An Ecological Momentary Assessment Study Investigating the Function of Hoarding.

This study examined the function of hoarding behaviors and the relations between hoarding and a series of cognitive and affective processes in the moment using ecological momentary assessment. A matched-groups design was used to compare college students with higher hoarding symptoms (n = 31) and matched controls (n = 29). The two groups did not differ in what function they reported acquiring served, and positive automatic reinforcement was the most commonly reported function in both groups. Engaging in hoarding-relevant behaviors did not predict change in positive or negative affect when controlling for previous affect. Emotional reactivity and experiential avoidance in the moment were both elevated in the higher hoarding group compared to controls, while momentary mindfulness and negative affect differentiation were lower. Overall, these findings support the importance of emotion regulation processes in hoarding. They also suggest individuals may not be successfully regulating affect in the moment with hoarding behaviors, despite efforts to do so. It may be useful to evaluate processes such as striving for positive affect in hoarding disorder in the future.

Familism, sibling relationship qualities, and sibling sex constellation as predictors of alcohol use among Mexican-origin adolescents.

Sibling relationship qualities and traditional family values (i.e., familism) are contextual factors relevant for early substance use risk among Mexican-origin adolescents. Yet limited research has examined whether familism moderates the effects of sibling relationship features on alcohol use. The present study examined whether familism enhanced or reduced the effects of sibling intimacy, negativity, and sibling deviance on later alcohol use, also testing whether sibling sex constellation (sisters, brothers, mixed) modified the patterns of influence. We analyzed two waves of data (N = 404) from the California Families Project, a longitudinal study of Mexican-origin youth. Using zero-inflated Poisson models, we examined unique and intersecting prospective influences of age 14 sibling contexts and familism on the likelihood of and degree of engagement in alcohol use at age 16. Results indicated a complex interplay of sibling features, familism values, and alcohol use patterns. Familism moderated the effects of sibling intimacy on later alcohol use patterns. For those with lower familism, increasing intimacy was associated with higher probability of any use, but decreasing degree of use (especially for brother pairs and sister pairs). Among those with higher familism, increasing intimacy predicted reduced probability of any use, but increases in the degree of use (for sister and mixed pairs). More sibling negativity was related to reduced alcohol use probability for brothers, and increased alcohol use in mixed sibling pairs. Sibling deviance was associated with greater age 16 alcohol use. This study highlights cultural considerations for including siblings in substance use prevention programs for Mexican-origin youth. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).

Comparing in-the-moment skill coaching effects from tailored versus non-tailored acceptance and commitment therapy mobile apps in a non-clinical sample.

Mobile apps are promising for teaching how to practice psychological skills in high-risk and in vivo momentary situations, but there has been minimal research on the immediate effects of app-based skill coaching on mental health in-the-moment. This study analyzed the mobile app data in a non-clinical sample of 39 adults participating in a larger randomized controlled trial, with participants randomized to an acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) mobile app that tailors skill coaching based on in-the-moment variables (n = 17) or an app that provides randomly selected skill coaching (n = 22). Data were collected before and after each ACT skill coaching session on proximal outcome (depression, anxiety, and engagement in meaningful activity) and ACT process variables. Multilevel models indicated significant immediate improvements on average following ACT skill coaching sessions on all proximal outcome and ACT process variables, although with relatively small effects ranging between 0.17 and 0.27 SD units change. Larger immediate pre-to-post effects from ACT coaching sessions were found for anxiety, experiential avoidance, and cognitive fusion in the tailored app versus random app condition. Overall, results suggest that an ACT app can have immediate, in-the-moment effects on psychological functioning, which may be enhanced by tailoring skills to current context.

Evaluating an Adjunctive Mobile App to Enhance Psychological Flexibility in Acceptance and Commitment Therapy.

The primary aims of this study were to evaluate the feasibility and potential efficacy of a novel adjunctive mobile app designed to enhance the acquisition, strengthening, and generalization of acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) skills being taught in therapy. A sample of 14 depressed/anxious clients receiving ACT used the ACT Daily app for 2 weeks in a pre-post, open trial design. Participants reported a high degree of program satisfaction. Clients significantly improved over the 2-week period on depression and anxiety symptoms as well as a range of psychological inflexibility measures. Analyses of mobile app data indicated effects of ACT Daily skill coaching on in-the-moment measures of inflexibility and symptoms, with unique effects found for acceptance and mindfulness. Adjunctive ACT mobile apps appear promising in enhancing therapy effects on psychological inflexibility and outcomes. A tailored skill coaching approach like ACT Daily based on randomly prompted assessments may be especially promising.

Psychometric Evaluation of the Demographic Index of Cultural Exposure (DICE) in Two Mexican-Origin Community Samples.

Reliability and validity evidence is provided for the Demographic Index of Cultural Exposure (DICE), consisting of six demographic proxy indicators of acculturation, within two community samples of Mexican-origin adults (N= 497 for each sample). Factor analytic procedures were used to examine the common variance shared between the six demographic indicators hypothesized to correlate with acculturation. The index was cross-validated across two samples by comparing fit indices. Finally, index criterion validity was assessed using correlations between index scores and five common behavioral/psychological domains of Latino cultural identity: language use (Spanish and English), cultural practices, folk health beliefs, and fatalism. Results indicated that the six demographic indicators loaded onto one latent factor and that this model had good fit across both samples. In addition, DICE scores correlated with four of the five behavioral/psychological measures. Future use of the DICE as an efficient way to approximate cultural exposure is discussed.