference among respondents (χ2=02.51; df =3; p>0.05); 23% of males reported partial PTSS, 17.5% presented clinical PTSS, and 21.6% males had severe PTSS; while 29.3% of females had severe PTSS, 24% reported partial PTSS and 18.7% had clinical PTSS. Respondents reported insignificant gender difference on anxiety (χ2=0.08; df=1; p>0.05), while 51% reported moderate anxiety and 49% exhibited severe anxiety during COVID-19 pandemic in Nigeria. Findings revealed that Nigerians experienced psychological distress during COVID-19 pandemic. Government and stakeholders in health sectors should provide psychological health services for the residents in Nigeria. Funding: This research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors. Declaration of Interest: We declare no conflict of interest Ethical Approval: Ethical review and approval was not obtained for the study due to the prevailing COVID-19 pandemic lockdown in Nigeria. Written informed consent to participate in the study was, however, provided by the participants via completion of the questionnaire/survey. Please find the attached informed consent documentation form used in the study.

Economically disadvantaged children are more likely to experience poor cognitive, health, and behavioural outcomes than other children. The mechanisms for these associations are not fully understood, hindering policy initiatives aimed at closing the gaps. One hypothesis is that children experiencing financial hardship allocate their time differently. Financial hard-ship may cause a substitution away from costly activities toward more affordable, yet potentially less enriching activities, such as watching TV. Moreover, financial hardship is cognitively demanding on parents, which may affect parenting practices and the amount of active time they can spend with their children. In this study, we use seven waves of longitudinal time use diary data on children aged 0–15 to explore how children’s time use changes when their family experiences financial hardship or deprivation. Focusing on four key child health and development time inputs––screen time, physical activity, sleep, and reading––we find that financial hardship is associated with significantly more screen time, particularly passive screen time and screen time at excessive levels. We also find that children’s sleep time is reduced during times of severe hardship. Potential mechanisms for these associations are explored.

SARS-CoV-2 is a novel coronavirus that results in a disease known as COVID-19. Given that no vaccine is currently available, or likely to be available in the near term, slowing the spread of the virus relies on radical behaviour change at a mass scale. Understanding the factors associated with behaviour change and support for different policy measures is therefore critical. Here, we present data collected in two waves in the UK and the USA (March 12th and 24th) exploring (i) subjective concern about the health impacts of COVID-19 for self, for family and for society; (ii) the factors associated with compliance with several preventive behavioural measures; and (iii) support for policy measures to reduce the spread of the virus. Concern about the societal impacts of COVID-19 varied along partisan lines, with political conservatives being relatively less concerned than political liberals about the impacts for society. People who reported being more concerned also reported adopting more preventive behaviours and supported a greater number of policies. Concern for self and family was a stronger predictor than societal concern for behaviour change and policy support, and most strongly predicted the increase in both these measures from March 12th to 24th. Political conservatives in both countries supported fewer policies, an effect that could be partially mediated by the negative effect of political conservatism on societal concern. These findings suggest concern for self and family outweighs concern for society in motivating behaviour change needed to curb the spread of COVID-19, and that concern for society varies along political lines.

Rationale The present scoping review seeks to gain insight into what is known regarding the transition of treatment responsibility, specifically for individuals with haemophilia. A focus will be placed on the barriers and facilitators experienced towards the treatment transition process for families and young people engaged in prophylaxis therapy. A scoping review affords an opportunity to map out and provide an overview of the emerging literature given the newly emerging enquiry into treatment transition in haemophilia.Objective The current scoping review will aim to address the following research question: “What barriers and facilitators are experienced by young people, caregivers and healthcare professionals towards treatment transition in haemophilia?”The subsequent objectives were identified to address the research question: • To provide a detailed representation of the range of available literature for barriers and facilitators experienced by the array of actors involved, towards treatment transition and successful self-management in haemophilia. • To visually map the existing evidence (in diagrammatic form) in alignment with the objective of the review.• To consider clear recommendations for future directions of research based on the identified knowledge gaps. Recommendations will ultimately seek to support optimal transition from family-orientated to self-management, and paediatric to adult services. Method: Articles published in peer-reviewed journals are eligible for inclusion. Both primary research studies and secondary data analysis will be accepted. No restrictions are placed upon study design. Articles which explored treatment transition independently or alongside other related concepts such as quality of life, self-care and treatment adherence will be eligible. The current review aims to include articles sampling children and/or adults with haemophilia, their caregivers and/or healthcare professionals involved in haemophilia care. Articles sampling individuals living with haemophilia can have a diagnosis of haemophilia A or B. Articles can define “treatment” as regular prophylaxis therapy or on-demand administration following a bleeding episode. Information Sources The following four databases will be searched: •Medline•Scopus•PsycINFO •CINAHLAt this stage, no date or language restrictions have been implemented in the electronic searches for studies to allow an accurate estimate of the variety of literature available. Additionally, no exclusions regarding the publication status have been applied. Data charting aims to include: • Study aim•Healthcare professional group •Barriers to treatment transition•Facilitators to treatment transition•Future actions for supporting treatment transition

Alcohol use is a considerable public health concern which can lead to negative health and social consequences. Despite wide knowledge and acceptance of these consequences many individuals continue to drink above lower risk guidelines. A lack of regret for these consequences may partially explain this. In two studies (one cross-sectional online and one ecological momentary assessment study) we examined the prevalence of regrettable experiences; from common regrets (e.g. hangover), and risky behaviours (e.g. drug taking) to serious regrets (e.g. driving under the influence), over a two-week period. We also examined whether alcohol consumption predicted the quantity of different regrets, but also whether the quantity of regrettable experiences predicted future intentions to consume alcohol. Prevalence of regrettable experiences was high (e.g. 79.0% of individuals in study 1 and 66.9% of individuals in study two experienced a hangover). Prevalence was higher for common regrets compared to risky behaviours and serious regrets. In study one, units of alcohol consumed over the previous fortnight predicted the number of different regrettable experiences over the same period. In study two, units consumed on a day-to-day basis predicted the number of regrets on that same basis. Neither study demonstrated evidence for the predictive utility of regrets for intentions to consume alcohol in the future. These findings suggest a high prevalence of regrettable experiences, that are predicted by increased levels of alcohol consumption. However, there was little evidence that increased number of experiences predicted future drinking intentions. Regrettable experiences are prevalent following consumption, however a focus on these regrets to deter future alcohol consumption may not be an effective psychological intervention.

Impulsive traits, broadly construed, are thought to play a role in under- or over-weight. For example, the behavioural economic factor of delay discounting, which determines the relative value between sooner and later rewards, is thought to be predictive of body composition. However, this evidence is mixed and recently a case against such a connection was made (Veillard & Vincent, 2020). Two studies (N = 384 and 401) explored the potential relationships between discounting for money, weight loss, and food rewards to body mass index or waist-to-height ratio measures. Three forms of models were considered: that discounting and body composition are correlated, that there is a main effect of discounting once the role of age upon body composition is accounted for, or that discounting moderates the rate of weight gain over time. A consistent lack of evidence was found for any connection between discounting (of multiple commodities) and body composition (measured in 2 ways). While some measure of impulsivity may well relate to body composition, our findings suggest that temporal discounting specifically may not be predictive of body composition.

BACKGROUND: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has spread rapidly across the globe. Based on recommendations from health organizations, many individuals have made significant changes to their daily lives to prevent the spread of the disease. OBJECTIVE/METHOD: This study sought to identify demographic and psychosocial factors associated with concern about COVID-19 and engagement in preventative health behaviors suggested to reduce the transmission of COVID-19 (social distancing, handwashing, cleaning/disinfecting, avoiding touching face, and wearing facemasks). From March 20 to 23, 2020, a US national sample (N=1019) completed an online survey. RESULTS: Recent illness, religiosity, germ aversion, and pathogen disgust sensitivity were the most consistent predictors of COVID-19 concern and preventative health behaviors. CONCLUSION: Findings have implications for the development of interventions intended to increase preventative health behaviors.

Food Go/No-Go training aims to alter implicit food biases by creating associations between perceiving unhealthy foods and withholding a dominant response. Asking participants to repeatedly inhibit an approach impulse to unhealthy foods can decrease unhealthy food intake in laboratory settings. However, less is known about the engagement with, and effects of, repeated training on mobile devices in real-world settings. This study investigated how the number of completed app-based food Go/No-Go training blocks related to changes in food intake (Food Frequency Questionnaire; FFQ) for different healthy and unhealthy food categories from baseline to one-month follow-up. In total, 1234 participants (m(BMI)=29kg/m2, m(age)=43years, 69% female) downloaded the FoodT app and completed food-Go/No-Go training at their own discretion (mean number of completed sessions = 10.7). In pre-registered analyses, random-intercept linear models predicting intake of different foods while controlling for baseline consumption, BMI, age, gender, smoking, and dieting status revealed a small, significant effect of the number of training blocks on reducing unhealthy food intake (β=-0.004, CI95=[-0.006; -0.002]) and increasing healthy food intake (β =0.003, CI95=[0; 0.005]). These relationships varied by food category from β =-0.059, CI95=[-0.094; -0.025] for pizza to β =0.002, CI95=[-0.001; 0.005] for fruit, indicating different levels of training efficiency. Exploratory analyses suggest that spacing out training leads to larger effects. Taken together, these results imply that, depending on food category, completing from 8 to 24, four-minute sessions of Go/No-Go training, leads to reductions of 1-point on the FFQ (e.g., from 2 or 3 times a day to once a day) and that more training yields larger changes in food intake. Future experimental designs may be required to further investigate ideal dosage and usage patterns for reducing unhealthy food intake.

Purpose: This study assesses distress/anxiety and predictors of distress/anxiety associated with quarantine due to COVID-19 exposure among the first quarantined community in the US, and to identify potential areas of intervention.Design: An anonymous survey was distributed via community organization distribution lists to approximately 1250 constituents under a quarantine directive.Setting: Members of the first community in the NYC area under quarantine orders due to the 2020 COVID-19 outbreak.Intervention: We sought to uncover the most salient predictors of distress/anxiety in order to recommend specific areas for effective intervention to reduce distressMeasures: We measured distress by using the Subjective Units of Distress Scale and anxiety with the Beck Anxiety Inventory. A variety of psychosocial predictors relevant to the current crisis were explored. Results: 303 individuals responded within 48 hours of survey distribution. Mean levels of distress in the sample were heightened and sustained, with 69% reporting moderate to severe distress. Modifiable behavioral factors, specifically with regard to media exposure and sleep quality, predicted the largest percentage of variance in the sample (41.9%, F (3, 264) = 40.7, R = 0.65, p < .001).Conclusion: Distress levels were markedly elevated among those in quarantine. The highest percentage of distress/anxiety variance was accounted for by modifiable factors amenable to behavioral and psychological interventions, including promoting healthy sleep and curtailing media use. Access to professional mental health care as well as behavioral interventions should be prioritized.

The COVID-19 Psychological Research Consortium (C19PRC) Study aims to assess and monitor the psychological and social impact of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic in the general population, using longitudinal surveys and mixed-methods studies in multiple countries. The first strand of the study, an internet-based panel survey, was launched in the UK in March 2020 during the earliest stages of the pandemic in that country (hereafter referred to as C19PRC-UKW1). This paper describes (1) the development, design and content for C19PRC-UKW1, which was informed by the extant evidence base on the psychosocial impact of previous global outbreaks of similar severe acute respiratory syndromes (e.g. SARS, H1N1, MERS); (2) the specific socio-economic and political context of the C19PRC-UKW1; (3) the recruitment of a large sample of UK adults aged 18 years and older (n=2025) via an internet-based panel survey; (4) the representativeness of the C19PRC-UKW1 sample compared to the UK adult population in terms of important sociodemographic characteristics (e.g. age, sex, household income, etc.); and (5) future plans for C19PRC Study including follow-up survey waves in the UK, supplementary non-survey based study strands linking from the C19PRC-UKW1 and the roll-out of the study to other countries.

Muscular strength has a strong positive impact on cardiometabolic health and fitness. However, building up strength endurance requires effortful exercises. From a health perspective, it is important to understand which psychological strategies help people deal with straining exercise. Self-regulation strategies like if-then planning (also known as implementation intentions) appear particularly promising because they might directly alter how people deal with exercise-induced sensations. However, research on the effects of if-then planning on exercise performance has yielded mixed results so far. One possible reason for these inconsistent results is the lack of tailored interventions and the neglect of potential moderators. To address this, we investigated the efficacy of if-then plans that were tailored to perceived limits of endurance performance (i.e., perceptions of exertion versus pain). In addition, we investigated the effects of these tailored if-then plans while taking into account the potentially moderating effects of individual differences in implicit theories. Specifically, we were interested in the role of implicit theories about athletic performance (i.e., entity versus incremental beliefs) and about the limitation of athletic performance by mental versus physical factors (i.e., mind-over-body beliefs). N = 66 male students (age: M = 25.8 years, SD = 3.2) performed a static muscular endurance task twice (measurement: baseline task vs. main task) and were randomly assigned to a goal or an implementation intention condition. They were instructed to hold two intertwined rings for as long as possible while avoiding contacts between them (measure of performance: time-to-failure and errors). After the baseline task, participants were either given an implementation intention or were simply asked to rehearse the task instructions. The content of the instruction depended on whether they ascribed ultimate baseline task termination to perceptions of exertion or pain. After the main task, implicit theories on athletic ability were assessed. No differences in performance emerged between conditions. In the implementation intention condition, however, stronger entity beliefs were associated with increasing time-to-failure when participants planned to ignore exertion but with decreasing time-to-failure when they planned to ignore pain. This pattern of results was reversed with regard to mind-over-body beliefs. These findings indicate that the efficacy of psychological strategies hinges on recreational athletes&rsquo, beliefs regarding athletic performance.

Objective Hospital visitors pose a risk for transmitting pathogens that can cause health care-associated infections. The present study aimed to test an evidence-based intervention to improve visitors' hand hygiene behavior through persuasive messages. Method For the 14-week-long field experiment, 7 signs were designed according to the principles of persuasion proposed by Cialdini: reciprocity, consistency, social-proof, unity, liking, authority, and scarcity. Each sign was displayed on a screen for 1 week directly above the hand-rub dispenser in a hospital lobby. After each 1-week posting, the screen was blank for 1 week. Results An electronic monitoring system counted 246,098 people entering and leaving the hospital's lobby and 17,308 dispenser usages. The signs based on the authority and the social-proof principles significantly increased the hand-rub dispenser usage rate in comparison to the average baseline usage rate. Conclusions These results indicate that simple and cost-efficient interventions can initiate expedient behavior change in hospitals. However, the findings also highlight the importance of careful planning and rigorous pretesting of material for an intervention to be effective. Theoretical and practical implications of these findings are discussed. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).