The effect of cognitive reappraisal on food craving and consumption: Does working memory capacity influence reappraisal ability? An event-related potential study.

Regulating cravings for unhealthy foods in favour of healthier options is essential for weight management. Cognitive reappraisal, which involves changing the meaning of a stimulus to modify its emotional impact, has shown promise for regulating food craving and consumption. Eighty participants were presented with high-calorie (HC) and low-calorie (LC) food pictures preceded by cues signalling instructions to naturally view the food (i.e., passive viewing; LOOK) or to imagine the future consequences of consuming that food (i.e., cognitive reappraisal; REGULATE). Participants' subjective craving and event-related potentials (ERPs) were measured, and food consumption after the task was assessed. Participants' working memory capacity (WMC) was measured with the automated Operation Span task. During cognitive reappraisal, cravings for HC foods decreased, whereas cravings for LC foods increased, compared to passive viewing. Cravings for LC and HC foods were correlated with consumptions of LC and HC foods, respectively. Occipital N1 (100-200ms) amplitudes were more negative for LC than for HC pictures, but were not modulated by strategy (LOOK or REGULATE), whereas early posterior negativity (EPN; 200-300ms) was not sensitive to food type (HC or LC) or strategy. Late positive potential (LPP; 400-1000ms) ERPs were largest in the HC-REGULATE condition, possibly due to cognitive processes induced by focusing on the consequences of unhealthy foods. Late LPP (1000-3000ms) was not affected by food type or strategy. LPP amplitudes were not correlated with cravings. WMC was weakly correlated with cravings for LC following reappraisal, suggesting that WMC may influence reappraisal ability. In sum, focusing on future consequences of eating may promote healthier food choices through craving regulation. Further research is needed to examine how regulatory effects evolve over time and how they relate to WMC and brain activity.

Exploring the intersectionality of family SES and gender with psychosocial, behavioural and environmental correlates of physical activity in Dutch adolescents: a cross-sectional study.

BACKGROUND: Examining the correlates of adolescent's physical activity (PA) and how they may differ according to the intersection of gender and family socioeconomic status (SES) can support the development of tailored interventions to more effectively promote adolescents' PA. This study explored how the associations between psychosocial, behavioural and environmental factors and adolescent's PA differed according to gender and family SES. METHODS: This study used data from the Dutch Youth Health Survey 2015. Adolescents (n = 9068) aged 12-19 were included in the study. The associations between psychosocial, behavioural, and environmental factors and PA (days per week engaging in at least one hour of PA) were examined with multilevel linear regression analysis. Potential interactions between these correlates, gender and family SES were explored. RESULTS: On average, adolescents engaged in at least one hour of PA for 4,2 days per week. Poor self-perceived health, low peer social support, and a weak connection with the environment were all associated with lower PA in adolescents. Daily smoking, cannabis use, risk of problematic gaming and social media use, as well as lack of daily consumption of fruit, vegetables, water and breakfast were associated with lower PA, whereas binge drinking was not. Interactions revealed that poor self-perceived health was associated with lower PA in adolescents from moderate- and high-SES families, but not in low-SES adolescents, whereas cannabis use was only associated with lower PA amongst low-SES adolescents. Low peer social support was associated with lower PA across all groups, but it was most strongly associated with lower PA amongst male adolescents from low-SES families than in other subgroups. Amongst low-SES males, low peer social support was associated with a 1.47 reduction in days engaging in sufficient PA, compared with a 0.69 reduction for high-SES males. CONCLUSIONS: This study identified several psychosocial, behavioural and environmental factors that can be targeted to potentially increase adolescent's PA. We also found that correlates of PA differed according to the intersection of gender and family SES. Our findings suggest that PA interventions should be tailored according to gender and SES to address the specific needs, barriers and facilitators of different subgroups.

Mindfulness as a Protective Factor Against Depression, Anxiety and Psychological Distress During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Emotion Regulation and Insomnia Symptoms as Mediators.

Objectives: Research has linked mindfulness to improved mental health, yet the mechanisms underlying this relationship are not well understood. This study explored the mediating role of emotion regulation strategies and sleep in the relationship between mindfulness and symptoms of depression, anxiety and psychological distress during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: As detailed in this study's pre-registration (osf.io/k9qtw), a cross-sectional research design was used to investigate the impact of mindfulness on mental health and the mediating role of emotion regulation strategies (i.e., cognitive reappraisal, rumination and suppression) and insomnia. A total of 493 participants from the general population answered an online survey and were included in the final analysis. The online survey consisted of the short form of the Five-Facets Mindfulness Questionnaire (FFMQ-SF), the Impact of Event Scale-revised (IES-R), the Generalised Anxiety Disorder Scale (GAD-7), the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-8), the Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (ERQ), the short form of the Rumination Response Scale (RSS-SF), and the Insomnia Severity Index (ISI). Results: Structural equation modelling revealed that mindfulness was related to lower symptoms of depression, anxiety and psychological distress, both directly and indirectly. Mindfulness was negatively associated with rumination and insomnia. As hypothesised, models revealed that the associations between mindfulness and depression, anxiety and psychological distress were significantly mediated by its negative associations with rumination and insomnia. Our findings also demonstrated that rumination was related to increased insomnia symptoms, which in turn was associated with increased mental health problems, indicating a mediated mediation. Mindfulness was also positively associated with cognitive reappraisal and negatively associated with suppression, which were, respectively, negatively and positively associated with depressive symptoms, and thus functioned as specific mediators of the association between mindfulness and depression. Conclusion: Our findings suggest that rumination and insomnia operate transdiagnostically as interrelated mediators of the effects of mindfulness on mental health, whereas cognitive reappraisal and suppression function as specific mediators for depression. These insights emphasise the importance of targeting emotion regulation and sleep in mindfulness interventions for improving mental health. Limitations and implications for practice are discussed.

Combining Web-Based Gamification and Physical Nudges With an App (MoveMore) to Promote Walking Breaks and Reduce Sedentary Behavior of Office Workers: Field Study.

BACKGROUND: Sedentary behavior (SB) and lack of physical activity (PA) have been associated with poorer health outcomes and are increasingly prevalent in individuals working in sedentary occupations such as office jobs. Gamification and nudges have attracted attention as promising strategies to promote changes in health behavior. However, most effectiveness studies thus far lacked active controls, and few studies have tested interventions combining these strategies. OBJECTIVE: This study investigates the effectiveness of combining a gamified digital app with physical nudges to increase PA and reduce SB in Dutch office workers. METHODS: Employees in the municipality of Rotterdam (N=298) from two office locations were randomized at the location level to either a 10-week intervention, combining a 5-week gamification phase encompassing a gamified digital app with social support features and a 5-week physical nudges phase, or to an active control (ie, basic digital app with self-monitoring and goal setting). The primary outcome was the daily step count, objectively measured via accelerometers. Secondary outcomes were self-reported PA and SB measured at baseline and at 5, 10, and 14 weeks. Mixed effects models were used to analyze the effects of the intervention on the outcome measures. RESULTS: A total of 78.5% (234/298) of participants completed the study and provided accelerometer data, whereas 36.9% (110/298) participants completed the self-report measures at 14 weeks. In the gamification phase, step count data were missing for 13.5% (473/3492) of observations in the control and 11.4% (445/3888) in the intervention condition; however, these percentages increased to 39.6% (1154/2910) and 59.6% (1932/3492) at follow-up, respectively. During the gamification phase, intervention participants increased their number of daily steps by 634 (95% CI 154.2-1113.8; P=.01) more than participants in the control group, after controlling for relevant factors. Improvements were not sustained during the physical nudges phase (P=.76) or follow-up (P=.88). CONCLUSIONS: A digital intervention with gamification and social support features significantly increased the step count of office workers compared with an active control. Physical nudges in the workplace were insufficient to promote the maintenance of behavioral changes achieved in the gamification phase. Future research should explore the long-term effectiveness of similar gamified digital interventions. TRIAL REGISTRATION: International Standard Randomized Controlled Trial Number (ISRCTN) 49129401; https://www.isrctn.com/ISRCTN14881571.

Fear of failure: a polynomial regression analysis of the joint impact of the perceived learning environment and personal achievement goal orientation.

Background and Objectives: Alongside a strong emphasis on performance and achievement in the current higher educational system, researchers have described an increase in anxiety, stress, and fear of failure amongst students. The purpose of this study was to investigate how the (mis)match between a perceived institutional performance-oriented learning environment and students' personal achievement goal orientation (mastery-approach, mastery-avoidance, performance-approach, and performance-avoidance goal orientation) related to fear or failure.Design: Cross-sectional, correlational study.Methods: Students (N = 329) at a highly selective college filled out questionnaires about the perceived performance-orientation in the institutional learning environment, their achievement goal orientations, and fear of failure.Results: Results of the polynomial regression analyses show that independent of each other, performance goal orientations (approach and avoidance) and the perceived institutional performance-oriented learning environment related positively to fear of failure. The results for mastery goal orientations showed that mastery-approach goal orientation attenuated, while mastery-avoidance goal orientation exacerbated the negative effects of the perceived institutional performance-oriented learning environment on fear of failure.Conclusions: These results indicate the importance of examining perceived institutional learning environments alongside students' personal characteristics in order to understand fear of failure amongst students.

PBL and sustainable education: addressing the problem of isolation.

Problem-based learning (PBL) is an innovative educational approach that dates back to the 1960s. However, the twenty-first century goal of sustainable education poses a challenge to PBL, especially as it relates to isolation. Here we discuss the underlying issue of isolation in three respects. First, the information-processing model of PBL depends on generalized skills, whereas real life problem-solving skills involve context-bound cognitive processes. Second, in all models of PBL, the focus on knowledge acquisition for a specific problem improves performance but separates education from the world at large. Third, the existing culture of measurement strengthens the aforementioned isolating effects. In response, we introduce a conceptual approach based on Hannah Arendt's technical notion of 'world'. We make suggestions to meet the criteria of sustainable education by reconnecting PBL to our shared world, and emphasizing a responsibility for this shared world.

Cumulative assessment: does it improve students' knowledge acquisition and retention? / Avaliação cumulativa: melhora a aquisição e a retenção do conhecimento pelos estudantes?

AIMS: Cumulative assessment has been used as a tool to steer students' study behavior, since it increases students' self-study time while spreading their study time more evenly throughout the span of the course. However, little is known about the impact of cumulative assessment on students' knowledge growth. Therefore, our study compared the growth of knowledge of students who attended a course with cumulative assessment with those with end-of-course assessment. We hypothesized that students in the cumulative assessment condition would have a higher increase in knowledge compared to students in the end-of-course assessment condition. METHODS: This is a follow-up study of a previous randomized experiment that compared students' performance between students who attended a course with cumulative assessment with those with end-of-course assessment. We gathered data of the first four subsequent Dutch interuniversity progress test after the experiment from 62 students. Of those, 37 students were in the end-of-course assessment condition and 25 were in the cumulative assessment condition. The questions were classified as part of the teaching block or not. To analyze students' knowledge growth, we conducted a General Linear Model. RESULTS: Our results demonstrated that there was a significant increase in students' knowledge of the four subsequent progress tests. Additionally, our general linear model showed no difference between both groups, indicating that cumulative assessment and end-of-course assessment produced similar outcomes when comparing students' knowledge growth. CONCLUSIONS: So far, little evidence has supported the use of cumulative assessment as a tool for increasing students' knowledge growth. The lack of finding a positive effect of cumulative assessment on knowledge retention may be explained by the repetitive character of our (spiral) curriculum.

OBJETIVOS: A avaliação cumulativa tem sido usada como uma ferramenta para orientar o comportamento de estudo dos alunos, uma vez que aumenta o tempo de auto aprendizado, ao mesmo tempo que distribui o tempo de estudo de forma mais uniforme ao longo do curso. No entanto, pouco se sabe sobre o impacto da avaliação cumulativa na evolução do conhecimento dos estudantes. Portanto, nosso estudo comparou o aumento do conhecimento entre estudantes que participaram de um curso com avaliação cumulativa, e aqueles que tiveram avaliação de fim de curso. Nossa hipótese é que os estudantes na condição de avaliação cumulativa teriam um aumento maior no conhecimento em comparação com os estudantes na condição de avaliação do final do curso. MÉTODOS: Este é um estudo de acompanhamento de um experimento randomizado anterior, que comparou o desempenho entre estudantes que participaram de um curso com avaliação cumulativa e aqueles com avaliação de fim de curso. Nós reunimos dados dos primeiros quatro Testes do Progresso interuniversitários holandeses subsequentes ao experimento, em 62 estudantes. Destes, 37 estavam na condição de avaliação de final de curso e 25 estavam na condição de avaliação cumulativa. As questões foram classificadas como parte do bloco de ensino ou não. Para analisar o crescimento do conhecimento dos estudantes, conduzimos um Modelo Linear Geral. RESULTADOS: Nossos resultados demonstraram que houve um aumento significativo no conhecimento dos estudantes nos quatro Testes do Progresso subsequentes. Além disso, nosso modelo linear geral não mostrou diferença entre os dois grupos, indicando que a avaliação cumulativa e a avaliação no final do curso produziram resultados semelhantes ao comparar o crescimento do conhecimento dos alunos. CONCLUSÕES: Até agora, pouca evidência apoiou o uso da avaliação cumulativa como uma ferramenta para aumentar o crescimento do conhecimento dos alunos. A falha em encontrar um efeito positivo da avaliação cumulativa na retenção de conhecimento pode ser explicada pelo caráter repetitivo do nosso currículo (em espiral).

The effects of goal orientation on job search and reemployment: a field experiment among unemployed job seekers.

Because unemployment has detrimental effects on the well-being of unemployed people, it is important that unemployed individuals move back to work. The present study aimed at improving the understanding of the job search and reemployment process by applying goal orientation theory to job seeking. Using a 3-group field experimental design among 109 unemployed job seekers, the authors examined the effects of situational learning and performance goal orientation on participants' job search intentions, job search behavior, and reemployment status. A situational focus on learning goals was found to be beneficial for the job search process, leading to more search intentions, more search behavior, and higher reemployment probabilities. These effects seemed to be independent of people's dispositional goal orientation. Findings indicate that goal orientation is a promising construct for both science and practice in the field of job seeking.