Mindfulness is defined as bringing one's attention to present-moment experience with acceptance, and is associated with engagement in various health behaviours. To synthesise and evaluate this literature, we conducted a comprehensive meta-analytic review and examined (a) the associations between trait mindfulness and health behaviours and (b) the extent to which these associations were moderated by study and individual differences. A total of 125 independent samples were included (N = 31,697, median male percentage = 38.8%, median age = 28.3). A multilevel random-effects model was used to estimate summary study-level effect sizes, and multilevel mixed-effects models were used to examine moderator effects. Mindfulness had a positive and small association with aggregated health behaviours (r = .08). Mindfulness was positively associated with physical activity, healthy eating, and sleep (rs = .08-.14), and negatively associated with alcohol use (r = −.06). Effects were larger for health promoting behaviours, the acting with awareness facet of mindfulness, and samples involving psychiatric patients. Although findings indicate that individual differences in trait mindfulness do not reliably translate into a pattern of healthful behaviours in general, trait mindfulness shows a stronger associations with health behaviours under certain conditions.

Background Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (RYGB) accelerates gastric pouch emptying, enhances postprandial glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1) and insulin, and lowers glucose concentrations. To prevent discomfort and reactive hypoglycemia, it is recommended that post-RYGB patients eat small, frequent meals and avoid caloric drinks. However, the effect of meal size and texture on GLP-1 and metabolic response has not been studied. Objectives To demonstrate that frequent minimeals and solid meals (S) elicit less GLP-1 and insulin release and less reactive hypoglycemia and are better tolerated compared with a single isocaloric liquid meal (L). Setting A university hospital. Methods In this prospective study, 32 RYGB candidates were enrolled and randomized to L or S groups before gastric bypass. Each subject received an L or S 600-kcal single meal (SM) administered at hour 0 or three 200-kcal minimeals administered at hours 0, 2, and 4 on 2 separate days. Twenty-one patients were retested 1 year after RYGB. Blood and visual analogue scale measurements were collected up to 6 hours postprandially. Outcome measures included gastric pouch emptying, glucose, insulin, and GLP-1; hunger, fullness, and stomach discomfort were measured by visual analogue scale. Results Twenty-one were patients retested after RYGB (L: n = 12; S: n = 9). Meal texture had a significant effect on peak GLP-1 (L-SM: 106.1 ± 67.2 versus S-SM: 45.3 ± 25.2 pM, P = .004), peak insulin, and postprandial glucose. Hypoglycemia was more frequent after the L-SM meal compared with the S-SM. Gastric pouch emptying was 2.4 times faster after RYGB but was not affected by texture. Conclusions Meal texture and size have significant impact on tolerance and metabolic response after RYGB.

Affective judgments of physical activity have emerged as important predictors of physical activity and interventions targeting affective judgments are a promising approach to improving regular physical activity. Currently, measures assessing a variety of potentially distinct constructs are treated as interchangeable assessments of affective judgments of physical activity. Moreover, little is known about the construct validity of the purported measures of this construct. We review several components of construct validity; highlighting their importance for health psychology research. Then, we examine the construct validity of a wide variety of affective judgment of physical activity measures in MTurk and student samples. Cronbach's alpha for the included measures was uniformly high; however, several scales contained excessively redundant items that ultimately lessen their construct validity. Moreover, dependability estimates for the majority of measures was poor, indicating high levels of transient measurement error. The included measures significantly predicted levels of physical activity; however, their relative predictive power was strongly associated with their dependability. In general, the affective judgment measures demonstrated poor convergent validity suggesting they are not interchangeable and best viewed as assessing distinct, albeit related, constructs. Another important limitation of these measures is that they exhibited poor discriminant validity from exercise self-efficacy, which represents an important theoretical and empirical issue for the field of health behavior research. Overall, the current findings indicate the available affective judgments of physical activity measures are suboptimal, have considerable construct validity limitations, and thereby prevent the further advancement of science, theory, and intervention development in this promising area of research. (PsycINFO Database Record

Objective Self-persuasion is an effective behavior change strategy, but has not been translated for low-income, less educated, uninsured populations attending safety-net clinics or to promote human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination. We developed a tablet-based application (in English and Spanish) to elicit parental self-persuasion for adolescent HPV vaccination and evaluated its feasibility in a safety-net population. Methods Parents (N=45) of age-eligible adolescents used the self-persuasion application. Then, during cognitive interviews, staff gathered quantitative and qualitative feedback on the self-persuasion tasks including parental decision stage. Results The self-persuasion tasks were rated as easy to complete and helpful. We identified six question prompts rated as uniformly helpful, not difficult to answer, and generated non-redundant responses from participants. Among the 33 parents with unvaccinated adolescents, 27 (81.8%) reported deciding to get their adolescent vaccinated after completing the self-persuasion tasks. Conclusions The self-persuasion application was feasible and resulted in a change in parents’ decision stage. Future studies can now test the efficacy of the tablet-based application on HPV vaccination. Practice Implications The self-persuasion application facilitates verbalization of reasons for HPV vaccination in low literacy, safety-net settings. This self-administered application has the potential to be more easily incorporated into clinical practice than other patient education approaches.

Objective: Mindfulness is implicated in eating disorder (ED) psychopathology. However, this literature has not been synthesized to date. The current meta-analysis examined the associations between mindfulness and ED psychopathology.Methods: A total of 74 independent samples (effects = 576) were included. We used a multilevel random-effects model to estimate summary study-level effect sizes, and multilevel mixed-effects models to examine moderator effects.Results: Mindfulness was negatively associated with ED psychopathology (r = −.25, p < .001), both concurrently (r = −.25, p < .001) and prospectively (rs = −.22 to −.24, ps < .001). Associations were strongest for binge eating, emotional/external eating, and body dissatisfaction as well as the acting with awareness and nonjudging facets.Discussion: Mindfulness may be an important process in ED psychopathology.Future research should prospectively and experimentally examine the relation between mindfulness and ED psychopathology. ResumenObjetivo: La atención plena (mindfulness) está implicada en la psicopatología de los trastornos de la conducta alimentaria (TCA). Sin embargo, esta literatura no ha sido sintetizada a la fecha. El presente meta-análisis examinó las asociaciones entre la atención plena y la psicopatología de los TCA.Métodos: Se incluyeron un total de 74 muestras independientes (efectos = 576). Utilizamos un modelo de efectos aleatorios multinivel para estimar la síntesis de los tamaños de efecto por nivel de estudio, y los modelos de efecto mixto multinivel para examinar los efectos moderadores.Resultados: La atención plena fue asociada negativamente con la psicopatología de TCA (r = −.25, p < .001), tanto concurrentemente (r = −.25, p < .001) como prospectivamente (rs = −.22-−.24, ps < .001). Las asociaciones fueron más fuertes para trastorno por atracón, alimentación emocional/externa, e insatisfacción corporal, así como también el actuar con conciencia y sin juzgar las facetas.Discusión: La atención plena (mindfulness) puede ser un proceso importante en la psicopatología de los TCA. K E Y W O R D Sanorexia nervosa, binge-eating disorder, bulimia nervosa, eating disorders, mindfulness

We conducted a qualitative study of 1,849 women over age 50 to capture the thoughts, feelings, and attitudes that women at middle age have about their bodies and the experience of aging. Via an open-ended question online survey, four primary themes emerged: 1) the physical and psychological experience of aging; 2) the injustices, inequities, and challenges of aging; 3) the importance of self-care; and 4) a plea for recognition of the need to maintain a contributory role in society. Results highlight the complexities of women’s psychological and physical aspects of aging and point toward important topics worthy of further study in this growing population.

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Individuals with eating disorders experience high anxiety when eating, which may contribute to the high relapse rates seen in the eating disorders. However, it is unknown if specific cognitions associated with such anxiety (e.g., fears of gaining weight) may lead to engagement in eating disorder behaviors (e.g., weighing oneself). Participants (N = 66) recently treated at a residential eating disorder facility and diagnosed with an eating disorder (primarily anorexia nervosa; n = 40; 60.6%) utilized a mobile application to answer questions about mealtime cognitions, anxiety, and eating disorder behaviors four times a day for one week. Hierarchical linear models using cross-lag analyses identified that there were quasi-causal (and sometimes reciprocal) within-person relationships between specific eating disorder cognitions and subsequent eating disorder behaviors. These cognitions predicted higher anxiety during the next meal and eating disorder pathology at one-month follow-up. Interventions personalized to target these specific cognitions in real time might reduce eating disorder relapse.