National Institutes of Health social and behavioral research in response to the SARS-CoV2 Pandemic.

The COVID-19 pandemic has been mitigated primarily using social and behavioral intervention strategies, and these strategies have social and economic impacts, as well as potential downstream health impacts that require further study. Digital and community-based interventions are being increasingly relied upon to address these health impacts and bridge the gap in health care access despite insufficient research of these interventions as a replacement for, not an adjunct to, in-person clinical care. As SARS-CoV-2 testing expands, research on encouraging uptake and appropriate interpretation of these test results is needed. All of these issues are disproportionately impacting underserved, vulnerable, and health disparities populations. This commentary describes the various initiatives of the National Institutes of Health to address these social, behavioral, economic, and health disparities impacts of the pandemic, the findings from which can improve our response to the current pandemic and prepare us better for future infectious disease outbreaks.

Past, Present, and Future of eHealth and mHealth Research to Improve Physical Activity and Dietary Behaviors.

Because physical inactivity and unhealthy diets are highly prevalent, there is a need for cost-effective interventions that can reach large populations. Electronic health (eHealth) and mobile health (mHealth) solutions have shown promising outcomes and have expanded rapidly in the past decade. The purpose of this report is to provide an overview of the state of the evidence for the use of eHealth and mHealth in improving physical activity and nutrition behaviors in general and special populations. The role of theory in eHealth and mHealth interventions is addressed, as are methodological issues. Key recommendations for future research in the field of eHealth and mHealth are provided.

Behavioral research in cancer prevention and control: a look to the future.

Human behavior is central to the etiology and management of cancer outcomes and presents several avenues for targeted and sustained intervention. Psychosocial experiences such as stress and health behaviors including tobacco use, sun exposure, poor diet, and a sedentary lifestyle increase the risk of some cancers yet are often quite resistant to change. Cancer screening and other health services are misunderstood and over-utilized, and vaccination underutilized, in part because of the avalanche of information about cancer prevention. Coordination of cancer care is suboptimal, and only a small fraction of cancer patients enroll in clinical trials essential to the development of new cancer treatments. A growing population of cancer survivors has necessitated a fresh view of cancer as a chronic rather than acute disease. Fortunately, behavioral research can address a wide variety of key processes and outcomes across the cancer control continuum from prevention to end-of-life care. Here we consider effects at the biobehavioral and psychological, social and organizational, and environmental levels. We challenge the research community to address key behavioral targets across all levels of influence, while taking into account the many new methodological tools that can facilitate this important work.

Preventing HIV among young people: research priorities for the future.

OBJECTIVE: To review the current state of knowledge on the prevention of sexual transmission of HIV in adolescents and to highlight the existing gaps and priority areas for future research. BACKGROUND: A disproportionate burden of HIV infections falls on adolescents, a developmental stage marked by unique neural, biological, and social transition. Successful interventions are critical to prevent the spread of HIV in this vulnerable population. METHODS: We summarized the current state of research on HIV prevention in adolescents by providing examples of successful interventions and best practices, and highlighting current research gaps. RESULTS: Adolescent interventions fall into 3 main categories: biomedical, behavioral, and structural. The majority of current research has focused on individual behavior change, whereas promising biomedical and structural interventions have been largely understudied in adolescents. Combination prevention interventions may be particularly valuable to this group. CONCLUSIONS: Adolescents have unique needs with respect to HIV prevention, and, thus, interventions should be designed to most effectively reach out to this population with information and services that will be relevant to them.

Somatic symptom disorders and illness behaviour: current perspectives.

The behavioural aspects of somatic symptom disorders have received minimal research attention to date. The first section of this paper identifies key theoretical perspectives relevant to behavioural responses to illness. Specifically, the sociological concept of illness behaviour is offered as a general framework in which to consider the range of psychosocial factors associated with responses to perceived illness. Further, the potential relevance of the construct of abnormal illness behaviour and the cognitive behavioural conceptualization of health anxiety is explored. The second part of the paper describes various approaches to the operationalization of illness behaviour, with particular emphasis on the Illness Behaviour Questionnaire, an instrument with a rich history of application. Additional insight is provided into two contemporary instruments which aim to measure overt behavioural aspects of illness more specifically. The third and final section of the paper makes recommendations for how future research may advance the understanding of state- versus trait-based characteristics of illness behaviour. Suggestions are made for how adaptive forms of behaviour (e.g. self-management, appropriate coping) may reduce the risk of developing a somatic symptom disorder or alternatively, minimizing the potentially negative psychosocial implications of such a presentation.

Factores sociales y económicos asociados a la obesidad: los efectos de la inequidad y de la pobreza / Social and economic factors associated with obesity: the effects from inequality and poverty / Fatores sociais e econômicos associados à obesidade: efeitos da iniquidade e pobreza

Objetivo: establecer los factores sociales y económicos asociados con la obesidad en adultos en Medellín. Métodos: estudio descriptivo, transversal. Muestra constituida por 5556 adultos entre 18 y 64 años de edad. Se analizó el ingreso familiar, el nivel educativo, la actividad ocupacionaly el estrato social. Resultados: se encontró mayor obesidad en las mujeres que en los hombres y en el grupo de mayor edad. El nivel educativo, el estrato social y los ingresos familiares seasociaron con mayor riesgo de obesidad. En el caso de los ingresos familiares, el factor más relevante fue si la cantidad devengada por la familia era suficiente para garantizar la seguridad alimentaria. Conclusiones: los factores sociales y económicos que tuvieron un rol significativo en la distribución social de la obesidad, fueron aquellos de mayor peso en la desigualdad socialen Colombia: la educación, los ingresos y la calidad de la vivienda y del entorno urbano...

Objective: to establish the social and economic factors associated to obesity in adults of Medellin. Methods: the study was cross-sectional descriptive; sample size was 5556 people aged from 18to 64. The social and economic factors analyzed were family monthly income, educational level, social stratum and occupational activity. Results: we found increased obesity in women andin the age group from 45 to 64. Educational level, social stratum, and family monthly income were associated with an increased risk of obesity. Related to family income, the most decisive fact was whether or not families earn enough to get food security. Conclusions: the social andeconomic factors had a meaningful role in the prevalence of obesity were the same related to social inequalities in Colombia: education, family income and housing and neighborhood quality...

Objetivo: estabelecer os fatores sociais e econômicos associados à obesidade em adultos em Medellín. Métodos: estudo descritivo, transversal. Amostra constituída por 5556 adultos entre 18e 64 anos de idade. Analisaram-se as rendas familiares, nível educativo, atividade ocupacional e estrato social. Resultados: Encontrou-se maior nível de obesidade nas mulheres do que noshomens e no grupo de maior idade. O nível educativo, o estrato social e as rendas familiares associaram-se com um risco maior de obesidade. No caso das rendas familiares, o fator maisrelevante foi se o monto ganho pela família foi suficiente para garantir a segurança alimentar. Conclusões: os fatores sociais e econômicos com um papel significativo na distribuição socialda obesidade foram aqueles com peso maior na desigualdade social na Colômbia: educação, rendas e qualidade da moradia e do entorno urbano...

Addiction treatment outcomes, process and change: Texas Institute of Behavioral Research at Texas Christian University.

For more than 40 years the Texas Institute of Behavioral Research (IBR) has given special attention to assessment and evaluation of drug user populations, addiction treatment services and various cognitive and behavioral interventions. Emphasis has been on studies in real-world settings and the use of multivariate methodologies to address evaluation issues within the context of longitudinal natural designs. Historically, its program of addiction treatment research may be divided into three sequential epochs-the first era dealt mainly with client assessment and its role in treatment outcome and evaluation (1969-89), the second focused upon modeling the treatment process and the importance of conceptual frameworks (1989-2009) in explaining the relationships among treatment environment, client attributes, treatment process and outcome, and the third (and current) era has expanded into studying tactical deployment of innovations and implementation. Recent projects focus upon adapting and implementing innovations for improving early engagement in adolescent residential treatment settings and drug-dependent criminal justice populations. Related issues include the spread of human immunodeficiency virus/acquired immune deficiency syndrome and other infectious diseases, organizational and systems functioning, treatment costs and process related to implementation of evidence-based practices.

Translational research in behavior analysis: historical traditions and imperative for the future.

"Pure basic" science can become detached from the natural world that it is supposed to explain. "Pure applied" work can become detached from fundamental processes that shape the world it is supposed to improve. Neither demands the intellectual support of a broad scholarly community or the material support of society. Translational research can do better by seeking innovation in theory or practice through the synthesis of basic and applied questions, literatures, and methods. Although translational thinking has always occurred in behavior analysis, progress often has been constrained by a functional separation of basic and applied communities. A review of translational traditions in behavior analysis suggests that innovation is most likely when individuals with basic and applied expertise collaborate. Such innovation may have to accelerate for behavior analysis to be taken seriously as a general-purpose science of behavior. We discuss the need for better coordination between the basic and applied sectors, and argue that such coordination compromises neither while benefiting both.

Reflections on ethnic minority psychology: learning from our past so the present informs our future.

Commentary on progress and reflections of conversations that undergirded the advancement of ethnic minority psychology are presented by the author as a perspective of an Elder. Articles in this special issue are considered in terms of the themes that emerged from their narratives on the history of ethnic psychological associations, Division 45, the Minority Fellowship Program, and governance's response to multicultural issues within the American Psychological Association. Themes in the history of African Americans, Latinos, Asian Americans, American Indians, Alaska Natives, and Native Hawaiians are discussed in terms of the centrality of culture, history, and pride in resilience, treatment in U.S. history, representation in literature, and its implications for training, research and practice, challenges for ethnic psychological associations, and tensions in transition to a multicultural psychology movement.

Yours, mine, and ours: the importance of scientific collaboration in advancing the field of behavior change research.

The Behavior Change Consortium (BCC) has provided a unique opportunity to combine and explore resources, data, processes, and knowledge as a means of strengthening the validity, reliability, and outcomes that compose the field of behavioral science. The workgroups of the BCC were able to transcend disciplinary boundaries by developing a collaborative framework that fused scholarship and creativity to explore research problems in the area of health behavior change theory and intervention. We have identified seven common elements that emerged from each workgroup and fostered inclusion, progress, and ultimately results. These elements were (a) establishing communication channels, (b) identifying objectives, (c) utilizing common measures, (d) obtaining financial support, (e) seeking outside feedback, (f) engaging "big picture" thinking, and (g) bridging theory to practice. In this article we describe the various processes involved in the creation and sustainability of the BCC, including internal and external communications, leadership, workgroup roles, private and public partnerships, and issues associated with data sharing. We also discuss why, in the case of the BCC, the whole is far greater than the sum of its parts. We present this example of unparalleled multibehavioral research collaboration as a model to other collaborative efforts that will be spawned by the new National Institutes of Health Roadmap initiative.