Recent ucm_ssha_psych_oapdeposits items

Understanding risk and resiliency in transmasculine pregnancy: An application and biopsychosocial extension of the Gender Minority Stress Theory

Wed, 3 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Research on transgender health has expanded significantly within the past decade, yet the topic of transmasculine pregnancy remains underexplored. In this article, we extend the Gender Minority Stress Theory (GMST) to examine how psychosocial stressors faced by transmasculine individuals during pregnancy might influence gestational outcomes through key psychobiological pathways, including the HPA axis, immune, and cardiovascular systems. Specifically, we propose an adapted model that incorporates both proximal (e.g. internalized transphobia, concealment) and distal (e.g. discrimination, institutional exclusion) stressors specific to transmasculine pregnancy by synthesizing evidence that these psychosocial stressors are not only consequential for the mental and physical health of the pregnant person but may also have downstream effects on pregnancy outcomes. We also highlight certain personal and social psychosocial resilience resources that might buffer the impact of stressors...

The development of essentialist beliefs about social status categories in China

Thu, 26 Mar 2026 00:00:00 +0000

China has undergone rapid economic changes in recent years, yet little is known about how children in China understand the social status hierarchies around them. The present study addressed this gap by examining whether Chinese children held essentialist beliefs about two social status categories: residency, an important but understudied status-related category in China, and socioeconomic status (SES). We also examined whether children's beliefs about these categories varied with their age or their own social status background (residency, subjective SES). Chinese 5- to 9-year-old children (47 female) who held residency in a prestigious megacity (N = 50) or less prestigious non-megacities (N = 50) completed two tasks that measured whether they viewed residency and SES as biologically based or causally informative, two dimensions of essentialism. Results suggested that children viewed residency but not SES as biologically based, though this decreased with age. Children from megacities...

A systematic review investigating policy design and implementation of US state and local policy to restrict the sale of flavored tobacco products

Tue, 17 Feb 2026 00:00:00 +0000

INTRODUCTION: State and local jurisdictions in the United States (U.S.) are increasingly adopting flavored tobacco sales restrictions (FTSRs) to mitigate tobacco initiation and use. Policy implementation is highly understudied yet can impact policy effectiveness. This review examines existing literature on state and local FTSR policy design and implementation in the U.S. METHODS: We systematically searched for PubMed articles published by 12/31/2024 which were: original research articles in English focused on a U.S. state or local FTSR that reported at least one policy implementation outcome measure. We excluded articles that were systematic reviews or reported on federal or non-FTSR policy. Guided by policy and implementation science frameworks, we developed a data extraction template to report: policy design elements, study characteristics, and implementation measures (i.e., inputs, activities, outcomes). RESULTS: Of 1,595 articles identified, 30 were retained for review. Most...

Parent Reports Versus Objective Behavioral Measures in Pediatric Sleep‐Disordered Breathing

Wed, 28 Jan 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Objectives: To determine the association between parent-reported problem behaviors and objectively measured response inhibition in children with sleep-disordered breathing (SDB). Understanding this concordance could facilitate better clinical decision-making, as parent reports often guide treatment decisions despite unclear relationships with objective behavioral measures. Methods: This prospective observational study was conducted at a tertiary care pediatric otolaryngology clinic from 1/1/24-12/1/2024. Children aged 5-11 years with SDB symptoms were included, while those with clinically significant psychiatric or neurologic disorders were excluded. Parent-reported problem behaviors were measured using the Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function (BRIEF), with the inhibit T-score as the primary predictor. The primary outcome was performance on the Flanker Test of Inhibitory Control and Attention, which measures response suppression to irrelevant stimuli while maintaining...

Digital Smoking Cessation Preferences of Predominately Low-Income and Latino Residents of the San Joaquin Valley in California: Qualitative Study

Thu, 4 Dec 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Background: Although rates of tobacco use in California have declined overall, adults in the San Joaquin Valley (SJV), particularly Hispanic or Latinos ("Latinos"), have disproportionately high rates of tobacco use, tobacco-related illness, and mortality. Residents of the SJV also have limited access to cessation support services and need accessible, nonclinical alternatives. Given high smartphone use rates among Latinos and residents of rural communities, digital health tools may present an accessible approach to expand cessation support. Objective: This study explored tobacco use behaviors, cessation experiences, and views about digital cessation tools for tobacco cessation among SJV residents. The secondary objective was to assess the appeal, usability, and necessary adaptations of 2 existing digital smoking cessation tools-a smoking cessation app and a social media-based cessation intervention. Methods: Through an SJV-based academic-community partnership, we recruited 29 predominantly...

Assessing Executive Function in Pediatric Sleep‐Disordered Breathing Using Functional Neuroimaging

Wed, 3 Dec 2025 00:00:00 +0000

OBJECTIVE: Sleep-disordered breathing (SDB) affects 10% of children and is associated with poor academic performance related to inattention and executive dysfunction. Yet, the underlying neural mechanisms remain poorly understood, especially in elementary school-aged children who cannot sit still for functional magnetic resonance imaging. This study examines the feasibility of using functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS), a child-friendly neuroimaging tool, to assess prefrontal cortex (PFC) activation in children with SDB. STUDY DESIGN: Prospective observational study between January and November 2024. SETTING: Tertiary care academic children's hospital. METHODS: We assessed 78 children aged 5 to 11 referred for management of clinically significant SDB. Participants completed a Go/No-Go task measuring response inhibition while undergoing fNIRS recording of PFC activity. Parent-reported SDB symptom burden was assessed using the Pediatric Sleep Questionnaire Sleep-Related...

Developmental alterations in brain network asymmetry in 3- to 9-month infants with congenital sensorineural hearing loss

Wed, 3 Dec 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Auditory exposure plays a crucial role in shaping brain development, but little is known about whether and how an initial lack of auditory exposure might disrupt the development of functional network lateralization. We addressed this issue by acquiring functional near-infrared spectroscopy data from infants aged 3 to 9 months with congenital sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL). The SNHL infants showed efficient small-world characteristics within each hemisphere. However, unlike typically developing controls, who showed an age-related leftward lateralization of network efficiencies, SNHL infants did not exhibit the emergence of hemispheric asymmetry. Intriguingly, lateralization of frontal efficiency was preserved in SNHL infants with mild hearing loss but declined significantly with increasing severity of hearing impairment. These findings suggest that even SNHL infants with some residual hearing experience disruption in the development of functional lateralization. This underscores...

Investigating Hemodynamic Patterns During Beat Processing in Cochlear Implant Users: Insights from a Finger Tapping Study

Wed, 3 Dec 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Introduction: Individuals with cochlear implants often struggle with melody and timbre perception in music, leading to diminished music appreciation. While they demonstrate proficiency in recognizing beat and rhythm, it remains unclear whether beat information is processed similarly in their brains compared to those with normal hearing. Methods: In this study, adapted from Rahimpour et al. (2020), both cochlear implant users and normal hearing listeners engaged in finger tapping tasks that synchronized or syncopated with isochronous beats. Participants were asked to align their taps with an auditory metronome (pacing) and then maintain tapping pace after the metronome attenuation (continuation). Hemodynamic responses were recorded using functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) during tapping. Results: Results revealed comparable performance between cochlear implant users and normal hearing listeners in the finger tapping task, with both groups finding the syncopated continuation...

Social Media Recruitment in Indigenous and Native American Populations: Challenges in the AI Age

Mon, 17 Nov 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Unlabelled: Using social media recruitment for public health research presents both opportunities and challenges. Despite its increased use, few studies have detailed the practical issues, challenges encountered, and alternative strategies available for social media recruitment. This paper explores strategies for recruiting Indigenous and Native American populations in California for a study on COVID-19 vaccination and social networks. We describe different recruitment approaches, challenges faced, and pros and cons of strategies used to enhance data quality and efficiency, including survey design considerations, Facebook targeting versus use of research panels, quality assurance checks, and decisions around participant incentives. Our local setting involved recruiting Native American and Mesoamerican Indigenous individuals living in California through social media platforms. We highlight key adaptations to survey design, recruitment strategies, and data cleaning processes, noting...

Predicting Engagement and Retention During an Online Theory‐Based Intervention to Promote Physical Activity Among Inactive Parent‐Child Dyads

Wed, 15 Oct 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Insufficient physical activity is a widespread health concern, necessitating the broad implementation of evidence-based behavior change interventions. Such evidence commonly derives from randomized controlled trials, but questions arise about who is willing to enroll and actively engage in such trials. This study investigated factors predicting engagement and retention in an online physical activity intervention for inactive parent-child dyads. Participants were recruited from the general Finnish population and assigned to either an intervention or wait-list control group. The intervention consisted of online materials, SMS prompts, and four online sessions. Partial least squares regression models were used to analyze autonomous motivation, parent and child gender, parental education, employment status, and recruitment source as predictors of intervention retention and engagement. Results showed that intervention retention was predicted by higher autonomous motivation, being a...

Perceptions of pharmacist-furnished nicotine replacement therapy among participants who smoke in California

Tue, 19 Aug 2025 00:00:00 +0000

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: California's Central Valley has high rates of tobacco product use and low rates of access to primary care providers. In 2016, California sought to increase access to cessation treatment by allowing pharmacists to prescribe nicotine replacement therapy (NRT). We sought to identify the extent to which this prescribing authority has been integrated into practice. METHODS: From December 2023 to May 2024, we surveyed adult California participants (n = 271) who smoke about their smoking patterns, perceptions towards NRT, experiences with receiving tobacco cessation resources in pharmacies. Participants were recruited via email and in person. We analyzed participants' smoking and quitting history, perceptions of NRT, and experiences with tobacco cessation, comparing residents of California's Central Valley (n = 52) to other regions of the state (n = 219). RESULTS: Smoking rates were comparable for respondents in the Central Valley and those residing in other...

Cravings, Control, and Cessation: A Scoping Review of Perceptions of Nicotine Addiction

Fri, 18 Jul 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Purpose of ReviewNicotine addiction is the result of repeated tobacco use and subsequently promotes continued consumption, potentially acting as both cause and consequence of tobacco use. This scoping review aims to describe the literature and catalogue existing measures regarding perceptions of nicotine addiction with special attention to scales that recognize its multidimensionality.Recent FindingsFollowing a comprehensive review of 923 empirical articles, we found 252 articles that assessed perceptions of nicotine addiction, five of which utilized a validated measure. Single item assessments were categorized into affective concern, knowledge that tobacco is addictive, personal perceptions of addiction, other people’s addiction, and comparative addictiveness. Scaled measures of perceptions of nicotine addiction largely assessed perceived susceptibility and severity.SummaryDespite decades of research demonstrating the importance of perceptions of risk and expectancies in risk-behavior...

E-cigarette and cannabis use among current and recently quit smokers: Co-use and Co-cessation

Thu, 17 Jul 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Background: Concurrent use of cigarettes with e-cigarette or cannabis (co-use) is common. It is unclear whether people who want to quit smoking cigarettes would also be interested in quitting using e-cigarettes/cannabis (co-cessation). Methods: In a survey of 391 Californian adults, participants reported past 30-day use of and intentions to quit cigarettes, e-cigarettes, and cannabis, and reasons for using e-cigarettes and/or cannabis. Using cross-tabulation tables, we examined the relationship between cigarette, e-cigarette, and cannabis cessation intentions. We subsequently examined how the reasons for using e-cigarettes and cannabis related to e-cigarette and cannabis use frequency, while controlling for cigarette use and demographic characteristics. Results: Of those who used both cigarettes and e-cigarettes and planned to quit smoking within the next 30 days, 68.9 % also planned to quit using e-cigarettes. Of those who used both cigarettes and cannabis and intended...

Cognitive Electrophysiology in Socioeconomic Context in Adulthood

Wed, 18 Jun 2025 00:00:00 +0000

This dataset contains electroencephalography (EEG) recordings of 127 young adults (18–30 years old), along with retrospective objective and subjective reports of childhood family socioeconomic status (SES), as well as SES indicators in adulthood, such as educational attainment, food security, and home and neighborhood characteristics. The EEG data were recorded during commonly used cognitive electrophysiology tasks that were directly acquired or adapted from the Event-Related Potentials Compendium of Open Resources and Experiments, i.e., ERP CORE. This dataset can be used to address questions of cognitive electrophysiology in the context of childhood and adulthood SES. It can also be used to conduct EEG methodology research, such as investigating the precision and reliability of measurements in diverse samples of young adults. In addition, this dataset includes self-reports of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) symptoms and can be used to assess the links between...

Prospective Associations Between Stressors and Alcohol Use From Early Adolescence to Young Adulthood in Mexican-Origin Youth in the United States

Wed, 4 Jun 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Stressors experienced across multiple domains (e.g., family and peers) may contribute to alcohol use trajectories; however, little is known about the longitudinal links between stressors and alcohol use among Latinx youth. Guided by prior work on stressors and alcohol use, the present study used longitudinal data to examine whether Mexican-origin adolescents' (N = 674; 50% female; 28% Mexico born; 72% U.S. born) experiences of family and peer stressors across early to middle adolescence (M_age = 10.86, SD_age = 0.51) predicted trajectories of alcohol use frequency and binge drinking from middle adolescence to young adulthood (Mage = 23.17, SD_age = 0.59). Using two strategies for modeling stressors, we report results that showed more support for stressors across early adolescence as predictors of alcohol use trajectories when stressors were modeled as growth trajectories versus modeled as distal and proximal stressors....

Information-Management Behavior During Stressful Waiting Periods

Thu, 8 May 2025 00:00:00 +0000

In three longitudinal studies, we examined the relationship between worry about an outcome and information-management behavior-specifically seeking and avoiding information about that outcome-in the context of awaiting uncertain news. Study 1 examined a group of U.S. voters across the 4 weeks preceding the 2020 presidential election. Study 2 examined law graduates who completed the California bar exam during the 17 weeks between when they took the exam and when their results were posted online. Study 3 examined job candidates from a variety of academic fields from October to April as they searched for academic jobs. In all three studies, people who reported greater worry about the relevant outcome across the wait reported greater information seeking. Additionally, people were particularly likely to seek information at the times during the wait when they reported the most acute worry. Evidence for the relationship between worry and information avoidance during the wait was more...

EFFECT OF THE FRAMEWORK CONVENTION ON TOBACCO CONTROL AND VOLUNTARY INDUSTRY HEALTH WARNING LABELS ON PASSAGE OF MANDATED CIGARETTE WARNING LABELS 1965 TO 2012: TRANSITION PROBABILITY AND EVENT HISTORY ANALYSES

Sun, 27 Apr 2025 00:00:00 +0000

OBJECTIVES: We quantified the pattern and passage rate of cigarette package health warning labels (HWLs), including the effect of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) and HWLs voluntarily implemented by tobacco companies. METHODS: We used transition probability matrices to describe the pattern of HWL passage and change rate in 4 periods. We used event history analysis to estimate the effect of the FCTC on adoption and to compare that effect between countries with voluntary and mandatory HWLs. RESULTS: The number of HWLs passed during each period accelerated, from a transition rate among countries that changed from 2.42 per year in 1965-1977 to 6.71 in 1977-1984, 8.42 in 1984-2003, and 22.33 in 2003-2012. The FCTC significantly accelerated passage of FCTC-compliant HWLs for countries with initially mandatory policies with a hazard of 1.27 per year (95% confidence interval = 1.11, 1.45), but only marginally increased the hazard for countries that had an industry voluntary...

Progress on theory of planned behavior research: advances in research synthesis and agenda for future research

Tue, 1 Apr 2025 00:00:00 +0000

The theory of planned behavior is a social cognition theory that has been widely applied to identify the psychological determinants of intentions and behavior in health contexts. Our 2015 meta-analysis of theory applications in chronic illness contributed to a burgeoning evidence base comprising syntheses supporting theory predictions in health behavior. In this review, we identify limitations of prior meta-analyses of theory applications in health behavior and highlight salient evidence gaps, summarize how recent meta-analyses of the theory have addressed some of the limitations, outline outstanding research questions, and suggest future research syntheses, including those currently in progress, to resolve them. We point to recent and ongoing meta-analyses addressing theory hypotheses and assumptions not tested in previous syntheses, such as perceived behavioral control moderating effects and indirect effects of environmental (e.g., sociostructural variables) and intrapersonal...

Effects of group membership on adults' essentialism of ethnicity and SES

Mon, 31 Mar 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Previous research suggests that adults' essentialist beliefs depend on their own social-group membership. However, these studies have examined the effects of one social-group membership at a time (e.g., the influence of race on essentialism of race), even though all individuals belong to multiple social groups. It is therefore unclear whether membership in one social category (e.g., ethnicity) predicts essentialism of another category (e.g., SES). To address this question, the present study simultaneously explored the relationship between individuals' racial and ethnic background and subjective SES and their essentialism of ethnicity and SES. Results showed that participants' racial and ethnic background predicted their essentialist beliefs about ethnicity, but their subjective SES did not. In contrast, participants' subjective SES and ethnicity interacted to predict their essentialist beliefs about SES: for non-Hispanic White individuals, higher subjective SES predicted stronger...

Essentialist Beliefs About Status-Related Social Categories in China

Mon, 31 Mar 2025 00:00:00 +0000

China’s economic landscape has changed considerably in recent years, raising questions of how Chinese individuals reason about economic categories. The present study examined whether Chinese individuals hold essentialist beliefs about socioeconomic status (SES) and residency, a salient category in China that is usually passed from parent to child and determines access to public services. We also examined whether Chinese adults’ essentialist beliefs varied with their perception of their social status, as shown in other cultures. To address these questions, 356 Chinese students in Shanghai with or without Shanghai residency completed a battery of measures assessing essentialist beliefs about SES and residency. Results showed that participants essentialized both categories along some dimensions: they treated them as causally informative natural categories but did not believe they were biologically based. Participants with higher subjective SES were more likely to essentialize both...

Application of an integrated behaviour-change model on grandparental adherence towards childhood domestic injury prevention in Hong Kong: a longitudinal study

Fri, 21 Mar 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Background/purpose: Every year, unintentional injury claims thousands of children's lives and causes disabilities in many more. For very young children, these injuries often occur at home. The risks of domestic injury can be reduced through proper implementation of injury preventive measures. In this study, we investigated the motivational and belief processes underlying childhood domestic injury prevention in grandparent caregivers based on the integrated model of self-determination theory and theory of planned behaviour. Method: Grandparents (n=299, mean age=62.61 years, SD=5.91, men=20.07%) of 0-2-year-old infants and toddlers self-reported their perceived psychological need support, autonomous motivation, perceived behavioural control (PBC), subjective norms, attitude, intention and adherence with regard to domestic injury prevention for their children at two time points (T1: baseline, T2: 4-month follow-up). Results/outcomes: Data were analysed with structural equation modelling,...

The “disproportionate costs” of immigrant policy on the health of Latinx and Asian immigrants

Fri, 21 Mar 2025 00:00:00 +0000

There is growing evidence that Asian and Latinx immigrants' health and health care access is shaped by immigrant policies that determine their rights, protections, and access to resources and the extent to which they are targeted by policing or deportation based on citizenship/legal status and other immigration-related social categories. However, there is limited population-based evidence of how immigrants experience the direct consequences of policies, nor of the impact of such consequences on their health. Between 2018 and 2020, we conducted the Research on Immigrant Health and State Policy (RIGHTS) Study, developing a population-based survey of Asian and Latinx immigrants in California (n = 2010) that measured 23 exclusionary experiences under health care and social services, education, labor/employment, and immigration enforcement policies. Applying Ruth Wilson Gilmore's concept of "disproportionate costs," we conducted a latent class analysis (LCA) and regression...

Comparing Foodie Calls in Poland, the United Kingdom, and the United States: A Registered Replication Report

Wed, 19 Mar 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Collisson et al. (2020) found Dark Triad traits and gender role beliefs predicted "foodie calls," a phenomenon where people go on a date with others, to whom they are not attracted, for a free meal. Because gender roles and dating norms differ across cultures, we conducted a registered replication across different cultures by surveying 1838 heterosexual women from Poland, the United Kingdom (UK), and the United States (US). Relying on the structural equation modeling, as conducted in the original study, our findings revealed gender role beliefs best predicted foodie calls and their perceived acceptability, whereas the Dark Triad's general factor was nonsignificant. Analyses at the country level yielded mixed results. The original findings were replicated in the UK and Poland, but not in the US, where only narcissism predicted foodie calls. In the US, gender role beliefs predicted foodie call acceptability, but the Dark Triad general factor did not. Potential reasons for why traditional...

Predicting Physical Activity Intentions, Habits, and Action Plans in Finnish Parent–Child Dyads

Mon, 3 Mar 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Physical activity levels among early adolescents and their parents are insufficient for health benefits. Identifying modifiable determinants in parent-child dyads can inform future research and interventions. We tested a partial least squares path model based on the integrated behavior change model in insufficiently active Finnish parent-child dyads (n = 88), including measures of autonomous and controlled motivation, social cognition constructs (attitude, subjective norm, perceived behavioral control), intention, planning, and habits. Autonomous motivation predicted attitude in both samples, but only predicted subjective norms and perceived behavioral control in children. Attitude in turn predicted intention, planning, and habit, in the child sample, but only intention and planning in parents. Perceived behavioral control predicted intention and planning only in children, while subjective norm had minimal effects in either sample. Autonomous motivation and attitude consistently...

Tobacco harm perceptions, regulatory attitudes, and cessation intentions before and after the COVID-19 lockdown in California

Fri, 28 Feb 2025 00:00:00 +0000

The present study examined tobacco health perceptions, regulation attitudes, and cessation intentions among California adults before and after the COVID-19 lockdown, given the pandemic's mixed impact on tobacco use. An online survey of California adults was conducted in two phases: pre-lockdown (March 2020, n = 1349) and post-lockdown (May 2020, n = 1201). Participants (M age 30.29 years; SD = 5.91) from both samples were predominately former or current smokers, male, and non-Hispanic White (>60% for all). This method allowed for a comparison of attitudes and behaviors across two distinct periods with two samples. There were significant differences between pre- and post-lockdown risk perceptions, regulatory attitudes, and cessation intentions. Examining shifts in perceptions and attitudes amidst the pandemic aids in understanding the complex and dynamic nature of tobacco behavior change through the lens of a major socioenvironmental event to guide...

Perceptions of COVID-related risks among people who smoke: A mediation model

Fri, 28 Feb 2025 00:00:00 +0000

The COVID-19 pandemic provides both reasons to quit smoking as well as stress that may promote increased cigarette consumption. Perceptions of COVID-19 risk related to smoking may motivate cessation among smokers. At the same time, other evidence shows that affective perceptions (i.e., worry) could lead to increased smoking as a coping mechanism. Using a sample drawn from a rural region of California (N = 295), we examined the relationship between perceptions about health risks for smokers during the pandemic and both reported increases in smoking frequency and intentions to quit smoking. We also examined whether worry about health risks mediated these relationships. High perceived risk was associated both with reported increases in smoking frequency as well as greater intentions to quit smoking. Worry partially mediated both these relationships, with worry accounting for 29.11% of the variance in the relationship between high risk perceptions and increased smoking as...

Optimizing cost-effectiveness in remote objective structured clinical examinations through targeted double scoring methodologies

Wed, 26 Feb 2025 00:00:00 +0000

The remote Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE) is a cornerstone of medical education, enabling structured and objective assessment of clinical skills, communication, and patient-centered care. However, its widespread adoption has introduced challenges related to cost-effectiveness and efficient use of rater resources. Traditional double scoring (DS) ensures reliability but is labor-intensive and costly, especially in large-scale assessments. To address these challenges, this study introduces Targeted Double Scoring (TDS), a novel methodology that selectively applies DS to specific score ranges, particularly those near the pass/fail threshold. The study was conducted using data from a pilot remote OSCE administered to 550 clinical medicine undergraduates in China. The OSCE consisted of three stations: Clinical Reasoning (CR), Physical Examination (PE), and Fundamental Skills (FS). Each station was scored remotely by two raters, with a cut-off score of 60 out of 100....

Moments of Care: Perceptions of Young Carers and Day-to-Day Well-Being

Wed, 26 Feb 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Background/Objectives: Over 5 million youth under the age of 19 provide daily, hands-on care to an ill or injured family member across the United States. Yet how these young carers perceive the care they deliver in the moment, and how these perceptions relate to well-being, is unexplored, particularly in complex neurological conditions. This paper presents initial data on young carers for a family member with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Methods: Ecological momentary assessment (EMA) was used to measure perceptions of care in the moments of care and the cognitive and emotional states of the young carers during those moments. Young carers (n = 15) aged 10-19 were followed for seven days, completing assessments three times per day, which provided 260 total measurements. Young carers reported frequently engaging in caregiving (~39% of assessments). Results: The results indicated that it was not simply performing a caregiving task that related to...

Mothers’ prenatal distress accelerates adrenal pubertal development in daughters

Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Human life history schedules vary, partly, because of adaptive, plastic responses to early-life conditions. Little is known about how prenatal conditions relate to puberty timing. We hypothesized that fetal exposure to adversity may induce an adaptive response in offspring maturational tempo. In a longitudinal study of 253 mother-child dyads followed for 15 years, we investigated if fetal exposure to maternal psychological distress related to children's adrenarche and gonadarche schedules, assessed by maternal and child report and by dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate (DHEA-S), testosterone, and estradiol levels. We found fetal exposure to elevated maternal prenatal psychological distress predicted earlier adrenarche and higher DHEA-S levels in girls, especially first-born girls, and that associations remained after covarying indices of postnatal adversity. No associations were observed for boys or for gonadarche in girls. Adrenarche orchestrates the social-behavioral transition from...

Evaluating Close Fit in Ordinal Factor Analysis Models With Multiply Imputed Data.

Mon, 17 Feb 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Multiple imputation (MI) is one of the recommended techniques for handling missing data in ordinal factor analysis models. However, methods for computing MI-based fit indices under ordinal factor analysis models have yet to be developed. In this short note, we introduced the methods of using the standardized root mean squared residual (SRMR) and the root mean square error of approximation (RMSEA) to assess the fit of ordinal factor analysis models with multiply imputed data. Specifically, we described the procedure for computing the MI-based sample estimates and constructing the confidence intervals. Simulation results showed that the proposed methods could yield sufficiently accurate point and interval estimates for both SRMR and RMSEA, especially in conditions with larger sample sizes, less missing data, more response categories, and higher degrees of misfit. Based on the findings, implications and recommendations were discussed.

Exploring the Utility of a Real‐Time Approach to Characterising Within‐Person Fluctuations in Everyday Stress Responses

Tue, 24 Dec 2024 00:00:00 +0000

Few studies have measured components of stress responses in real time-an essential step in designing just-in-time interventions targeting moments of risk. Using ecological momentary assessment (EMA), we characterised stress response components to everyday stressors, including reactivity (the response following a stressor), recovery (the return towards baseline), and pile-up (the accumulation of stressors) (RRPs) by quantifying the dynamics of response indicators (i.e., subjective stress, negative affect, and perseverative cognition). To determine the utility of these novel measures in capturing and characterising acute moments of the stress response, this study evaluated the proportion of variance in RRPs attributed to (1) between-person, (2) between-days, and (3) within-day (momentary) levels. Healthy adults (n = 123; aged 35-65, 79% women, 91% non-Hispanic White) participated in a 14-day study assessing stress response via EMA 6 times a day. RRPs were constructed...

The COVID-19 pandemic and social cognitive outcomes in early childhood

Wed, 18 Dec 2024 00:00:00 +0000

The COVID-19 pandemic and ensuing lockdowns led to sweeping changes in the everyday lives of children and families, including school closures, remote work and learning, and social distancing. To date no study has examined whether these profound changes in young children’s day to day social interactions impacted the development of social cognition skills in early childhood. To address this question, we compared the performance of two cohorts of 3.5- to 5.5-year-old children tested before and after the COVID-19 lockdowns on several measures of false-belief understanding, a critical social cognition skill that undergoes important developments in this age range. Controlling for age and language skills, children tested after the pandemic demonstrated significantly worse false-belief understanding than those tested before the pandemic, and this difference was larger for children from lower socioeconomic status (SES) backgrounds. These results suggest that the pandemic negatively impacted...

Young Adults with a History of Residential Youth Care: A Cohort Profile of a Hard-to-Reach Population

Mon, 9 Dec 2024 00:00:00 +0000

Adults with a history of living in residential youth care (RYC) face elevated risks across various life domains. In this cohort profile paper, we outline the design of a comprehensive follow-up study-the VINGO study-targeting young adults (22-30 years) with a history of living in RYC (T2). We describe the recruitment strategy and present sample characteristics. Data were collected in the baseline study (T1) from 2011 to 2014. At T1, the 400 adolescent participants showed a high prevalence of mental disorders, maltreatment experiences, substance use, and self-reported suicide attempts. Data collection at T2 10 years later (2021-2023) included self-reported sociodemographic information, physical health, childhood maltreatment, dissociation, quality of life, social support, and self-esteem using standardized and validated instruments. A diagnostic psychiatric assessment and subjective evaluation of service utilization were conducted by telephone interviews. Additionally, a qualitative...

Place‐Based Developmental Research: Conceptual and Methodological Advances in Studying Youth Development in Context

Tue, 3 Dec 2024 00:00:00 +0000

Scientists have, for some time, recognized that development unfolds in numerous settings, including families, schools, neighborhoods, and organized and unorganized activity settings. Since the turn of the 20th century, the body of mainstream neighborhood effects scholarship draws heavily from the early 20th century Chicago School of Sociology frameworks and have been situating development in neighborhood contexts and working to identify the structures and processes via which neighborhoods matter for a range of developmental outcomes, especially achievement, behavioral and emotional problems, and sexual activity. From this body of work, two new areas of developmental scholarship are emerging. Both areas are promising for advancing an understanding of child development in context. First, cultural-developmental neighborhood researchers are advancing neighborhood effects research that explicitly recognizes the ways that racial, ethnic, cultural, and immigrant social positions matter...

Association of pesticide exposure with respiratory health outcomes and rhinitis in avocado farmworkers from Michoacán, Mexico

Mon, 11 Nov 2024 00:00:00 +0000

BACKGROUND: A growing literature suggests associations between occupational pesticide exposure and respiratory health. In this study, we aimed to examine the association of exposure to insecticides, fungicides, and herbicides, individually and as a mixture, with respiratory health outcomes and rhinitis in avocado farmworkers from Michoacán, Mexico. MATERIAL AND METHODS: We conducted a cross-sectional study of 105 avocado farmworkers between May and August 2021. We quantified 12 insecticide, fungicide, and herbicide metabolites in urine samples collected during two study visits (8-10 weeks apart). We collected survey data on self-reported pesticide use during the 12 months prior to the baseline survey and estimated annual exposure-intensity scores (EIS) using a semi-quantitative exposure algorithm. We also assessed respiratory symptoms, including wheezing, chest tightness, wheezing after exercise, and night cough. We used generalized linear regression models to examine...

Self-administered mindfulness interventions reduce stress in a large, randomized controlled multi-site study

Sat, 9 Nov 2024 00:00:00 +0000

Mindfulness witnessed a substantial popularity surge in the past decade, especially as digitally self-administered interventions became available at relatively low costs. Yet, it is uncertain whether they effectively help reduce stress. In a preregistered (OSF https://doi.org/10.17605/OSF.IO/UF4JZ; retrospective registration at ClinicalTrials.gov NCT06308744) multi-site study (nsites = 37, nparticipants = 2,239, 70.4% women, Mage = 22.4, s.d.age = 10.1, all fluent English speakers), we experimentally tested whether four single, standalone mindfulness exercises effectively reduced stress, using Bayesian mixed-effects models. All exercises proved to be more efficacious than the active control. We observed a mean difference of 0.27 (d = −0.56; 95% confidence interval, −0.43 to −0.69) between the control condition (M = 1.95, s.d. = 0.50) and the condition with the largest stress reduction (body scan: M = 1.68, s.d. = 0.46). Our findings suggest that mindfulness may be beneficial for...

Exploring the impact of parental education, ethnicity and context on parent and child mental-state language

Fri, 8 Nov 2024 00:00:00 +0000

Exploring the impact of parental education, ethnicity and context on parent and child mental-state language

Implicit and explicit COVID-19 associations and mental health in the United States: a large-scale examination and replication

Fri, 8 Nov 2024 00:00:00 +0000

BACKGROUND: Given the sensitive nature of COVID-19 beliefs, evaluating them explicitly and implicitly may provide a fuller picture of how these beliefs vary based on identities and how they relate to mental health. OBJECTIVE: Three novel brief implicit association tests (BIATs) were created and evaluated: two that measured COVID-19-as-dangerous (vs. safe) and one that measured COVID-19 precautions-as-necessary (vs. unnecessary). Implicit and explicit COVID-19 associations were examined based on individuals' demographic characteristics. Implicit associations were hypothesized to uniquely contribute to individuals' self-reports of mental health. METHODS: Participants (N = 13,413 US residents; April-November 2020) were volunteers for a COVID-19 study. Participants completed one BIAT and self-report measures. This was a preregistered study with a planned internal replication. RESULTS: Results revealed older age was weakly associated with stronger implicit and explicit associations...

Financial concern reduces child directed speech in a socioeconomically diverse sample

Fri, 8 Nov 2024 00:00:00 +0000

Socioeconomic status predicts the quantity and nature of child-directed speech that parents produce. However, the mechanisms underlying this relationship remain unclear. This study investigated whether the cognitive load imposed by resource scarcity suppresses parent talk by examining time-dependent variation in child-directed speech in a socioeconomically diverse sample. We predicted that child-directed speech would be lowest at the end of the month when Americans report the greatest financial strain. 166 parents and their 2.5 to 3-year-old children (80 female) participated in a picture-book activity; the number of utterances, word tokens, and word types used by parents were calculated. All three parent language measures were negatively correlated with the date of the month the activity took place, and this relationship did not vary with parental education. These findings suggest that above and beyond individual properties of parents, contextual factors such as financial concerns...

The influence of language input on 3-year-olds' learning about novel social categories

Fri, 8 Nov 2024 00:00:00 +0000

There is considerable variability in the social categories that children essentialize and the types of expectations children form about these categories, suggesting children's essentialist beliefs are shaped by environmental input. Prior studies have shown that exposure to generic statements about a social category promotes essentialist beliefs in 4.5- to 8-year-old children. However, by this age children form essentialist beliefs quite robustly, and thus it is unclear whether generic statements impact children's expectations about social categories at younger ages when essentialist beliefs first begin to emerge. Moreover, in prior studies the generic statements were delivered by an experimenter and carefully controlled, and thus it is unclear whether these statements would have the same impact if they occurred in a somewhat less constrained setting, such as parents reading a picture book to their child. The current study addressed these open questions by investigating whether...

Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder Can Attribute False Beliefs in a Spontaneous-Response Preferential-Looking Task

Fri, 8 Nov 2024 00:00:00 +0000

An established body of literature indicates that children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) have difficulty understanding figurative language due to a deficit in theory of mind, or the ability to consider the beliefs of other people. Children with ASD tend to similarly fail traditional theory of mind tasks, which assess their ability to represent false beliefs. Our claim is, however, that these tasks involve cognitive processing demands that might mask false belief understanding because they require elicited responses. We examined whether children with ASD demonstrate false-belief understanding when tested with a spontaneous-response false belief task that measures children’s eye gaze durations. The two child participant groups were composed of 20 males with ASD (aged 3–9 years) and 20 typically developing males (aged 2–5 years) who were individually matched according to verbal mental age. Children with ASD and typically developing children listened to a change-of-location...

Do young American children essentialize ethnicity? Examining inductive inferences about Hispanic/Latinx individuals in an ethnically diverse sample

Fri, 8 Nov 2024 00:00:00 +0000

Abstract: Hispanic and Latinx individuals represent one of the largest and fastest growing ethnic groups in the United States. Yet research has not investigated whether young children hold essentialist beliefs about this prevalent social category. The present study addressed this issue by examining whether children used this ethnic category to make inductive inferences about novel individuals, one dimension of essentialism. A total of 108 children, 5 to 7 years of age (54 female; 56 Hispanic, 46 non‐Hispanic), completed a forced‐choice inference task. Children did not expect members of the same ethnic group to share properties, and this did not vary with their own ethnic group membership. This suggests that in the US, the belief that ethnicity is causally informative undergoes a protracted developmental trajectory, as has been observed for essentialist beliefs about race.

Spanish–English bilingual heritage speakers processing of inanimate sentences

Wed, 6 Nov 2024 00:00:00 +0000

This study investigated how heritage Spanish–English bilinguals integrate their cue hierarchies to process simple sentences in both Spanish and English. Sentence interpretation is achieved by weighing the various cues that are present in the sentence against that language's cue hierarchy. The Unified Competition Model (UCM) suggests that bilinguals show a variety of patterns in sentence interpretation strategies depending on language proficiency. Previous research on heritage Spanish–English bilinguals and late bilinguals has demonstrated differences in cue utilization and sentence interpretation compared to monolinguals. However, good-enough processing suggests that when a sentence does not meet certain heuristics, like the first-noun agent heuristic, a semantic representation of the sentence will be processed instead of a syntactic one. Even with reliable sentential-level cues such as word order, a plausible semantic representation of the sentence is favored. This is especially...

Investigating the role of auditory cues in modulating motor timing: insights from EEG and deep learning

Wed, 6 Nov 2024 00:00:00 +0000

Research on action-based timing has shed light on the temporal dynamics of sensorimotor coordination. This study investigates the neural mechanisms underlying action-based timing, particularly during finger-tapping tasks involving synchronized and syncopated patterns. Twelve healthy participants completed a continuation task, alternating between tapping in time with an auditory metronome (pacing) and continuing without it (continuation). Electroencephalography data were collected to explore how neural activity changes across these coordination modes and phases. We applied deep learning methods to classify single-trial electroencephalography data and predict behavioral timing conditions. Results showed significant classification accuracy for distinguishing between pacing and continuation phases, particularly during the presence of auditory cues, emphasizing the role of auditory input in motor timing. However, when auditory components were removed from the electroencephalography...

The East Bay Diesel Exposure Project: a biomonitoring study of parents and their children in heavily impacted communities

Tue, 5 Nov 2024 00:00:00 +0000

BackgroundDiesel exhaust (DE) exposures pose concerns for serious health effects, including asthma and lung cancer, in California communities burdened by multiple stressors.ObjectiveTo evaluate DE exposures in disproportionately impacted communities using biomonitoring and compare results for adults and children within and between families.MethodsWe recruited 40 families in the San Francisco East Bay area. Two metabolites of 1-nitropyrene (1-NP), a marker for DE exposures, were measured in urine samples from parent–child pairs. For 25 families, we collected single-day spot urine samples during two sampling rounds separated by an average of four months. For the 15 other families, we collected daily spot urine samples over four consecutive days during the two sampling rounds. We also measured 1-NP in household dust and indoor air. Associations between urinary metabolite levels and participant demographics, season, and 1-NP levels in dust and air were evaluated.ResultsAt least one...

The NEAT Equating Via Chaining Random Forests in the Context of Small Sample Sizes: A Machine-Learning Method.

Sat, 2 Nov 2024 00:00:00 +0000

The part of responses that is absent in the nonequivalent groups with anchor test (NEAT) design can be managed to a planned missing scenario. In the context of small sample sizes, we present a machine learning (ML)-based imputation technique called chaining random forests (CRF) to perform equating tasks within the NEAT design. Specifically, seven CRF-based imputation equating methods are proposed based on different data augmentation methods. The equating performance of the proposed methods is examined through a simulation study. Five factors are considered: (a) test length (20, 30, 40, 50), (b) sample size per test form (50 versus 100), (c) ratio of common/anchor items (0.2 versus 0.3), and (d) equivalent versus nonequivalent groups taking the two forms (no mean difference versus a mean difference of 0.5), and (e) three different types of anchors (random, easy, and hard), resulting in 96 conditions. In addition, five traditional equating methods, (1) Tucker method; (2) Levine...

Using Bayesian statistics for modeling PTSD through Latent Growth Mixture Modeling: implementation and discussion

Fri, 30 Aug 2024 00:00:00 +0000

BACKGROUND: After traumatic events, such as disaster, war trauma, and injuries including burns (which is the focus here), the risk to develop posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is approximately 10% (Breslau & Davis, 1992). Latent Growth Mixture Modeling can be used to classify individuals into distinct groups exhibiting different patterns of PTSD (Galatzer-Levy, 2015). Currently, empirical evidence points to four distinct trajectories of PTSD patterns in those who have experienced burn trauma. These trajectories are labeled as: resilient, recovery, chronic, and delayed onset trajectories (e.g., Bonanno, 2004; Bonanno, Brewin, Kaniasty, & Greca, 2010; Maercker, Gäbler, O'Neil, Schützwohl, & Müller, 2013; Pietrzak et al., 2013). The delayed onset trajectory affects only a small group of individuals, that is, about 4-5% (O'Donnell, Elliott, Lau, & Creamer, 2007). In addition to its low frequency, the later onset of this trajectory may contribute to the fact that...

The Importance of Prior Sensitivity Analysis in Bayesian Statistics: Demonstrations Using an Interactive Shiny App

Thu, 29 Aug 2024 00:00:00 +0000

The current paper highlights a new, interactive Shiny App that can be used to aid in understanding and teaching the important task of conducting a prior sensitivity analysis when implementing Bayesian estimation methods. In this paper, we discuss the importance of examining prior distributions through a sensitivity analysis. We argue that conducting a prior sensitivity analysis is equally important when so-called diffuse priors are implemented as it is with subjective priors. As a proof of concept, we conducted a small simulation study, which illustrates the impact of priors on final model estimates. The findings from the simulation study highlight the importance of conducting a sensitivity analysis of priors. This concept is further extended through an interactive Shiny App that we developed. The Shiny App allows users to explore the impact of various forms of priors using empirical data. We introduce this Shiny App and thoroughly detail an example using a simple multiple regression...

Class enumeration false positive in skew-t family of continuous growth mixture models

Thu, 29 Aug 2024 00:00:00 +0000

Growth Mixture Modeling (GMM) has gained great popularity in the last decades as a methodology for longitudinal data analysis. The usual assumption of normally distributed repeated measures has been shown as problematic in real-life data applications. Namely, performing normal GMM on data that is even slightly skewed can lead to an over selection of the number of latent classes. In order to ameliorate this unwanted result, GMM based on the skew t family of continuous distributions has been proposed. This family of distributions includes the normal, skew normal, t, and skew t. This simulation study aims to determine the efficiency of selecting the "true" number of latent groups in GMM based on the skew t family of continuous distributions, using fit indices and likelihood ratio tests. Results show that the skew t GMM was the only model considered that showed fit indices and LRT false positive rates under the 0.05 cutoff value across sample sizes and for normal, and skewed and kurtic...

Stress and information processing: acute psychosocial stress affects levels of mental abstraction

Thu, 29 Aug 2024 00:00:00 +0000

BACKGROUND: One mechanism by which acute psychosocial stress effects health-related cognitions and behaviors is through changes in the level of mental abstraction when processing information. However, it is unclear whether levels of mental abstraction would be higher or lower after an acute psychosocial stressor. OBJECTIVES: This research examined acute psychosocial stress's impact on levels of mental abstraction. DESIGN: Randomized between-subjects experimental design. METHODS: A diverse sample of 164 undergraduate students aged 18-24 years old were randomly assigned to an acute psychosocial stressor or non-stressful control condition. Blood pressure (BP), heart rate (HR), and negative affect were monitored throughout the study and mental abstraction was measured at the end of each condition. RESULTS: Mental abstraction was statistically significantly higher (i.e., more abstract) after the stress condition than after the control condition (p = 0.005, d = 0.44)....

Childhood family socioeconomic status is linked to adult brain electrophysiology

Tue, 27 Aug 2024 00:00:00 +0000

A large body of research has linked childhood family socioeconomic status (SES) to neurodevelopment in childhood and adolescence. However, it remains unclear to what extent childhood family SES relates to brain functioning in adulthood. To address this gap, the present study investigated the associations between retrospective accounts of objective and subjective childhood family SES and two well-established electrophysiological indices of brain functioning in adulthood-the MMN and P3b event-related potentials (ERP) components, as neural correlates of automatic change detection and cognitive control respectively. Higher objective childhood family SES, as proxied by parent educational attainment in childhood, was associated with larger (more positive) P3b amplitudes in adulthood. In contrast, there was no association between childhood parent educational attainment and the magnitude of MMN. Adult reports of subjective family SES during childhood were not related to the magnitude...

Towards a global developmental science

Wed, 14 Aug 2024 00:00:00 +0000

Towards a global developmental science

A multimodal assessment of tobacco use on a university campus and support for adopting a comprehensive tobacco-free policy

Sun, 21 Jul 2024 00:00:00 +0000

Many college campuses now prohibit tobacco use. At a private U.S. university, the current study assessed cigarette and e-cigarette use and characterized the climate for adopting a comprehensive tobacco-free policy. Data were gathered January-August 2018 via an: environmental scan; cigarette-urn audit; and representative surveys with campus community members. Despite low prevalence of tobacco (0.5%-8%) and e-cigarette use (0.9%-6%) among all groups, campus cigarette clean-up costs exceeded $114,000 for an estimated >1 million butts left on campus annually. A majority of respondents (63% of N = 2218) favored a campus-wide tobacco-free policy, 16% opposed, and 21% abstained. Most respondents endorsed benefits of supporting health (93%), ensuring tobacco-free air to breathe (92%), reducing litter (88%), preventing tobacco use (84%) and fires (83%), and helping tobacco users quit (65%). Identified challenges included policy enforcement (69%) and stigmatization of smoking...

Testing the Effect of Cue Consistency on the Past Behavior–Habit–Physical Activity Relationship

Sat, 6 Jul 2024 00:00:00 +0000

Behavior performed in the presence of consistent cues is a core element for successful habit development, with the repeated presence of consistent cues facilitating the activation of automatic responses in future. Yet, little is known about the effects of different cue types on habit. Using a two-wave prospective PLS-SEM model with a sample of 68 undergraduate students, we assessed the mediating effects of habit on the past-behavior-to-physical-activity relationship, and how the mediating effects of habit were moderated by the consistent presence of different forms of cues. Habit mediated the effects of past behavior on physical activity, with a significantly stronger mediating effect of habit in those reporting undertaking physical activity at the same time of day, doing the same activity, and in the same mood. Consistent place, people, and part of routine did not moderate the effects of habit. The results provide formative evidence for a key assertion of the habit theory that...

Self-Determination Theory and Workplace Outcomes: A Conceptual Review and Future Research Directions

Sat, 6 Jul 2024 00:00:00 +0000

Adaptive workplace outcomes, such as employee work engagement, job performance, and satisfaction are positively associated with physical and psychological well-being, while maladaptive workplace outcomes, including work-related disengagement, dissatisfaction, stress, boredom, fatigue, and burnout, are negatively associated with well-being. Researchers have applied self-determination theory to identify key motivational correlates of these adaptive work-related determinants and outcomes. Research applying the theory has consistently indicated that autonomous forms of motivation and basic psychological need satisfaction are related to better employee performance, satisfaction, and engagement, while controlled forms of motivation and need frustration are associated with increased employee burnout and turnover. Forms of motivation have also been shown to mediate relations between need satisfaction and adaptive workplace outcomes. Despite support for these associations, a number of...

Acute Experiences of Negative Interpersonal Interactions: Examining the Dynamics of Negative Mood and Ambulatory Blood Pressure Responses Among Black and Hispanic Urban Adults.

Wed, 26 Jun 2024 00:00:00 +0000

BACKGROUND: Negative interpersonal interactions are associated with acute increases in ambulatory blood pressure (ABP). Yet, the mechanisms underlying this relationship are unclear. PURPOSE: This study tested whether negative interpersonal interactions predict higher ABP both in the moment and during subsequent observations, and whether increases in negative mood mediate these relations. These associations were tested among Black and Hispanic urban adults who may be at higher risk for negative interpersonal interactions as a function of discrimination. Race/ethnicity and lifetime discrimination were tested as moderators. METHODS: Using a 24-hr ecological momentary assessment (EMA) design, 565 Black and Hispanic participants (aged 23-65, M = 39.06, SD = 9.35; 51.68% men) had their ABP assessed every 20 min during daytime accompanied by an assessment of negative interpersonal interactions and mood. This produced 12,171 paired assessments of ABP and self-reports of participants'...

Executive Functioning, Daily Self-Regulation, and Diabetes Management while Transitioning into Emerging Adulthood.

Mon, 27 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000

BACKGROUND: Executive functioning (EF) predicts better Type 1 diabetes (T1D) management in the high-risk years after high school, but the daily self-regulation processes involved are unclear. PURPOSE: To examine whether EF is associated with daily self-regulation that minimizes one's exposure or buffers adverse reactions to daily diabetes problems, and to determine whether these patterns become stronger during the transition out of high school. METHODS: A measurement burst design with convenience sampling was used. Seniors in high school with T1D (N = 207; 66% female) completed self-report (i.e., Behavioral Rating Inventory of Executive Functioning) and performance measures of EF (i.e., Delis-Kaplan Executive Function System). A 14-day daily diary assessing self-regulation failures, diabetes problems, affect, and indicators of diabetes management was completed at baseline and 1 year later. RESULTS: Correlations and multilevel modeling were conducted. Lower self-reported EF problems...

Prenatal antibiotic exposure in pregnancy and early childhood socioemotional development

Sat, 11 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000

Background: Antibiotic exposure in pregnancy is associated with reduced microbiome diversity in the infant gut. Given that recent research has shown that early microbiome health can impact child socioemotional development, we examined the relationship between prenatal antibiotic exposure in pregnancy and childhood socioemotional developmental outcomes using a large, nationally representative longitudinal dataset. Methods: A sample of 4800 diverse families were assessed from the population cohort of the Growing Up in New Zealand Study (GUiNZ), which prospectively follows children starting in the last trimester of pregnancy into early childhood. Socioemotional development was measured using a composite score derived from seven commonly used socioemotional tasks administered between 9 months and 4.5 years of child age, addressing emotional expression understanding, regulation of emotions and behavior, and social problem solving and relationship skills. A national comprehensive...

Associations among COVID-19 Family Stress, Family Functioning, and Child Health-Related Quality of Life through Lifestyle Behaviors in Children

Sat, 11 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000

The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in lasting effects on children, necessitating a thorough understanding of its impact for effective recovery planning. This study investigated the associations among COVID-19 family stress, family functioning, children's lifestyle behaviors (i.e., healthy food intake, unhealthy food intake, physical activity, and screen time), and their health-related quality of life (HRQOL). Data from a 2022 survey of parents with children aged 5 to 12 (mean age of boys: 8.36, mean age of girls: 7.76) in the United States through the online Prolific platform were analyzed using path analysis and gender-based multi-group analysis. The results showed an inverse relationship between family stressors and functioning (β = -0.39, p < 0.05). COVID-19 family stress was negatively related to child physical HRQOL (β = -0.20, p < 0.05) but not psychosocial HRQOL. Family functioning showed a positive relation with child healthy food intake (β = 0.26,...

Longitudinal associations of parent-child communication, dating behaviors, decision-making processes, and sex initiation among United States Latina/o adolescents.

Sat, 11 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000

OBJECTIVE: This study examined differences and identified developmental predictors of oral, vaginal, and anal intercourse initiation across generational status among Latina/o adolescents of both genders. More specifically, we compare generational status and gender differences in the longitudinal predictions from parent-child sex communication and dating behaviors to sex initiation 5 years later, and how these associations may be mediated by perceived peer norms, intentions, and attitudes regarding sex among Latina/o adolescents. METHODS: Using prospective longitudinal data from the Healthy Passages™ project collected in Houston and Los Angeles, Latina/o girls (n = 879) and boys (n = 885) who were identified as 1st- (18%), 2nd- (58%), or 3rd (24%)-immigrant generational status reported on their dating behaviors and parent-child communication about sex at 5th grade (M age = 11.12 years), their perceived peer norms and attitudes regarding sex at 7th grade (M age = 13.11 years), and...

Change Over 11–13 Year Periods in Quality of Life, Emotional Problems and Negative Stressful Life Events Among 13–17 Year Old Students

Sat, 11 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000

Studies investigating changes in the general population over time concerning adolescent self-reported Quality of life (QoL) are sparse. The aim of this study is to investigate stability and change over more than a decade in self-reported QoL, emotional problems, and negative stressful life-events among students. Three large cross-sectional samples (N = 1032, 4744 and 3826) of 13–17-year-old adolescents attending public school in the Norwegian County of Trøndelag provide data, one from 2017 to 2019 and two from 11 and 13 years earlier. We analyzed linear and binary linear regression adjusted for age. We found few indications of large changes in overall QoL. The exception was a 50% increase in reported emotional problems in both girls and boys. Girls also reported an increase of sexually uncomfortable/abusive acts from peers from 3.7 to 7.0%. The observed changes must be addressed through public health interventions targeting school as an important arena.

Diagnostic accuracy of ASQ for screening of neurodevelopmental delays in low resource countries

Sat, 11 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000

OBJECTIVE: The Bayley Scales of Infant Development (BSID) is the most used diagnostic tool to identify neurodevelopmental disorders in children under age 3 but is challenging to use in low-resource countries. The Ages and Stages Questionnaire (ASQ) is an easy-to-use, low-cost clinical tool completed by parents/caregivers that screens children for developmental delay. The objective was to determine the performance of ASQ as a screening tool for neurodevelopmental impairment when compared with BSID second edition (BSID-II) for the diagnosis of moderate-to-severe neurodevelopmental impairment among infants at 12 and 18 months of age in low-resource countries. METHODS: Study participants were recruited as part of the First Bites Complementary Feeding trial from the Democratic Republic of Congo, Zambia, Guatemala and Pakistan between October 2008 and January 2011. Study participants underwent neurodevelopmental assessment by trained personnel using the ASQ and BSID-II at 12 and 18 months...

Incidence and Correlates of Emergency Department Visits for Deliberate Self-Harm Among Asian American Youth

Mon, 6 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000

PURPOSE: This study examined the epidemiology of self-harm emergency department (ED) visits among Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) youth, and associated factors. METHODS: We used California ED visit records in 2010 and 2011 to calculate incidence rates of self-harm ED visits for AAPI versus non-Hispanic White (NHW) patients aged 10-29 years. Demographic and clinical characteristics were compared for AAPI versus NHW patients presenting with self-harm. We used modified Poisson regression models to estimate the relative risk of recurrent ED self-harm visits for AAPI versus NHW patients and examined the association of insurance type and gender with recurrent self-harm among AAPIs. RESULTS: Rates of self-harm ED visits for young AAPI patients were 38 and 26 per 100,000 among females and males, respectively. Although AAPI patients presenting with self-harm were equally or less likely than NHW patients to have comorbid psychological and substance use diagnoses at their...

Predicting Adolescents’ Physical Activity Intentions: Testing an Integrated Social Cognition Model

Sat, 27 Apr 2024 00:00:00 +0000

Abstract BackgroundFew adolescents meet guideline levels of physical activity associated with good health, highlighting the need for intervention. Interventions promoting adolescents’ physical activity should be guided by research applying behavioral theory to identify potentially modifiable correlates and associated processes. We applied an integrated social cognition model to identify theory-based constructs and processes that relate to physical activity intentions in a secondary analysis of two samples of Finnish adolescents using a correlational design.MethodParticipants in the first sample (n = 455) completed self-report measures of social cognition constructs from theory of planned behavior, habit, self-discipline, and past and current physical activities. Participants in the second sample (n = 3878) completed identical measures plus measures of socio-structural and socio-environmental factors. Participants from the first sample also wore accelerometers for 1 week....

Developing a narrative communication intervention in the context of HPV vaccination.

Fri, 19 Apr 2024 00:00:00 +0000

OBJECTIVE: We outline the development of a narrative intervention guided by the Common-Sense Model of Self-Regulation (CSM) to promote Human Papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination in a diverse college population. METHODS: We adapted the Obesity-Related Behavioral Intervention Trials (ORBIT) model to guide the development, evaluation, and refinement of a CSM-guided narrative video. First, content experts developed a video script containing information on HPV, HPV vaccines, and HPV-related cancers. The script and video contents were evaluated and refined, in succession, utilizing the think-aloud method, open-ended questions, and a brief survey during one-on-one interviews with university students. RESULTS: Script and video content analyses led to significant revisions that enhanced quality, informativeness, and relevance to the participants. We highlight the critical issues that were revealed and revised in the iterative process. CONCLUSIONS: We developed and refined a CSM guided narrative...

Tracking differential activation of primary and supplementary motor cortex across timing tasks: An fNIRS validation study

Mon, 8 Apr 2024 00:00:00 +0000

Functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) provides an alternative to functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) for assessing changes in cortical hemodynamics. To establish the utility of fNIRS for measuring differential recruitment of the motor network during the production of timing-based actions, we measured cortical hemodynamic responses in 10 healthy adults while they performed two versions of a finger-tapping task. The task, used in an earlier fMRI study (Jantzen et al., 2004), was designed to track the neural basis of different timing behaviors. Participants paced their tapping to a metronomic tone, then continued tapping at the established pace without the tone. Initial tapping was either synchronous or syncopated relative to the tone. This produced a 2 × 2 design: synchronous or syncopated tapping and pacing the tapping with or continuing without a tone. Accuracy of the timing of tapping was tracked while cortical hemodynamics were monitored using fNIRS. Hemodynamic...

Parent–Child Conflict Profiles in Chinese American Immigrant Families: Links to Sociocultural Factors and School‐Age Children's Psychological Adjustment

Mon, 8 Apr 2024 00:00:00 +0000

Research suggests that parent-child conflict is a salient family process in Asian immigrant families and often a stressful experience for Asian American youth due to value discrepancies between Asian and Western cultures. The present study examined ratings of parent-child conflict across conflict topics from parents' and children's perspectives in a sample of Chinese American immigrant families with school-age children (N = 239; age = 7.5-11 years). Latent profile analyses identified three parent-rated conflict profiles and four child-rated conflict profiles. Parent and child conflict profiles were unrelated to each other and differentially related to family sociocultural factors and children's psychological adjustment. Parents' moderate conflict profile scored highest on parent-rated child behavior problems and had the highest household density and lower parent Chinese orientation. Children's moderate-specific and high conflict profiles scored higher...

A Coordinated Analysis of Variance in Affect in Daily Life

Sun, 7 Apr 2024 00:00:00 +0000

Despite widespread interest in variance in affect, basic questions remain pertaining to the relative proportions of between-person and within-person variance, the contribution of days and moments, and the reliability of these estimates. We addressed these questions by decomposing negative affect and positive affect variance across three levels (person, day, moment), and calculating reliability using a coordinated analysis of seven daily diary, ecological momentary assessment (EMA), and diary-EMA hybrid studies (across studies age = 18-84 years, total N_persons = 2,103, total N_observations = 45,065). Across studies, within-person variance was sizeable (negative affect: 45% to 66%, positive affect: 25% to 74%); in EMA more within-person variance was attributable to momentary rather than daily level. Reliability was adequate to high at all levels of analysis (within-person: .73-.91; between-person: .96-1.00) despite different items and designs....

Associations between feeding practices and growth and neurodevelopmental outcomes at 36 months among children living in low- and low-middle income countries who participated in the BRAIN-HIT trial

Sun, 7 Apr 2024 00:00:00 +0000

BackgroundFeeding practices over the first several years of a child’s life can critically influence development. The purpose of this study was to examine associations between feeding practices and growth and neurodevelopmental outcomes at 36 months of age among children from low- and low-middle-income countries (LMIC).MethodsWe conducted a secondary analysis using data collected from children in India, Pakistan, and Zambia who were enrolled in a randomized controlled trial of a home-based early development intervention program called Brain Research to Ameliorate Impaired Neurodevelopment Home-based Intervention Trial. Qualitative dietary data collected at 36 months was used to assess the modified Minimum Acceptable Diet (mMAD), a measure based on a core indicator developed by the World Health Organization to measure whether young children receive the minimum number of meals recommended and adequate diversity of major food groups in their diet. Regression models were...

Can the Cans: Determinants of Container Deposit Behavior before and after Introduction of a Container Refund Scheme

Thu, 29 Feb 2024 00:00:00 +0000

OBJECTIVE: Container deposit schemes are often hailed as a useful avenue to increase consumer recycling rates. Yet, there is little research investigating within-person changes in people's beliefs and behavior following the implementation of these schemes, or tests of the mechanisms by which such change has occurred. METHODS: The current study fills this knowledge gap and assessed container recycling behavior and habits as well as the social cognition factors of attitudes, subjective norms, perceived behavioral control, and intentions in a sample of 90 Queenslanders before the implementation of the container deposit scheme and one and three months post-implementation. RESULTS: Analysis of variance indicated more frequent recycling behavior following the implementation of the scheme, as well as stronger habits, intentions, and perceived behavioral control. CONCLUSIONS: Such a concomitant change in behavior, beliefs, and habits provides support for behavior change theory, while...

Associations of Broader Parental Factors with Children’s Happiness and Weight Status through Child Food Intake, Physical Activity, and Screen Time: A Longitudinal Modeling Analysis of South Korean Families

Wed, 28 Feb 2024 00:00:00 +0000

This study investigated how broader parental factors including parental happiness, parental play engagement, and parenting stress are related to Korean children's happiness and weight status across three years via indirect pathways through the children's energy-related behaviors of healthy and unhealthy food intake, physical activity, and screen time. Data from 1551 Korean parent pairs and 7-year-old children in the Panel Study on Korean Children were analyzed. A path analysis and gender-based multi-group analysis were conducted. Maternal happiness was negatively related to child screen time. Maternal play engagement showed positive concurrent associations with child healthy food intake and physical activity and negative associations with screen time. Maternal parenting stress was negatively related to child healthy eating. There was one significant finding related to fathers' role on children's energy-related behaviors, happiness, and weight status: the positive association between...

Everyday stress components and physical activity: examining reactivity, recovery and pileup

Sun, 25 Feb 2024 00:00:00 +0000

The experience of naturally-occurring stress in daily life has been linked with lower physical activity levels. However, most of this evidence comes from general and static reports of stress. Less is known how different temporal components of everyday stress interfere with physical activity. In a coordinated secondary analysis of data from two studies of adults, we used intensive, micro-longitudinal assessments (ecological momentary assessments, EMA) to investigate how distinct components of everyday stress, that is, reactivity to stressor events, recovery from stressor events, and pileup of stressor events and responses predict physical activity. Results showed that components of everyday stress predicted subsequent physical activity especially for indicators of stress pileup. In both studies, the accumulation of stress responses over the previous 12 h was more predictive of subsequent physical activity than current stress reactivity or recovery responses. Results are compared...

Maternal prenatal cortisol trajectories predict accelerated growth in infancy

Wed, 10 Jan 2024 00:00:00 +0000

Higher maternal cortisol in pregnancy has been linked to childhood obesity. Much of the previous research has been limited in that cortisol in pregnancy is only measured at one time-point, precluding the ability to examine critical timing effects of prenatal maternal cortisol. To fill this gap, this longitudinal study measured maternal plasma cortisol at 15, 19, 25, and 31 weeks of pregnancy, and assessed infant body mass index percentile (BMIP)¹ at birth, 3, 6, 12, and 24 months in 189 mother-infant pairs. Three distinct patterns of maternal cortisol in pregnancy (typical, steep, and flat trajectories) were identified using general growth mixture modeling (GGMM)² and then used to predict child growth patterns using multilevel modeling. Infants of mothers who had flat cortisol trajectories, characterized by relatively high cortisol in early gestation that plateaus by mid-gestation, experienced more rapid increases in BMIP from birth to 6 months, and had higher...

Will tobacco price increases lead more people who smoke to vape? The results from a discrete choice experiment amongst U.S. adults

Sat, 2 Dec 2023 00:00:00 +0000

Abstract Objective To understand the extent to which people who smoke, people who vape and nonsmokers would switch between smoking cigarettes and vaping in response to policies (price increases, restrictions on nicotine, places, and information on addictiveness and/or health risks) aimed at decreasing tobacco use by people who smoke and vaping by nonsmokers.DesignA total of 525 adults aged 18 to 88 years completed a discrete choice survey of 16 choices between two smoking/vaping alternatives. Analysis was conducted using conditional logistic regression for the entire sample and stratified by nonsmokers, people who smoke, and people who vape.ResultsThe results suggest that most people who vape also smoke. Nonsmokers were more favorable to vaping and were concerned about long-term health risks and cost associated with vaping. Marginal analysis suggests that price increases will have only modest success in moving people who smoke to start vaping or encouraging people who vape...

Reciprocal relations between past behavior, implicit beliefs, and habits: A cross-lagged panel design

Sat, 11 Nov 2023 00:00:00 +0000

The current study assessed cross-lagged relationships between binge drinking, implicit beliefs, and habit in undergraduate university students (N = 105). Students completed self-report survey and implicit measures in lab visits 3 months apart. A structural equation model revealed cross-lagged relations between habit and behavior, and some evidence for a reciprocal relationship between implicit beliefs and habit. Implicit beliefs were related to alcohol behavior across time, but no cross-lagged relationship was observed. Findings provide preliminary support for recent advances in habit theory, suggesting that implicit beliefs and habit may develop in tandem or even share common knowledge structures and schemas.

Component-specific developmental trajectories of ERP indices of cognitive control in early childhood

Wed, 8 Nov 2023 00:00:00 +0000

Early childhood is characterized by robust developmental changes in cognitive control. However, our understanding of intra-individual change in neural indices of cognitive control during this period remains limited. Here, we examined developmental changes in event-related potential (ERP) indices of cognitive control from preschool through first grade, in a large and diverse sample of children (N = 257). We recorded ERPs during a visual Go/No-Go task. N2 and P3b mean amplitudes were extracted from the observed waveforms (Go and No-Go) and the difference wave (No-Go minus Go, or ∆). Latent growth curve modeling revealed that while N2 Go and No-Go amplitudes showed no linear change, P3b Go and No-Go amplitudes displayed linear decreases in magnitude (became less positive) over time. ∆N2 amplitude demonstrated a linear increase in magnitude (became more negative) over time whereas ∆P3b amplitude was more positive in kindergarten compared to preschool. Younger age in preschool...

Predicting sugar intake using an extended theory of planned behavior in a sample of adolescents: The role of habit and self‐control

Sat, 28 Oct 2023 00:00:00 +0000

INTRODUCTION: High levels of sugar intake are associated with multiple maladaptive health outcomes in adult and younger populations. Identifying the psychological determinants of sugar intake in adolescents, and the processes involved, may help identify potentially modifiable targets and inform intervention development. We tested the predictions of an extended theoretical model based on the theory of planned behavior (TPB), which specified social cognition constructs, habit, and self-control as correlates of sugar intake in an adolescent sample. METHODS: Adolescents aged 12 to 14 years (N = 88) recruited via a survey panel company and consenting to participate in the study completed online self-report measures of constructs from the TPB alongside measures of habit and self-control. One month later, participants completed a follow-up measure of free-sugar intake. Hypothesized effects of our proposed extended model were tested using partial least squares structural equation...

The Intersections of Race, Gender, Age, and Socioeconomic Status: Implications for Reporting Discrimination and Attributions to Discrimination

Sun, 15 Oct 2023 00:00:00 +0000

This study employed an intersectional approach (operationalized as the combination of more than one social identity) to examine the relationship between aspects of social identity (i.e., race, gender, age, SES), self-reported level of mistreatment, and attributions for discrimination. Self-reported discrimination has been researched extensively and there is substantial evidence of its association with adverse physical and psychological health outcomes. Few studies, however, have examined the relationship of multiple demographic variables (including social identities) to overall levels self-reported mistreatment as well the selection of attributions for discrimination. A diverse community sample (N = 292; 42.12% Black; 47.26% male) reported on experiences of discrimination using the Everyday Discrimination Scale. General linear models were used to test the effect of sociodemographic characteristics (i.e., race, gender, age, SES) on total discrimination score and on attributions...

We (Still!) Need to Talk About Valence: Contemporary Issues and Recommendations for Affective Science

Wed, 4 Oct 2023 00:00:00 +0000

Valence is central to the experience of emotion. However, to the detriment of affective science, it is often ill-defined and poorly operationalized. Being more precise about what is meant by valence would make for more readily comparable emotion stimuli, methodologies, and results, and would promote consideration of the diversity, complexity, and function of discrete emotions. This brief review uses prior literature and an informal survey of affective scientists to illustrate disagreements in conceptualizing valence. Next, we describe issues of valence in affective science, particularly as they pertain to the emotion process, the functions of emotion, and precision in empirical research. We conclude by providing recommendations for the future of valence in affective science.

Activation Versus Change as a Principle Underlying Intervention Strategies to Promote Health Behaviors.

Fri, 22 Sep 2023 00:00:00 +0000

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Interventions are effective in promoting health behavior change to the extent that (a) intervention strategies modify targets (i.e., mechanisms of action), and (b) modifying targets leads to changes in behavior. To complement taxonomies that characterize the variety of strategies used in behavioral interventions, we outline a new principle that specifies how strategies modify targets and thereby promote behavior change. We distinguish two dimensions of targets-value (positive vs. negative) and accessibility (activation level)-and show that intervention strategies operate either by altering the value of what people think, feel, or want (target change) or by heightening the accessibility of behavior-related thoughts, feelings, and goals (target activation). METHODS AND RESULTS: We review strategies designed to promote target activation and find that nudges, cue-reminders, goal priming, the question-behavior effect, and if-then planning are each effective...

Age Differences in Everyday Stressor-Related Negative Affect: A Coordinated Analysis

Wed, 20 Sep 2023 00:00:00 +0000

Advancing age is often characterized by preserved or even enhanced emotion regulation, which is thought to manifest in terms of age-related reductions in the within-person association between stressors and negative affect. Existing research from ecological momentary assessment and end-of-day daily diary studies examining such age-related benefits have yielded mixed results, potentially due to differences in samples, design, and measurement of everyday stressors and negative affect. We conducted a coordinated analysis of 5 ecological momentary assessments and 2 end-of-day daily diary studies to examine adult age differences in the within-person association between everyday stressors and negative affect. Reported stressor occurrences are robustly associated with higher negative affect, regardless of study design and sample characteristics. Across studies, interactions between age and everyday stressors predicting negative affect revealed a pattern of age-related decreases in the...

Adolescent Disclosure to Parents and Daily Management of Type 1 Diabetes

Mon, 18 Sep 2023 00:00:00 +0000

Objective: To examine how adolescents’ daily disclosure to parents about type 1 diabetes management may foster a process whereby parents gain knowledge and are viewed as helpful in ways that may aid diabetes management. Methods: A total of 236 late adolescents (M age = 17.76) completed a 14-day diary where they reported daily disclosure to, and solicitation from, their parents, how knowledgeable and helpful parents were, and their self-regulation failures and adherence; blood glucose was gathered from meters. Results: Multilevel models revealed that adolescent disclosure occurred in the context of greater parent solicitation and face-to-face contact and was positively associated with adolescents’ perceptions of parental knowledge and helpfulness. Disclosure to mothers (but not to fathers) was associated with better diabetes management (fewer self-regulation failures, better adherence). Conclusions: Adolescent disclosure may be an important way that parents remain knowledgeable...

When Health Policy and Empirical Evidence Collide: The Case of Cigarette Package Warning Labels and Economic Consumer Surplus

Sun, 17 Sep 2023 00:00:00 +0000

In its graphic warning label regulations on cigarette packages, the Food and Drug Administration severely discounts the benefits of reduced smoking because of the lost "pleasure" smokers experience when they stop smoking; this is quantified as lost "consumer surplus." Consumer surplus is grounded in rational choice theory. However, empirical evidence from psychological cognitive science and behavioral economics demonstrates that the assumptions of rational choice are inconsistent with complex multidimensional decisions, particularly smoking. Rational choice does not account for the roles of emotions, misperceptions, optimistic bias, regret, and cognitive inefficiency that are germane to smoking, particularly because most smokers begin smoking in their youth. Continued application of a consumer surplus discount will undermine sensible policies to reduce tobacco use and other policies to promote public health.

Labeling and Describing Discrete Emotions in Early Childhood: A Relational Approach

Wed, 13 Sep 2023 00:00:00 +0000

Emotion understanding involves appreciating the significance of the relational context; the “aboutness” of the emotion. This study examined how children labeled emotions and described relational elements of discrete emotion contexts. Preschool children (3.5-year-olds, n = 22; 4.5-year-olds, n = 23) described images of 5 emotion contexts (anger, sadness, disgust, fear, and joy). Researchers assessed children’s (1) correct labeling of discrete emotions, and (2) differential mentioning of the emoter (person displaying the emotion) and the referent (the elicitor of the emotion) across discrete emotions. Children’s pattern of accurately labeling discrete emotions was similar to prior research, with both age groups correctly labeled anger, sadness, and joy more often than disgust or fear. Novel to the present study, we found that older children differentially highlighted emotional elements (i.e., the emoter, the referent) when describing discrete emotion contexts. Specifically, 4.5-year-olds...

A Monte Carlo Study of Confidence Interval Methods for Generalizability Coefficient.

Sat, 9 Sep 2023 00:00:00 +0000

Computing confidence intervals around generalizability coefficients has long been a challenging task in generalizability theory. This is a serious practical problem because generalizability coefficients are often computed from designs where some facets have small sample sizes, and researchers have little guide regarding the trustworthiness of the coefficients. As generalizability theory can be framed to a linear mixed-effect model (LMM), bootstrap and simulation techniques from LMM paradigm can be used to construct the confidence intervals. The purpose of this research is to examine four different LMM-based methods for computing the confidence intervals that have been proposed and to determine their accuracy under six simulated conditions based on the type of test scores (normal, dichotomous, and polytomous data) and data measurement design (p×i×r and p× [i:r]). A bootstrap technique called parametric methods with spherical random effects consistently produced more accurate confidence...

Pharmacist furnishing of hormonal contraception in California’s Central Valley

Tue, 5 Sep 2023 00:00:00 +0000

BACKGROUND: In the United States, more than 19 million people of reproductive age need access to publicly funded hormonal contraception or live in areas where it is not readily available. These include rural areas of the country, commonly known as contraception deserts. Pharmacist prescribing has been proposed to increase access, but little is known about its implementation in such areas. OBJECTIVE: This study quantified the extent of pharmacists' furnishing (prescribing) of hormonal contraception in California's Central Valley community pharmacies and identified barriers and facilitators to implementation. METHODS: The researchers conducted a cross-sectional, mixed methods, observational study by (1) contacting all community pharmacies in the 11 counties of the Central Valley to determine furnishing rates and (2) surveying and interviewing pharmacies that indicated they furnished hormonal contraception. RESULTS: Overall, 13% of pharmacies within the Central Valley reported that...

Multiple levels of contextual influence on action-based timing behavior and cortical activation

Thu, 31 Aug 2023 00:00:00 +0000

Procedures used to elicit both behavioral and neurophysiological data to address a particular cognitive question can impact the nature of the data collected. We used functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) to assess performance of a modified finger tapping task in which participants performed synchronized or syncopated tapping relative to a metronomic tone. Both versions of the tapping task included a pacing phase (tapping with the tone) followed by a continuation phase (tapping without the tone). Both behavioral and brain-based findings revealed two distinct timing mechanisms underlying the two forms of tapping. Here we investigate the impact of an additional—and extremely subtle—manipulation of the study’s experimental design. We measured responses in 23 healthy adults as they performed the two versions of the finger-tapping tasks either blocked by tapping type or alternating from one to the other type during the course of the experiment. As in our previous study, behavioral...

Neurophysiological time course of timbre-induced music-like perception

Wed, 30 Aug 2023 00:00:00 +0000

Traditionally, pitch variation in a sound stream has been integral to music identity. We attempt to expand music's definition, by demonstrating that the neural code for musicality is independent of pitch encoding. That is, pitchless sound streams can still induce music-like perception and a neurophysiological hierarchy similar to pitched melodies. Previous work reported that neural processing of sounds with no-pitch, fixed-pitch, and irregular-pitch (melodic) patterns, exhibits a right-lateralized hierarchical shift, with pitchless sounds favorably processed in Heschl's gyrus (HG), ascending laterally to nonprimary auditory areas for fixed-pitch and even more laterally for melodic patterns. The objective of this EEG study was to assess whether sound encoding maintains a similar hierarchical profile when musical perception is driven by timbre irregularities in the absence of pitch changes. Individuals listened to repetitions of three musical and three nonmusical sound-streams....

Music, a piece of many puzzles in developmental science

Wed, 30 Aug 2023 00:00:00 +0000

Music, a piece of many puzzles in developmental science

The role of incidental affective states in appetitive risk behavior: A meta-analysis.