Systematic review of maintenance of behavior change following physical activity and dietary interventions.

Objective: In the past decade, there has been no systematic review of the evidence for maintenance of physical activity and/or dietary behavior change following intervention (follow-up). This systematic review addressed three questions: 1) How frequently do trials report on maintenance of behavior change? 2) How frequently do interventions achieve maintenance of behavior change? 3) What sample, methodologic, or intervention characteristics are common to trials achieving maintenance? Design: Systematic review of trials that evaluated a physical activity and/or dietary behavior change intervention among adults, with measurement at preintervention, postintervention, and at least 3 months following intervention completion (follow-up). Main Outcome Measures: Maintenance of behavior change was defined as a significant between-groups difference at postintervention and at follow-up, for one or more physical activity and/or dietary outcome. Results: Maintenance outcomes were reported in 35% of the 157 intervention trials initially considered for review. Of the 29 trials that met all inclusion criteria, 21 (72%) achieved maintenance. Characteristics common to trials achieving maintenance included those related to sample characteristics (targeting women), study methods (higher attrition and pretrial behavioral screening), and intervention characteristics (longer duration [>24 weeks], face-to-face contact, use of more intervention strategies [>6], and use of follow-up prompts). Conclusions: Maintenance of physical activity and dietary behavior change is not often reported; when it is, it is often achieved. To advance the evidence, the field needs consensus on reporting of maintenance outcomes, controlled evaluations of intervention strategies to promote maintenance, and more detailed reporting of interventions. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

How do i feel about the behavior? The interplay of affective associations with behaviors and cognitive beliefs as influences on physical activity behavior.

Individuals have affective associations with health behaviors. In other domains such associations have been shown to influence behavior, but affective associations with health behaviors are not included in current health decision-making models. The authors examined whether affective associations with exercise predicted individuals' activity behavior and, if so, how they interfaced with other decision-making constructs to influence behavior. Adult participants (N = 433) reported their current physical activity behavior and affective associations with physical activity. Health belief model and theory of planned behavior constructs were also assessed. More positive affective associations with activity significantly predicted greater activity behavior. Moreover, the influence of the health belief model and theory of planned behavior constructs on activity behavior was mediated through affective associations. Affective associations were shown to play a central role in individuals' activity behavior, both as a mediator of the effects of cognitively based decision-making factors and as an independent predictor of activity behavior. The results suggest the need to include affective influences on behavior in formal models of health decision making and, potentially, to explore affectively based intervention routes to change behaviors. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Discrepancy-based and anticipated emotions in behavioral self-regulation.

Discrepancies between one's current and desired states evoke negative emotions, which presumably guide self-regulation. In the current work we evaluated the function of discrepancy-based emotions in behavioral self-regulation. Contrary to classic theories of self-regulation, discrepancy-based emotions did not predict the degree to which people engaged in self-regulatory behavior. Instead, expectations about how future self-discrepancies would make one feel (i.e., anticipated emotions) predicted self-regulation. However, anticipated emotions were influenced by previous discrepancy-based emotional experiences, suggesting that the latter do not directly motivate self-regulation but rather guide expectations. These findings are consistent with the perspective that emotions do not necessarily direct immediate behavior, but rather have an indirect effect by guiding expectations, which in turn predict goal-directed action. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

A longitudinal analysis of achievement goals: From affective antecedents to emotional effects and achievement outcomes.

Affect and emotions are frequently seen as outcomes of mastery and performance goals, but affective experiences may also predict goal adoption. In a predictive study (N = 669 first-year college students), the authors used structural equation modeling to estimate relationships from 2 initial affective experiences to mastery and performance-approach goals, from goals to discrete emotions, and from discrete emotions to final grades in a university course while controlling for prior achievement. Representing initial affective experiences, hopefulness positively predicted mastery and performance goals, whereas helplessness negatively predicted mastery goals. Mastery goals positively predicted enjoyment, which in turn positively predicted achievement, and negatively predicted boredom, which in turn negatively predicted achievement. Anxiety was negatively predicted by mastery goals, positively predicted by performance goals, and exerted a negative predictive influence on achievement. The findings suggest that predictive relationships between goals and achievement are mediated by students’ emotions. Results are discussed with regard to the importance of affect and emotions for achievement goal theory. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Expressions of positive emotion in women's college yearbook pictures and their relationship to personality and life outcomes across adulthood.

To test hypotheses about positive emotion, the authors examined the relationship of positive emotional expression in women's college pictures to personality, observer ratings, and life outcomes. Consistent with the notion that positive emotions help build personal resources, positive emotional expression correlated with the self-reported personality traits of affiliation, competence, and low negative emotionality across adulthood and predicted changes in competence and negative emotionality. Observers rated women displaying more positive emotion more favorably on several personality dimensions and expected interactions with them to be more rewarding; thus, demonstrating the beneficial social consequences of positive emotions. Finally, positive emotional expression predicted favorable outcomes in marriage and personal well-being up to 30 years later. Controlling for physical attractiveness and social desirability had little impact on these findings. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Correction to Lehman, Taylor, Kiefe, and Seeman (2009).

Reports an error in "Relationship of early life stress and psychological functioning to blood pressure in the CARDIA study" by Barbara J. Lehman, Shelley E. Taylor, Catarina I. Kiefe and Teresa E. Seeman (Health Psychology, 2009[May], Vol 28[3], 338-346). A URL for supplemental materials was included due to a production error. There are no supplemental materials for this article. (The following abstract of the original article appeared in record 2009-06704-010.) Objective: Low childhood socioeconomic status (CSES) and a harsh early family environment have been linked with health disorders in adulthood. In this study, the authors present a model to help explain these links and relate the model to blood pressure change over a 10-year period in the Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults sample. Design: Participants (N = 2,738) completed measures of childhood family environment, parental education, health behavior, and adult negative emotionality. Main Outcome Measures: These variables were used to predict initial systolic and diastolic blood pressure (SBP and DBP, respectively) and the rate of blood pressure change over 10 years. Results: Structural equation modeling indicated that family environment was related to negative emotions, which in turn predicted baseline DBP and SBP and change in SBP. Parental education directly predicted change in SBP. Although African American participants had higher SBP and DBP and steeper increases over time, multiple group comparisons indicated that the strength of most pathways was similar across race and gender. Conclusion: Low CSES and harsh family environments help to explain variability in cardiovascular risk. Low CSES predicted increased blood pressure over time directly and also indirectly through associations with childhood family environment, negative emotionality, and health behavior. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Affective tone during environmental regularity and change.

"Two groups experienced environmental regularity, which consisted of eight presentations of an initially novel series of events." Subgroups then experienced different degrees of change in the order of a final event series. "The results indicated that as the series was repeated (environmental regularity), affective tone [as measured by sentence completion] was initially negative, became positive, and then became negative again. [A]… relatively moderate degree of [event order] change was associated with affective change in the positive direction. The results are somewhat consistent with the proposition that greatly unexpected and completely expected situations arouse negative affect, while moderately unexpected situations arouse positive affect." From Psyc Abstracts 36:04:4CC38M. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Temporal framing and persuasion to adopt preventive health behavior: Moderating effects of individual differences in consideration of future consequences on sunscreen use.

Objective: Previous work on temporal framing of health communications has focused upon detection behaviors that possess an inherent immediate risk of negative consequences. The present studies evaluate the role of temporal frame for a preventive behavior, using sunscreen. Design: Two experimental field studies manipulated the temporal frame in which positive and negative consequences of using sunscreen were presented. Main Outcome Measures: Cognitive responses, intention, and behavior (experiment 2). Results: Consistent with hypotheses, Experiment 1 showed that individual differences in consideration of future consequences (CFC; A. Strathman, F. Gleicher, D. S. Boninger, & C. S. Edwards, 1994) moderated (a) the processing of long- versus short-term consequences and (b) the persuasive impact of the different temporal frames on behavioral intentions. In Experiment 2, the balance of positive versus negative thoughts generated by reading the persuasive communications was shown to mediate the effects of the Temporal Frame × CFC interaction on a behavioral measure. Conclusion: Findings extend previous work by demonstrating the importance of individual differences in CFC to the processing of health communication about a preventive health behavior and to a behavioral outcome. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

"Snatching defeat from the jaws of victory: Self-esteem differences in the experience and anticipation of success": Correction to Wood et al (2005).

Reports an error in "Snatching Defeat From the Jaws of Victory: Self-Esteem Differences in the Experience and Anticipation of Success" by Joanne V. Wood, Sara A. Heimpel, Ian R. Newby-Clark and Michael Ross (Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 2005[Nov], Vol 89[5], 764-780). There are typographical errors in Table 2 (certain values should not have been in bold face). The corrected table is provided in the erratum. (The following abstract of the original article appeared in record 2005-15658-009.) Successes--defined broadly as meeting important standards or receiving positive evaluations--are widely assumed to be enjoyed equally by people with high self-esteem (HSEs) and low self-esteem (LSEs). Three studies examined the contradictory hypothesis that HSEs react more favorably to success than do LSEs and that success brings about certain unfavorable consequences for LSEs. Undergraduate participants reacted to a laboratory-manipulated success (Studies 1 and 2) or imagined highly positive events in the future (Study 3). Self-esteem differences emerged in anxiety, thoughts about the self, and (in Study 3) thoughts about non-self-related aspects of the event. LSEs were more anxious than HSEs after succeeding, success improved HSEs' self-relevant thoughts but not LSEs', and LSEs focused more on success's negative aspects. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Impact of causal attributions on affective reactions to success and failure.

Assessed the impact of outcome (success vs failure) and attribution (internal vs external) on affect in an achievement setting. Following the theorizing of B. Weiner et al (1978, 1979), it was anticipated that the outcome manipulation would determine general positive and negative affective reactions, whereas the attribution manipulation would influence affects related to self-esteem. 53 female undergraduates received success or failure feedback on a social accuracy test and were induced to attribute their performance to either an internal (ability) or an external cause (characteristics of the task). A factor analysis revealed 3 dimensions: Negative Affect, Positive Affect, and Self-Esteem. ANOVA indicated that the nature of the attribution influenced all 3 forms of affective reactions. Success produced greater positive affect, less negative affect, and higher self-esteem than failure only when ability attributions were induced. Although additional analyses offered some support for the presence of affects influenced solely by outcome, the majority of analyses supported the notion that attributions are the primary determinants of affective reactions to success and failure. (24 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The reciprocal relationship between physical activity and depression in older European adults: A prospective cross-lagged panel design using SHARE data.

Objective: The aim of this prospective study was to investigate the reciprocal nature of the physical activity-depressive symptoms relationship in 17,593 older adults from 11 European countries older adults (M age = 64.07, SD = 9.58) across two-year follow-up. Also, gender and age were examined as potential moderators of this relation. Method: A two-wave cross-lagged panel design and latent change score models with structural equation modeling was used to analyze data. Depressive symptoms were measured at baseline (T1) and follow-up (T2) using the EURO-D scale, capturing the two factors of affective suffering and motivation. Physical activity was measured at T1 and T2 as frequency of moderate physical activity and vigorous physical activity. Results: Cross-sectional latent variable analyses revealed that higher levels of physical activity at T1 and T2 were associated with lower levels of affective suffering and motivation at T1 and T2. Physical activity at T1 was significantly associated with affective suffering and motivation at T2. The relations of depressive symptoms at T1 with physical activity at T2 were not significant. However, a cross-lagged model showed best model fit, supporting a reciprocal prospective relationship between physical activity and depressive symptoms in older adults. Latent change in depressive symptoms factors was related to latent change in physical activity indicating complex and dynamic associations across time. Conclusions: Regular physical activity may be a valuable tool in the prevention of future depressive symptoms in older adults, and depressive symptoms may also prevent older adults from engaging in regular physical activity. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Attention, attraction, and individual differences in reaction to criticism.

82 female undergraduates were classified as repressors or sensitizers (by scores on the Repression-Sensitization Scale) and led to expect either some future interaction or no future interaction with negative and positive evaluators. It was predicted that repressors would avoid attending to negative evaluators when no future interaction was anticipated more than sensitizers would, but that the groups would not differ when interaction was anticipated. This first prediction was not confirmed: The negative evaluator received more attention than the positive evaluator across all conditions. It was also predicted that repressors would react more positively to the negative evaluator than sensitizers when there was a prospect of future interaction, but that repressors would react less positively to the negative evaluator than sensitizers when there was no prospect of future interaction. This prediction was confirmed. Utility and individual differences in perception processes are discussed. (34 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Beyond cognition: Predicting health risk behaviors from instrumental and affective beliefs.

Objective: Two studies assessed the relative contribution of affective and instrumental beliefs to the prediction of 2 risk behaviors: driving above the speed limit and smoking. Design: Both studies took the form of large-scale questionnaire surveys (Study 1, N = 292; Study 2, N = 500) measuring instrumental and affective beliefs and self-reported behavior. In both cases, behavior was also measured objectively. Outcome measures: In Study 1, speeding behavior was measured via infrared camera along sections of road with 30 mph, 40 mph, and 60 mph speed limits. Self-reports of speeding in these same contexts represented a 2nd dependent variable. In Study 2, level of smoking was measured via a carbon monoxide monitor, and participants were asked to indicate the number of cigarettes they smoked in a week. Results: In Study 1, positive and negative instrumental and affective beliefs were significant predictors of self-reported speed. The most powerful predictor was negative affective beliefs. Observed speed was predicted by negative affective beliefs only. In Study 2, the significant predictors of self-reported smoking and objective measures of smoking were positive and negative affective beliefs. Conclusion: The findings indicate the importance of affective beliefs across 2 health risk behaviors. Implications for social cognition models and interventions are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Executive cognitive function and heavy drinking behavior among college students.

Executive cognitive functions (ECFs) seem important for motivating change and self-regulation of problem drinking. Evidence for executive cognitive deficits have been found among heavy-drinking college students. Although college students who abuse alcohol often experience a variety of negative consequences related to their drinking behavior, executive cognitive dysfunction may interfere with recognizing consequences and responding skillfully to avoid future harm. Fifty college students with drinking problems completed assessments of ECFs. Greater negative drinking consequences and short-term memory function significantly predicted greater awareness of drinking problems. ECF may be an important factor for motivation to change drinking behavior among college students. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Health stresses and depressive symptomatology in the elderly: The importance of health engagement control strategies.

The study presents cross-sectional (N=127) and longitudinal (n=111) analyses examining relations between health engagement control strategies (HECSs), depressive symptoms, and health stresses in elderly individuals. HECS was measured as people's behavioral and cognitive investments toward attaining health goals. HECS was related to low levels of depressive symptoms, particularly among people experiencing acute physical symptoms. Moreover, HECS predicted reduction of depressive symptoms over time, and depressive symptomatology predicted negative change in HECS. The findings show that active investments of HECSs significantly moderate the negative affective consequences of health threats. Individuals who are characterized by low levels of HECS and high levels of depressive symptoms may be at increased risk of accelerated decline in their physical and mental health. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Problem-Solving Skills and Affective Expressions as Predictors of Change in Marital Satisfaction.

Specific skills and affective expressions coded from the problem-solving interactions of 172 newlywed couples were examined in relation to 8-wave, 4-year trajectories of marital satisfaction. Effects varied as a function of whether husbands' versus wives' topics were under discussion and whether husbands' versus wives' satisfaction was predicted, but results indicate that skills, affect, and their statistical interaction account for unique variance in rates of change in marital satisfaction. The interaction between positive affect and negative skills was particularly robust, indicating that (a) low levels of positive affect and high levels of negative skills foreshadowed particularly rapid rates of deterioration and that (b) high levels of positive affect buffered the effects of high levels of negative skills. Findings suggest specific targets for intervention in programs for developing marriages. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Narrating personality change.

The present research investigated the longitudinal relations between personality traits and narratives. Specifically, the authors examined how individual differences in 170 college students' narratives of personality change (a) were predicted by personality traits at the beginning of college, (b) related to actual changes and perceived changes in personality traits during college, and (c) related to changes in emotional health during college. Individual differences in narratives of personality trait change told in the 4th year of college fell into 2 dimensions: affective processing, characterized by positive emotions, and exploratory processing, characterized by meaning making and causal processing. Conscientious, open, and extraverted freshmen told exploratory stories of change as seniors. Emotionally healthy freshmen told stories of change that were high in positive affect. Both positive affective and exploratory stories corresponded to change in emotional stability and conscientiousness during college above and beyond the effects of perceived changes in these traits. In addition, both positive affective and exploratory narratives corresponded to increases in emotional health during college independent of the effects of changes in personality traits. These findings improve our understanding of how individuals conceptualize their changing identity over time. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Attachment and emotional understanding in preschool children.

This study was designed to elucidate the association between attachment and emotional understanding in preschool children. Forty children between the ages of 2.5 and 6 years and their mothers participated in the study. Mothers completed the Attachment Q-set, and children took part at their preschools in both an affective perspective-taking task and a series of interviews concerning naturally occurring incidents of emotions. Overall, age and attachment security predicted a child's aggregate score on the emotional understanding tasks. However, when the score was separated by the valence of the emotion, attachment security and age predicted a child's score for only those emotions with a negative valence (e.g., sadness) and not for those emotions with a positive valence (e.g., happiness). Thus, a secure attachment relationship seems to be important in fostering a child's understanding of emotion, primarily negative emotions. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of lorazepam on film-induced differentiated emotions in healthy volunteers

We studied the effects of lorazepam, a benzodiazepine, on differentiated emotions in healthy volunteers. In order to induce differentiated emotions, film excerpts were selected on the basis of the type of emotion they induced (fear, anger and for affective tone neutral film). For 6 days (D1 to D6), ten healthy volunteers received lorazepam (1 mg bid) or placebo in a randomized cross-over double-blind trial. During each treatment period, emotional induction occurred on D4, D5 and D6. One film excerpt (fear, anger or neutral) was presented each morning after relaxation. Evaluation was performed before and after each emotional induction and included questionnaires (Differential Emotions Scale and physical activation visual analog scales), and neurophysiological parameters (systolic and diastolic blood pressure, heart rate and norepinephrine levels). Globally, the film excerpts induced the predicted emotions. An analysis of variance was undertaken and revealed a significant effect of lorazepam versus placebo. On the Differential Emotions Scale and during fear induction, lorazepam induced a significantly higher increase in fear, anxiety and disgust emotions than placebo, whereas no effect was observed after anger induction. Lorazepam also induced a significantly higher increase in diastolic and systolic blood pressure with no change in heart rate, and physical activation items ("tears" and "faster breathing") without no significant change in norepinephrine. In conclusion, our results are consistent with an overall increase in emotional reactivity with lorazepam (1 mg bid) as compared to placebo. The pertinence of film-induced differentiated emotions has to be confirmed for clinical pharmacological use.