No abstract

Patients with heart failure (HF) frequently struggle to adhere to health behaviors, and psychological factors may contribute to nonadherence. We examined the feasibility and acceptability of a 10-week, positive psychology-(PP-) based intervention to promote health behavior adherence in patients (N=10) with mild to moderate HF and suboptimal health behavior adherence. Participants engaged in weekly phone sessions, completed PP exercises (e.g., writing a gratitude letter, using a personal strength), and set goals related to diet, medication adherence, and physical activity. Feasibility was assessed by the number of sessions completed, and acceptability by participant ratings of ease and utility. Preliminary efficacy was measured by changes in psychological and adherence outcomes. The intervention was feasible (87% of exercises completed) and acceptable. Furthermore, in exploratory analyses, the intervention was associated with improvements in psychological and health behavior adherence outcomes. Larger, randomized trials are needed to further investigate the utility of this intervention.

Most patients are not able to achieve recommended levels of physical activity following an acute coronary syndrome (ACS). Existing interventions to promote activity have not focused on promoting psychological well-being, which is independently linked to superior cardiac health. To address this gap, we developed and tested a combined positive psychology-motivational interviewing (PP-MI) intervention in post-ACS patients to assess its feasibility and explore potential benefits in an initial randomized trial. We compared a 12-week, phone-delivered, PPMI intervention to an attention-matched, MI-based health education control condition among 47 post-ACS patients with low baseline health behavior adherence. Feasibility/acceptability were assessed via rates of session completion and participant session ratings; we also explored between-group differences in positive affect, other self-reported outcomes, and accelerometer-measured physical activity, via mixed effects regression models, at 12 and 24 weeks. PP-MI participants completed a mean of 10.0 (SD 2.2) sessions (84%), and mean participant ratings of sessions' ease/utility were >8/10, above a priori thresholds for success. Compared to the control condition, PP-MI was associated with greater improvements in positive affect at 12 and 24 weeks (12 weeks: estimated

Accumulating evidence for the unique social, behavioral, and physical health benefits of positive emotion and related well-being constructs has led to the development and testing of positive psychological interventions (PPIs) to increase emotional well-being and enhance health promotion and disease prevention. PPIs are specifically aimed at improving emotional well-being and consist of practices such as gratitude, savoring, and acts of kindness. The purpose of this narrative review was to examine the literature on PPIs with a particular focus on positive emotion outcomes. We evaluated the evidence on the effects of PPIs on positive emotion specifically, and discussed the range of evidence regarding the relative responsiveness of emotion measures to PPIs in order to gain a better understanding of the specific emotional pathways through which PPIs influence psychological and physical well-being. We conclude with recommendations for best evaluating effects of PPIs on positive emotion outcomes.

Healthy eating is key to successful management of type 2 diabetes (T2D). As discussed in this narrative review, there are strong indications that spousal support is an important element affecting dietary adherence in T2D. To provide a synthesized review of this evidence, Google Scholar and PubMed were searched, 28 relevant studies were selected, and the results were narratively summarized. A framework for information synthesis was developed which categorized results into three major themes: how gender roles and spousal dynamics function in spousal support for dietary adherence, the role of race and ethnicity in the influence of spousal support on dietary adherence, and the extant interventional work specifically targeting spousal support for T2D. The reviewed studies indicate that gender role performance is the principal factor in the relationship between spousal support and dietary adherence in T2D, though race and ethnicity also contribute. Despite this evidence, interventions that specifically target spousal support to improve dietary adherence in T2D have had limited efficacy. A better understanding of the relationship between spousal support and dietary adherence, as well as a subsequent utilization of this information to create targeted and effective interventions, would be of great benefit to the field of diabetes management.

No abstract

Background Adherence to self-guided interventions tends to be very low, especially in people with depression. Prior studies have demonstrated that enhancements may increase adherence, but little is known about the efficacy of various enhancements in comparison to, or in combination with, one another. Objective The aim of our study is to test whether 3 enhancements—facilitator contact (FC), an online discussion board, and virtual badges (VB)—alone, or in combination, improve adherence to a self-guided, web-based intervention for depression. We also examined whether age, gender, race, ethnicity, comfort with technology, or baseline depression predicted adherence or moderated the effects that each enhancement had on adherence. Methods Participants were recruited through web-based sources and, after completing at least 4 out of 7 daily emotion reports, were sequentially assigned to 1 of 9 conditions—the intervention alone; the intervention plus 1, 2, or all 3 enhancements; or an emotion reporting control condition. The intervention was a positive psychological program consisting of 8 skills that specifically targeted positive emotions, and it was delivered over 5 weeks in a self-guided, web-based format. We operationalized adherence as the number of skills accessed. Results A total of 602 participants were enrolled in this study. Participants accessed, on average, 5.61 (SD 2.76) of 8 skills. The total number of enhancements participants received (0-3) did not predict the number of skills accessed. Participants who were assigned to the VB+FC condition accessed significantly more skills than those in the intervention only conditions. Furthermore, participants in arms that received the combination of both the VB and FC enhancements (VB+FC and VB+FC+online discussion board) accessed a greater number of skills relative to the number of skills accessed by participants who received either VB or FC without the other. Moderation analyses revealed that the receipt of VB (vs no VB) predicted higher adherence among participants with moderately severe depression at baseline. Conclusions The results suggested that the VB+FC combination significantly increased the number of skills accessed in a self-guided, web-based intervention for elevated depression. We have provided suggestions for refinements to these enhancements, which may further improve adherence. Trial Registration ClinicalTrials.gov NCT02861755; http://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT02861755

Psychological well‐being may play an important role in health behavior adherence and cardiovascular health, but there has been limited study of well‐being in patients with heart failure. In this descriptive qualitative research study, we interviewed 30 patients with heart failure to explore their psychological experiences with heart failure and the perceived associations between positive psychological constructs and adherence to physical activity, diet, and medication recommendations. Interviews were transcribed, then coded in NVivo using directed and conventional content analysis, and the Consolidated Criteria for Reporting Qualitative Research checklist was applied to report our findings. Participants spontaneously reported positive psychological constructs both during an acute phase of illness and 3 months later. Participants most commonly experienced gratitude, acceptance, connectedness, and faith in the setting of heart failure. In contrast, pride, determination, and hope were identified most frequently as playing a role in health behavior adherence. Finally, participants reported a reinforcing relationship between positive constructs and health behavior engagement. These findings suggest that interventions to boost positive constructs have the potential to improve well‐being and health behavior adherence in patients with heart failure.