This article investigates 2 questions: (1) does the presence of background noise lead to a differential increase in the number of simultaneously activated candidate words in native and nonnative listening? And (2) do individual differences in listeners' cognitive and linguistic abilities explain the differential effect of background noise on (non-)native speech recognition? English and Dutch students participated in an English word recognition experiment, in which either a word's onset or offset was masked by noise. The native listeners outperformed the nonnative listeners in all listening conditions. Importantly, however, the effect of noise on the multiple activation process was found to be remarkably similar in native and nonnative listening. The presence of noise increased the set of candidate words considered for recognition in both native and nonnative listening. The results indicate that the observed performance differences between the English and Dutch listeners should not be primarily attributed to a differential effect of noise, but rather to the difference between native and nonnative listening. Additional analyses showed that word-initial information was found to be more important than word-final information during spoken-word recognition. When word-initial information was no longer reliably available word recognition accuracy dropped and word frequency information could no longer be used suggesting that word frequency information is strongly tied to the onset of words and the earliest moments of lexical access. Proficiency and inhibition ability were found to influence nonnative spoken-word recognition in noise, with a higher proficiency in the nonnative language and worse inhibition ability leading to improved recognition performance. (PsycINFO Database Record

We aimed to investigate the association between emotion-driven impulsiveness and snack food consumption in 1039 European adolescents aged 12-18 years. During the cross-sectional examination in 2013/2014, complete information was collected on: emotion-driven impulsiveness (using the negative urgency subscale from the Urgency, Premeditation, Perseverance, Sensation seeking, and Positive urgency (UPPS-P) Impulsive Behaviour Scale) and snacking behaviour operationalised as 1) consumption frequency of daily snacks, 2) consumption frequency of energy-dense snacks (both measured using Food Frequency Questionnaire) and 3) usual energy intake of food consumed per snacking occasion in calories. The latter was measured using online self-administered 24-h dietary recalls and was estimated based on the National Cancer Institute (NCI) Method. Anthropometric variables were measured and BMI z-score (zBMI) calculated. Age, sex, highest education level of the family and country of residence were assessed using a questionnaire. Mixed-effect regression analyses were separately conducted for each snacking behaviour outcome with emotion-driven impulsiveness as the exposure. After controlling for zBMI, age, sex, country and socioeconomic status, emotion-driven impulsiveness was positively associated with daily consumption frequency of snacks (β = 0.07, 95% Confidence Interval (CI) [0.02, 0.12]) and consumption frequency of energy-dense snacks (β = 0.25, 95% CI [0.19, 0.31]), but not with usual energy intake of food per snacking (β = 2.52, 95% CI [-0.55, 5.59]). Adolescents with a stronger emotion-driven impulsiveness tendency reported a higher snacking frequency and specifically more energy-dense snacks, whereas the energy intake of snack food seemed less important. These findings have implications for obesity prevention and treatment as they indicate the importance of targeting emotion-driven impulsiveness as a strategy to avoid excessive snacking.

Background Unhealthy dietary patterns and insufficient physical activity (PA) are associated with negative health outcomes, such as cardiovascular diseases, type 2 diabetes, cancer, overweight, and obesity. This makes the promotion of healthy dietary and PA behaviors a public health priority. Objective This paper describes the development, design, and evaluation protocol of a Web-based computer-tailored (CT) dietary and PA promotion intervention, MyLifestyleCoach. A Web-based format was chosen for its accessibility and large-scale reach and low-cost potential. To achieve effective and persistent behavioral change, this innovative intervention is tailored to individual characteristics and is based on the self-determination theory and motivational interviewing (MI). Methods The 6 steps of the intervention mapping protocol were used to systematically develop MyLifestyleCoach based on the existing effective CT PA promotion intervention I Move. The MyLifestyleCoach intervention consists of 2 modules: I Move, which is aimed at promoting PA, and I Eat, which is aimed at promoting healthy eating. Development of the I Eat module was informed by the previously developed I Move. Both modules were integrated to form the comprehensive MyLifestyleCoach program. Furthermore, I Move was slightly adapted, for example, the new Dutch PA guidelines were implemented. A randomized controlled trial consisting of an intervention condition and waiting list control group will be used to evaluate the effectiveness of the intervention on diet and PA. Results Self-reported measures take place at baseline, 6 months, and 12 months after baseline. Enrollment started in October 2018 and will be completed in June 2020. Data analysis is currently under way, and the first results are expected to be submitted for publication in 2020. Conclusions MyLifestyleCoach is one of the first interventions to translate and apply self-determination theory and techniques from MI in Web-based computer tailoring for an intervention targeting PA and dietary behavior. Intervention mapping served as a blueprint for the development of this intervention. We will evaluate whether this approach is also successful in promoting eating healthier and increasing PA using an randomized controlled trial by comparing the intervention to a waiting list control condition. The results will provide an insight into the short- and long-term efficacy and will result in recommendations for the implementation and promotion of healthy eating and PA among adults in the Netherlands. Trial Registration Dutch Trial Register NL7333; https://www.trialregister.nl/trial/7333 International Registered Report Identifier (IRRID) DERR1-10.2196/14491

Background Cognitive functioning (CF) is important for wellbeing and an independent life. However, older adults with chronic diseases are at a higher risk of poorer CF levels. Although, research suggests that physical activity (PA) could play an essential role in maintaining good CF, older adults with chronic diseases have low levels of PA. PA interventions to prevent cognitive decline for this specific group exist. Yet, until now these interventions focused on a single specific chronic disease. Active Plus is a proven effective computer-tailored PA stimulating intervention focused on increasing PA in daily life for the older adult population suffering from a broad range of chronic diseases. This study tests the cognitive effects of Active Plus in older adults with chronic diseases. Methods In this RCT older adults with at least one chronic disease (≥65 years) were allocated to the intervention group (N = 260, mean age = 74.2) or waiting list control group (N = 325, mean age = 74.5). In total, intervention group participants received three times computer-tailored PA stimulating advice within four months (i.e., at baseline, after two months, and after three to four months). The online and print delivered advice were tailored to the specific needs and wishes of the participant and focused on incorporating PA in daily life. Baseline and follow-up measurements of the CF verbal memory (Verbal Learning Test), shifting (Trailmaking Test), inhibition (Stop-signal Task) and processing speed (Letter Digit Substitution Test) were assessed after six and 12 months. Intervention effects were analyzed with multilevel linear mixed-effects models adjusted for the clustered design and confounding variables. Results The dropout rate was 19.1% after 6 months and 25.1% after 12 months. Although both conditions improved on all verbal memory outcomes after 6 months, and all CF outcomes except inhibition after 12 months, no intervention effects were found, not even in subgroups (p > .05). Conclusions To our knowledge this is the first study to test the cognitive effects of a computer-tailored PA stimulating intervention in older adults suffering from a broad range of chronic diseases. The effects of the Active Plus intervention were not strong enough to improve CF or prevent cognitive decline. A blended approach, in which this computer-tailored intervention is combined with a face-to-face PA intervention and / or cognitive training, might be a good suggestion to increase the effects of Active Plus on PA and CF in older adults with chronic diseases. Trial registration Netherlands Trial Register NL6005; Date of Registration 03-21-2017; https://www.trialregister.nl/trial/6005

No abstract

Background Tailoring an online intervention to participant preferences (eg, by giving participants a choice which modules to follow) may increase engagement in the intervention, motivation for behavioral change, and possibly intervention effects. So far, little is known about what characteristics predict these module choices. Filling this knowledge gap is useful for optimizing program engagement. Objective We investigated participant choice for a dietary and/or physical activity (PA) promotion module in our web-based computer-tailored intervention based on self-determination theory (SDT) and motivational interviewing (MI). Furthermore, we investigated which demographic characteristics, current behavior, psychosocial constructs and constructs from SDT and MI, and program-related variables such as advice on which module to follow were associated with these choices. Methods Observational data were used from the randomized controlled trial MyLifestyleCoach of participants who were randomized into the intervention condition, completed the baseline questionnaire, and made a module choice in the opening session of the intervention. Here, they received advice on their own dietary and PA behavior. At the session’s end, they chose which lifestyle modules they would like to follow (both, diet, PA, or no module). Measurements included demographic information; self-reported diet and PA; and several psychosocial, SDT, and MI constructs. In total, data from 619 Dutch adults (59.6% women; mean age was 51.9 [SD 13.5] years) were analyzed. A stepwise multinomial logistic regression analysis was conducted to investigate which characteristics are related to module choice; the diet module served as reference category as almost everyone was advised to follow this module. Results Of this sample, 54.8% (339/619) chose to do both the diet and PA module, 25.4% (157/619) chose to follow the diet module, 17.8% (110/619) preferred to follow no module, and 2.1% (13/619) chose to do the PA module only. Furthermore, it was found that older people, those who consumed more fruit, and those who scored lower on importance to change their current diet were more likely to choose no module compared to the diet module. People who had more motivation to change their current PA and those who received strong advice compared with slight advice to follow the diet module were more likely to choose both modules compared with the diet module only. Conclusions The results show that more than half of the sample was interested in following both the diet and PA module in this online lifestyle intervention. Several characteristics were found to be related to module choice. A future challenge is to examine how this knowledge can be used to improve future interventions, such as tailoring (messages or content) on specific groups or examining where and how MI could be used to motivate people to make a certain module choice. Trial Registration Netherlands Trial Register NL7333; https://www.trialregister.nl/trial/7333

More emotion-driven impulsiveness and reduced cognitive flexibility were associated with a higher zBMI in adolescents across Europe. These results may indicate that being impulsive in negative situations and having difficulties changing mental sets increase the susceptibility for unhealthy weight development. Reducing impulsivity and training cognitive flexibility seem promising targets for the prevention and intervention programmes of obesity.

This paper investigates whether the importance and use of word-initial and word-final information in spoken-word recognition is dependent on whether one is listening in a native or a non-native language and on the presence of background noise. Native English and non-native Dutch and Finnish listeners participated in an English word recognition experiment, where either a word's onset or offset was masked by speech-shaped noise with different signal-to-noise ratios. The results showed that for all listener groups the masking of word onset information was more detrimental to spoken-word recognition than the masking of word offset information. The reliance on word-initial information was larger in harder listening conditions for the English but not so for the Dutch and Finnish listeners. Moreover, no significant differences in the use of word-initial and word-final information were found between the two non-native listener groups. Taken together, these results show that the reliance on word-initial information in deteriorating listening conditions seems to be dependent on whether one is listening in one's native or a non-native language rather than on the listener's native language. Index Terms: non-native spoken word recognition, listening in noise, language dependency.