Ecological Momentary Assessments in Sociology.

The proliferation of smartphone technology has afforded exciting new methodological opportunities within the social sciences. Ecological momentary assessments (EMAs) leverage this recent technological advancement by tracking the behaviors and perceptions of study participants as they are experienced in real time via smartphone devices in natural environments. Despite their longstanding theoretical interest in how the social environment influences a variety of personal outcomes, sociologists have been slower than many related disciplines to embrace EMAs as a viable methodology. This article promotes the use of EMAs by providing an historical overview of the methodology, highlighting several recent developments within sociology, and exploring future directions while clearly explicating inherent limitations to the EMA approach.

Social niche shapes social behavior and cortisol concentrations during adolescence in female guinea pigs.

Individualized social niches arise in social groups, resulting in divergent social behavior profiles among group members. During sensitive life phases, the individualized social niche can profoundly impact the development of social behavior and associated phenotypes such as hormone (e.g. cortisol) concentrations. Focusing on adolescence, we investigated the relationship between the individualized social niche, social behavior, and cortisol concentrations (baseline and responsiveness) in female guinea pigs. Females were pair-housed in early adolescence (initial social pair formation), and a social niche transition was induced after six weeks by replacing the partner with either a larger or smaller female. Regarding social behavior, dominance status was associated with aggression in both the initial social pairs and after the social niche transition, and the results suggest that aggression was rapidly and completely reshaped after the social niche transition. Meanwhile, submissive behavior was rapidly reshaped after the social niche transition, but this was incomplete. The dominance status attained in the initial social pair affected the extent of submissive behavior after the social niche transition, and this effect was still detected three weeks after the social niche transition. Regarding cortisol concentrations, higher baseline cortisol concentrations were measured in dominant females in the initial social pairs. After the social niche transition, cortisol responsiveness significantly increased for the females paired with a larger, older female relative to those paired with a smaller, younger female. These findings demonstrate that the social niche during adolescence plays a significant role in shaping behavior and hormone concentrations in females.

Individualized social niches in animals: Theoretical clarifications and processes of niche change.

What are social niches, and how do they arise and change? Our first goal in the present article is to clarify the concept of an individualized social niche and to distinguish it from related concepts, such as a social environment and a social role. We argue that focal individuals are integral parts of individualized social niches and that social interactions with conspecifics are further core elements of social niches. Our second goal in the present article is to characterize three types of processes-social niche construction, conformance, and choice (social NC3 processes)-that explain how individualized social niches originate and change. Our approach brings together studies of behavior, ecology, and evolution and integrates social niches into the broader concept of an individualized ecological niche. We show how clarifying the concept of a social niche and recognizing the differences between the three social NC3 processes enhance and stimulate empirical research.

Determinants of health status in older patients with transthyretin cardiac amyloidosis: a prospective cohort study.

BACKGROUND: Whether, and to what extent, frailty and other geriatric domains are linked to health status in patients with transthyretin cardiac amyloidosis (ATTR-CA) is unknown. AIMS: To determine the association of frailty with health status [defined by the Kansas City Cardiomyopathy Questionnaire (KCCQ)] in patients with ATTR-CA. METHODS: Consecutive ATTR-CA patients undergoing cardiovascular assessment at a tertiary care clinic from September 2021 to September 2023 were invited to participate. KCCQ, frailty and social environment were recorded. Frailty was assessed using the modified Frailty Index (mFI), mapping 11 variables from the Canadian Study of Health and Aging (frailty ≥0.36). RESULTS: Of 168 screened ATTR-CA patients, 138 [83% men, median age of 79 (75-84) years] were enrolled in the study. Median KCCQ was 66 (50-75). wtATTR-CA was the most prevalent form (N = 113, 81.9%). The most frequent cardiac variant was Ile68Leu (17/25 individuals with vATTR-CA). Twenty (14.5%) patients were considered frail, and prevalence of overt disability was 6.5%. At multivariable linear regression analysis, factors associated with worsening KCCQ were age at evaluation, the mFI, NYHA Class, and NAC Score. Gender, ATTR-CA type, phenotype, and LVEF were not associated with health status. DISCUSSION: In older patients diagnosed with ATTR-CA, frailty, symptoms, and disease severity were associated with KCCQ. CONCLUSIONS: Functional status is a determinant of quality of life and health status in older individuals with a main diagnosis of ATTR-CA. Future research may provide more in-depth knowledge on the association of frailty in patients with ATTR-CA with respect to quality of life and prognosis.

Manifold learning uncovers nonlinear interactions between the adolescent brain and social environment that predict psychopathology.

Background: Advanced statistical methods to model the interplay between adolescents and their social environments are essential for understanding how differences in brain function contribute to psychopathology. To progress adolescent mental health research beyond our present achievements - a complex account of brain and environmental risk factors without understanding the neurobiological embedding of the social environment - we need methods to unveil relationships between the developing brain and real-world environmental experiences. Methods: Here, we investigated associations among psychopathology, social environments, and brain function using participants from the Adolescent Brain and Cognitive Development Study (N=5,235; 2,672 female). Manifold learning is a promising technique for uncovering latent structure from high-dimensional biomedical data like functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). To model brain-social environment interactions and psychopathology, we developed a manifold learning technique called exogenous PHATE (E-PHATE). We used E-PHATE embeddings of participants' brain activation during emotional and cognitive processing to predict measures of cognition and psychopathology both cross-sectionally and longitudinally. Results: Manifold embeddings of brain activation highlight individual differences in cognition and in psychopathology symptoms which are obscured in high-dimensional (voxel-wise) activity. Specifically, E-PHATE embeddings of participants' brain activation and social environments at baseline relate to overall psychopathology, externalizing, and internalizing behaviors at both the baseline and at a 2-year follow-up. Conclusions: Our findings indicate that the adolescent brain's embedding in the social environment yields enriched insight into psychopathology. Using E-PHATE, we demonstrate how the harmonization of cutting-edge computational methods with longstanding developmental theories advances detection and prediction of adolescent psychopathology.

Predicting adolescents' continuation in club sports: A prospective cohort study of the importance of personal and contextual motivational factors in five sports in Denmark.

PURPOSE: The purpose of this prospective cohort study was to investigate the influence of types of motivation, basic psychological needs satisfaction and of a coach-created motivational climate on continued participation in youth sports across types of sport, competitive levels, ages, and gender. METHODS: Participants were 7110 adolescent (age 12-20 years) members of leisure time club organized in basketball, handball, football, badminton, and gymnastics in Denmark. Motivational regulation was measured with BRSQ-6, basic psychological needs satisfaction and frustration were measured with PNSS-S, and coach-created climate was measured with the EDMCQ-C. The participants' continuation or dropout was measured at the beginning of the following season with a short electronic questionnaire. RESULTS: Intrinsic motivation, identified behavior regulation, experiences of competence, relatedness, and autonomy, as well as a coach-created empowering motivational climate, were associated with continuation both in the sport and in the club the following season across different sports, genders, age groups, and competitive levels. Introjected and external behavior regulation, frustrations with the need to experience competence, relatedness, and autonomy, as well as a disempowering coach-created climate, were associated with dropout. CONCLUSION: In Danish youth sports, autonomous motivation, satisfaction of basic psychological needs, and an empowering coach-created motivational climate have a positive impact on the continuation of the sport and the club the following season. In contrast, controlled types of motivation, needs frustration, and a disempowering coach-created climate are associated with dropout. This is the case at both elite and recreational levels, for boys and girls, adolescents, and youth.

Creating A child-friendly social environment for fewer conduct problems and more prosocial behaviors among children: A LASSO regression approach.

BACKGROUND: Creating a child-friendly social environment is an important component of promoting child-friendly city development. This study aims to explore the key indicators of friendly family, school and community social environments from the perspective of children's conduct problems and prosocial behaviors. METHOD: The sample included grade 3-5 students from one public elementary school in the urban areas and another public elementary school in the rural areas of a Chinese city pursuing a child-friendly philosophy. A total of 418 participants were included in this study. Data on conduct problems, prosocial behaviors and the social environment were collected. To effectively select important variables and eliminate estimation bias, this study used LASSO regression to identify key indicators predicting children's conduct problems and prosocial behavior, followed by linear regression coefficient estimation and significance testing. RESULTS: Creating a friendly family environment (ensuring family members' assistance with academic problems) and school environment (reducing cheating, fighting, and unfriendly teacher language) was associated with reduced conduct problems in children. Creating a positive family atmosphere (enhancing children's trust in family members), school environment (increasing parents' awareness of school affairs, reinforcing students' prosocial behavior, increasing extracurricular activity programs, and encouraging student engagement in academics) and community environment (respecting all children in the community) was associated with improving children's prosocial behavior. CONCLUSIONS: This study transforms the multidimensional, complex child-friendly social environment evaluation indicator system into concise and specific measurement indicators, which can provide theoretical and practical implications for government decision-making in child-friendly city development through empirical research.

What influences life expectancy in people with dementia? Social support as an emerging protective factor.

BACKGROUND: The aim of this study was to investigate the role of support from the social environment for the life expectancy in people with dementia beyond well-established individual demographic and clinical predictors over a period of up to 8 years. METHODS: The analyses are based on data from 500 community-dwelling individuals in Germany who tested positive for dementia and were followed up for up to 8 years. Life expectancy was examined in relation to perceived social support as well as well-established socio-demographic (age, sex) and clinical predictors (cognitive status, functional status, comorbidities), using Cox regressions. RESULTS: Greater support from the social environment reduced the risk of mortality (hazard ratio [HR]: 0.78; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.63-0.98), with the role of emotional support being particularly important. Furthermore, higher age was associated with an increased mortality risk (HR: 1.08; 95% CI: 1.05-1.11), while female sex (HR: 0.64; 95% CI: 0.48-0.85) and higher cognitive (HR: 0.96; 95% CI: 0.93-0.98) and functional status (HR: 0.91; 95% CI: 0.86-0.97) were associated with higher life expectancy. CONCLUSION: Our study provides novel evidence that less support from the social environment, especially emotional support, is a risk factor for shorter life expectancy in people with dementia-beyond known clinical factors. Not only the clinical and caregiving needs but also their psychosocial needs of individuals with dementia should be emphasised.

Area-level Measures of the Social Environment: Operationalization, Pitfalls, and Ways Forward.

People's mental health is intertwined with the social environment in which they reside. This chapter explores approaches for quantifying the area-level social environment, focusing specifically on socioeconomic deprivation and social fragmentation. We discuss census data and administrative units, egocentric and ecometric approaches, neighborhood audits, social media data, and street view-based assessments. We close the chapter by discussing possible paths forward from associations between social environments and health to establishing causality, including longitudinal research designs and time-series social environmental indices.

Quantifying Area-Level Physical Activity Offerings in Social Context: A Novel Concept That Goes Beyond Walkability and Access to Open Spaces.

BACKGROUND: Social support is a crucial factor influencing the sustainability of physical activity (PA). This proof-of-concept study presents the development of a Social Physical Activity Index for Area (SPAIFA) an indicator reflecting opportunities for individuals to actively participate as part of a group within which opportunities for social interaction can be developed. METHODS: Six government councils in the state of New South Wales, Australia, were selected encompassing 174 suburbs. Using 2 search engines' map tools, we identified PA venues for each suburb (eg, park, studios, etc). To enumerate activities per suburb, we used (1) venue websites, (2) New South Wales Office of Sport website, (3) national websites of grassroots PA for nonorganized activity (eg, parkrun, meetup, etc), and (4) social media. The database was linked to the suburb demographic profile, the area disadvantage score, walkability and open space scores, and the proportion of insufficiently active residents. Spatial analysis techniques were used to identify SPAIFA clusters. RESULTS: SPAIFA councils' average was 9.9 activities per 10,000 people (ranging from 6.6/10,000 to 16.2/10,000). SPAIFA-Old (ie, activities specific to older adults) varied significantly (ranging from 11.7/10,000 to 0.8/10,000 seniors). Disadvantaged areas and a high proportion of insufficiently active residents were associated with being classified as low SPAIFA (P < .01). Three clusters of low SPAIFA were identified, and 17 high-risk areas where low SPAIFA was compounded by poor environmental support. CONCLUSIONS: SPAIFA can be used by councils and policymakers as an indicator for monitoring and intervening in areas where natural and/or urban design is not conducive for PA.

The influence of social environment and facility support on smoking in adolescent males in Indonesia.

Background: The high number of smokers in Indonesia, including adolescents, causes high morbidity due to smoking. Reducing the incidence of smoking-related disease in Indonesia needs to be done by reducing the number of smokers. This can be done by preventing smoking as early as possible, including during adolescence. The study aimed to assess the prevalence of adolescent male smokers and determine the social environment and facility support that influences smoking behavior in adolescent males aged 15-18 years in Surabaya, Indonesia. Design and method: A cross-sectional study was performed from 1st October 2021 to 31st January 2022 on adolescent males aged 15 to 18 from senior high schools in Surabaya. 369 respondents completed a self-administered questionnaire about social environment and facility support that influence smoking behavior. The questionnaire result of the questionnaire was computed using bivariate analysis to examine the relationship between social environment, facility support, and smoking behavior. Result: Of the 369 eligible participants, 95 (25.7%) were smokers, while the remaining 274 were not. The factors affecting smoking among adolescents were families influence (p = 0.000; PR = 4.805; CI = 2.923-7.900), friends influence (p = 0.000; RP = 3.987; CI = 2.4906.383), and advertisements influence (p = 0.000; RP = 3.137; CI = 2.275-4.325). Facility support was not found to be too influential (p = 0.399; RP = 0.767; CI = 0.472-1.245). Familia influence was the strongest factor in smoking among adolescent males aged 15 to 18. Conclusions: Integrated programs and policies are needed to prevent and rehabilitate adolescents from smoking behavior. Improving their understanding of the health impacts of smoking is also needed.

School participation of autistic youths: The influence of youth, family and school factors.

LAY ABSTRACT: School-aged youths have a basic human right to participate in educational and recreational activities at school. Yet, autistic youths are at high risk of being excluded from school and from school-based activities. It is important to understand how this occurs, to ensure that all autistic youths have opportunities to participate in school activities that are equal to the opportunities of their non-autistic peers. The present study investigated multiple influences on the school participation of autistic youths, including youth factors (age and autistic traits), family factors (parent education level and parental self-efficacy for supporting their child's schoolwork) and school factors (the impact of problems autistic youths experienced with the physical and social environments of school). Using an online survey, we gathered the views and experiences of the parents of 200 autistic youths aged between 4 and 16 years, in the Netherlands. We found that among the factors, only the impact of problems that autistic youths experienced with the physical environment of school was associated with their school participation. In particular, autistic youths who experienced greater difficulties with the physical environment of school had lower levels of school participation. Our findings highlight the pressing need to modify school environments to better accommodate the needs of autistic youths so that they can participate easily and comfortably.

1 km of living area: age differences in the association between neighborhood environment perception and self-rated health among Chinese people.

OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to explore the age differences in the relationship between neighborhood environment perception and self-rated health among Chinese people. STUDY DESIGN: This is cross-sectional study. METHODS: The participants were 2,631 residents aged 18 and above from 2021 Chinese General Social Survey (CGSS). Self-rated health was reported by residents. Neighborhood environment was measured by respondents' subjective perception of 1 km living area. Ordered logit regression models were used to examine the relationship between neighborhood environment perception and self-rated health. RESULTS: In summary, 42.08% were classified as young adults, and 57.92% were classified as middle-aged and older adults. Young adults with higher perception of neighborhood social environment were more likely to perceive good health. Neighborhood built environment was significantly associated with self-rated health among middle-aged and older adults. CONCLUSION: The neighborhood environment is an important predictor of the health of its residents. Neighborhood environmental modifications should be tailored to meet the needs of different age groups, promoting health equity.

Counter-strategies to infanticide: The importance of cubs in determining lion habitat selection and social interactions.

Animal social and spatial behaviours are inextricably linked. Animal movements are driven by environmental factors and social interactions. Habitat structure and changing patterns of animal space use can also shape social interactions. Animals adjust their social and spatial behaviours to reduce the risk of offspring mortality. In territorial infanticidal species, two strategies are possible for males: they can stay close to offspring to protect them against rivals (infant-defence hypothesis) or patrol the territory more intensively to prevent rival intrusions (territorial-defence hypothesis). Here, we tested these hypotheses in African lions (Panthera leo) by investigating how males and females adjust their social and spatial behaviours in the presence of offspring. We combined datasets on the demography and movement of lions, collected between 2002 and 2016 in Hwange National Park (Zimbabwe), to document the presence of cubs (field observations) and the simultaneous movements of groupmates and competitors (GPS tracking). We showed a spatial response of lions to the presence of offspring, with females with cubs less likely to select areas close to waterholes or in the periphery of the territory than females without cubs. In contrast, these areas were more selected by males when there were cubs in the pride. We also found social responses. Males spent more time with females as habitat openness increased but the presence of cubs in the pride did not influence the average likelihood of observing males with females. Furthermore, rival males relocated further after an encounter with pride males when cubs were present in the prides, suggesting that the presence of cubs leads to a more vigorous repulsion of competitors. Males with cubs in their pride were more likely to interact with male competitors on the edge of the pride's home range and far from the waterholes, suggesting that they are particularly assiduous in detecting and repelling rival males during these periods. In general, the strategies to avoid infanticide exhibited by male lions supported the territorial-defence hypothesis. Our study contributes to answer the recent call for a behavioural ecology at the spatial-social interface.

Generating Contextual Variables From Web-Based Data for Health Research: Tutorial on Web Scraping, Text Mining, and Spatial Overlay Analysis.

BACKGROUND: Contextual variables that capture the characteristics of delimited geographic or jurisdictional areas are vital for health and social research. However, obtaining data sets with contextual-level data can be challenging in the absence of monitoring systems or public census data. OBJECTIVE: We describe and implement an 8-step method that combines web scraping, text mining, and spatial overlay analysis (WeTMS) to transform extensive text data from government websites into analyzable data sets containing contextual data for jurisdictional areas. METHODS: This tutorial describes the method and provides resources for its application by health and social researchers. We used this method to create data sets of health assets aimed at enhancing older adults' social connections (eg, activities and resources such as walking groups and senior clubs) across the 374 health jurisdictions in Catalonia from 2015 to 2022. These assets are registered on a web-based government platform by local stakeholders from various health and nonhealth organizations as part of a national public health program. Steps 1 to 3 involved defining the variables of interest, identifying data sources, and using Python to extract information from 50,000 websites linked to the platform. Steps 4 to 6 comprised preprocessing the scraped text, defining new variables to classify health assets based on social connection constructs, analyzing word frequencies in titles and descriptions of the assets, creating topic-specific dictionaries, implementing a rule-based classifier in R, and verifying the results. Steps 7 and 8 integrate the spatial overlay analysis to determine the geographic location of each asset. We conducted a descriptive analysis of the data sets to report the characteristics of the assets identified and the patterns of asset registrations across areas. RESULTS: We identified and extracted data from 17,305 websites describing health assets. The titles and descriptions of the activities and resources contained 12,560 and 7301 unique words, respectively. After applying our classifier and spatial analysis algorithm, we generated 2 data sets containing 9546 health assets (5022 activities and 4524 resources) with the potential to enhance social connections among older adults. Stakeholders from 318 health jurisdictions registered identified assets on the platform between July 2015 and December 2022. The agreement rate between the classification algorithm and verified data sets ranged from 62.02% to 99.47% across variables. Leisure and skill development activities were the most prevalent (1844/5022, 36.72%). Leisure and cultural associations, such as social clubs for older adults, were the most common resources (878/4524, 19.41%). Health asset registration varied across areas, ranging between 0 and 263 activities and 0 and 265 resources. CONCLUSIONS: The sequential use of WeTMS offers a robust method for generating data sets containing contextual-level variables from internet text data. This study can guide health and social researchers in efficiently generating ready-to-analyze data sets containing contextual variables.

Health-Oriented Environmental Categories, Individual Health Environments, and the Concept of Environment in Public Health.

The term 'environment' is not uniformly defined in the public health sciences, which causes crucial inconsistencies in research, health policy, and practice. As we shall indicate, this is somewhat entangled with diverging pathogenic and salutogenic perspectives (research and policy priorities) concerning environmental health. We emphasise two distinct concepts of environment in use by the World Health Organisation. One significant way these concepts differ concerns whether the social environment is included. Divergence on this matter has profound consequences for the understanding of health and disease, for measures derived from that understanding targeting health promotion and disease prevention, and consequently, for epistemic structures and concept development in scientific practice. We hope to improve the given situation in public health by uncovering these differences and by developing a fruitful way of thinking about environment. Firstly, we side with the salutogenic conception of environment as a health resource (as well as a source of health risks). Secondly, we subdivide the concept of environment into four health-oriented environmental categories (viz., natural, built-material, socio-cultural, and psychosocial) and we link these with other theoretical notions proposed in the health sciences literature. Thirdly, we propose that in public health 'environment' should be understood as consisting of all extrinsic factors that influence or are influenced by the health, well-being, and development of an individual. Consequently, none of the four categories should be excluded from the concept of environment. We point out the practical relevance and fruitfulness of the conception of environment as a health source and frame this in causal terms, representing individual health environments as causal networks. Throughout, we side with the view that for the design of human health-promoting settings, increased attention and consideration of environmental resources of salutogenic potential is particularly pressing.

Differentiating social environments of high-risk professionals and specialised nurses: a qualitative empirical study on social embeddedness.

Objective: High-risk professionals and specialised nurses in hospitals are frequently exposed to potentially traumatic events. Psychotrauma researchers have extensively studied personal risk factors of traumatisation among high-risk professionals, but it is hard to understand psychological functioning when professionals are decontextualised from their social environment. Generally, it has been well documented that to reduce the risk of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) or other mental health problems related to traumatisation, it is essential to be embedded in a supportive social environment. However, study results among and within these occupational groups show great variety and even inconsistencies as to what is a supportive social environment.Method: This ethnographical research, including participant observation, in-depth interviews, and document analysis, explored the social environment of firefighters, police officers, ambulance paramedics, specialised nurses, and military personnel and aims to explore their social connections and embeddedness. We performed a thematic content analysis of data to identify themes related to social or emotional support, social relationships, and stress or traumatisation.Results: An analysis of the observational field notes, which covered 332 h of participant observation and 71 evenly distributed formal in-depth interviews, identified four themes related to social connections and embeddedness: Family, Hierarchical relations versus autonomy, Group versus individual, and Conditional family 'love'. Results revealed that the military, police, and professional firefighters have family-like hierarchical connections and highly value group unity. Paramedics and most specialised nurses, however, tend to value individuality and autonomy in their work relationships.Conclusion: This research shows noticeable differences in the social environments and social connections of these professionals, which implicates that prevention and mental health treatment might also have to be differentiated among occupational groups.

It is of great importance for high-risk professionals or frontline professionals who are frequently exposed to potential traumatic events, to be embedded in a supportive social environment; to work with the conviction that others 'have your back'. However, their social environments differ so much that we cannot lump them together in one category.The military, police, and professional or career firefighters have family-like hierarchical connections and highly value group unity. Ambulance paramedics and most nurses working in specialised departments, such as emergency rooms, operating rooms, and intensive care units, on the other hand tend to value individuality and autonomy in their work relationships.To be effective, programmes for preventions, such as professional support or formal peer support, as well as mental health treatments might have to be differentiated accordingly between occupational groups.

The association of individual cognition and social environment of smoking with autonomy over tobacco: A survey from rural China.

INTRODUCTION: This study explores the association of individual cognition and social environment of smoking with autonomy over tobacco, providing evidence and insights to help smokers effectively prevent and reduce tobacco dependence. METHODS: Data were collected from 1389 participants, aged ≥15 years, by face-to-face interviews from June 2018 to November 2019 in central China. We assessed autonomy over tobacco using the Autonomy Over Smoking Scale (AUTOS), including Withdrawal Symptoms (WS), Psychological Dependence (PD) and Cue-induced Cravings (CC), and examined factors of individual cognition and social environment, as well as covariates, including demographic characteristics, health status, and smoking behavior. RESULTS: AUTOS total score was 16.92 ± 9.05, WS score was the lowest (4.40 ± 3.36) in the three subscales, and CC score was the highest (6.88 ± 3.2). After adjustment, WS score of having a greater awareness of smoking hazards to one's own health was lower than those who had no awareness (ß=0.14; 95% CI: -0.31-0.00), and the total score of AUTOS, the score of PD and CC for those who thought smoking was 'more helpful (high)' to interpersonal communication were higher than 'not helpful (not at all)' (ß=0.14; 95% CI: 0.01-0.28 with ß=0.16; 95% CI: 0.02-0.29; and ß=0.14; 95% CI: 0.00-0.28; respectively). Having a greater difficulty in smoking cessation was associated with higher AUTOS total and subscale scores (p<0.001). Notably, none of the social-environmental factors included had a significant association with AUTOS scores. CONCLUSIONS: Interventions targeting individual cognitive factors of tobacco dependence seem to be more effective in smoking cessation. Future research may explore the influence of family and workplace among social environmental factors, which may reveal the effect of a binding force.

Longitudinal Study of Early Adversity and Disturbing Dream Frequency: Moderating Role of Early Negative Emotionality.

Although disturbing dreams are prevalent in youth and are associated with psychopathology, little is known about their developmental course and risk factors. We aimed to examine the association between early social environment and subsequent disturbing dream frequency across adolescence as moderated by early negative emotionality. Measures of children's early social environment and negative emotionality were collected from the mothers of 410 children (5-42 months old) and measures of disturbing dream frequency directly from the children (13-18 years old). Preliminary steps identified subgroups of families with distinct profiles of social environment using latent variable mixture modeling, and captured changes in disturbing dream frequency using latent growth modeling. Regression and moderation analyses were conducted to test the study objectives. Results showed that the diverse family patterns were best captured by two profiles reflecting adverse and positive social environments and that overall disturbing dream frequency decreased during adolescence. Moderation analyses showed that when early negative emotionality was higher, DD frequency was not only more elevated in an adverse environment, but lower in a positive environment. These results indicate that the development of disturbing dreams is most strongly associated with a combination of individual and environment factors. Our study adds to the literature by refining our conception of individual traits and disturbing dream development and has implications for the prevention of bad dreams, nightmares, and associated psychopathologies.