Greater Worry Research Articles

The impact of hypoglycemia on quality of life and related outcomes in children and adolescents with type 1 diabetes: A systematic review.

To conduct a systematic review to examine associations between hypoglycemia and quality of life (QoL) in children and adolescents with type 1 diabetes. Four databases (Medline, Cochrane Library, CINAHL, PsycINFO) were searched systematically in November 2019 and searches were updated in September 2021. Studies were eligible if they included children and/or adolescents with type 1 diabetes, reported on the association between hypoglycemia and QoL (or related outcomes), had a quantitative design, and were published in a peer-reviewed journal after 2000. A protocol was registered the International Prospective Register of Systematic Reviews (PROSPERO; CRD42020154023). Studies were evaluated using the Joanna Briggs Institute's critical appraisal tool. A narrative synthesis was conducted by outcome and hypoglycemia severity. In total, 27 studies met inclusion criteria. No hypoglycemia-specific measures of QoL were identified. Evidence for an association between SH and (domains) of generic and diabetes-specific QoL was too limited to draw conclusions, due to heterogenous definitions and operationalizations of hypoglycemia and outcomes across studies. SH was associated with greater worry about hypoglycemia, but was not clearly associated with diabetes distress, depression, anxiety, disordered eating or posttraumatic stress disorder. Although limited, some evidence suggests that more recent, more frequent, or more severe episodes of hypoglycemia may be associated with adverse outcomes and that the context in which hypoglycemia takes places might be important in relation to its impact. There is insufficient evidence regarding the impact of hypoglycemia on QoL in children and adolescents with type 1 diabetes at this stage. There is a need for further research to examine this relationship, ideally using hypoglycemia-specific QoL measures.

Knowledge and attitudes related to the COVID-19: role of media communication and emotional factors

BackgroundThe COVID-19 pandemic was characterized by difficult communication challenges due also to scientific uncertainty regarding the nature and management of the new coronavirus. The aim of the study was to assess the impact of media information on the population's COVID-19-related knowledge, behavior and emotional state.MethodsIn a cross-sectional study, data from July to September 2020 was collected via survey posted on social media (SM). It included also an analysis of participants' e-health literacy (e-HEALS), and depression, anxiety, and stress symptoms using DASS-21 tool.ResultsOf the 2,140 subjects, as a main source of information, 69% indicated institutional websites and 26% SM. Fifty-four percent believed expert information to be crucial in changing their behavior. However 30% of health professionals (HP) and 37% of non-HP found expert (scientists) communication hard to understand. Despite high education level (44.3% graduates), 19% denied knowing of the virus origin. Others believed the human manipulation theory (33% of the total and 29% of HP). The e-HEALS score in these subjects was lower than those reporting the natural origin of virus (28.4 ± 6.2 vs 30.5 ± 6.1, p<.001). Young people aged <35 y reported signs of depression (41%), anxiety (28%) and stress (36%) more than older participants (p=.0001). As for infection concern, it was higher in females (58% p<.001), those not living alone (56% p<.01), those living with a senior (62% p<.01) or with those at high risk of COVID-19 (64%p<.001). Greater worry meant stricter guideline adherence (hand washing 56% p<.0001; surface sanitation 42% p<.0001; social distancing 77% p<.0001) and mask usage before mandate (45% p<.0001).ConclusionsAlthough the sample was overall well informed and followed preventive measures, institutional communication was found to be confusing especially by experts. The findings highlighted the strong psychological impact on the community, young people especially.Key messages The study confirms the importance of putting effort on population health literacy and more effective institutional communication strategies.Proactive and timely psychological interventions should be provided to address the mental health needs of the population resulting from the pandemic.

Associations between demographics and quality of life in children in the first year of cancer treatment.

Symptom distress and decreased quality of life (QOL) among children with cancer are well documented. Research is emerging on the child's voice in QOL-symptom reports, but existing QOL questionnaires are burdensome and objective biologic markers are lacking. We examined children's symptoms and QOL from parent and child perspectives and compared the results to one biologic marker (body posture). A cross-sectional secondary analysis of prospective data from children receiving creative arts therapy explored potential associations among demographics with and between QOL measures (PedsQL, Faces Scale, posture). Children (n = 98) ranged in age from 3 to 17 years (M = 7.8) and were in the first year of cancer treatment. No significant associations were found among the child's sex, race/ethnicity, socioeconomic status (SES), or distance from hospital, and total PedsQL. Older age was associated with worse total PedsQL, pain, nausea, worry, and posture (all P < 0.05). Greater worry (β = 0.51) and worse posture (β = 0.41) were the QOL variables most strongly correlated with older age. Poorer posture was associated with worse child PedsQL (total score, nausea, treatment anxiety, cognitive) and parent PedsQL (pain, nausea). Worse scores on the Faces Scale, PedsQL, and posture were all correlated (r = 0.21-0.39, all P < 0.05). Interventions to improve QOL could target nausea, worry, and older patients. Accuracy and interpretation of symptom distress in children are problematic. The Faces Scale and posture may be suitable, readily obtained measures of QOL in pediatric oncology that hold promise.

Holding a stigmatizing attitude at the start of the COVID‐19 outbreak: A cross‐sectional survey

ObjectivesTo identify the prevalence of a stigmatizing attitude towards people of Chinese origin at the start of the COVID‐19 outbreak in the UK population and investigate factors associated with holding the stigmatizing attitude.DesignOnline cross‐sectional survey conducted 10–13 February 2020 (n = 2006, people aged 16 years or over and living in the UK).MethodsWe asked participants to what extent they agreed it was best to avoid areas heavily populated by Chinese people because of the COVID‐19 outbreak. Survey materials also asked about: worry, perceived risk, knowledge, information receipt, perception of government response to COVID‐19, and personal characteristics. We ran binary logistic regressions to investigate associations between holding a stigmatizing attitude, personal characteristics, and psychological and contextual factors.Results26.1% people (95% CI 24.2–28.0%, n = 524/2006) agreed it was best to avoid areas heavily populated by Chinese people. Holding a stigmatizing attitude was associated with greater worry about COVID‐19, greater perceived risk of COVID‐19, and poorer knowledge about COVID‐19.ConclusionsAt the start of the COVID‐19 pandemic, a large percentage of the UK public endorsed avoiding areas in the UK heavily populated by people of Chinese origin. This attitude was associated with greater worry about, and perceived risk of, the COVID‐19 outbreak as well as poorer knowledge about COVID‐19. At the start of future novel infectious disease outbreaks, proactive communications from official sources should provide context and facts to reduce uncertainty and challenge stigmatizing attitudes, to minimize harms to affected communities.

Impact of diagnostic labels and causal explanations for weight gain on diet intentions, cognitions and emotions: An experimental online study

Disease labels and causal explanations for certain symptoms or conditions have been found to have both positive and negative outcomes. For example, a diagnosis of polycystic ovary syndrome could conceivably motivate a person to engage in weight management, which is the recommended first line treatment. Furthermore, doctors may feel more comfortable discussing weight when linked to a medical condition. However, such a diagnosis may elicit feelings of increased anxiety, perceived severity and reduced sense of control. Mixed findings are also evident for impacts of genetic explanations on psychosocial outcomes and behaviours. Using hypothetical scenarios presented in an online survey, participants were asked to imagine that they were visiting their general practitioner due to experiencing weight gain, irregular periods, and more pimples than usual. Participants were randomised to receive different diagnostic labels (‘polycystic ovary syndrome', ‘weight’ or no label/description) and causal explanations (genetic or environmental) for their symptoms. Primary outcomes assessed included intention to eat a healthier diet and perceived personal control of weight (average score on scale 1–7 across 3 items). Secondary outcomes included weight stigma, blameworthiness, worry, perceived severity, self-esteem, belief diet will reduce risks and menu item choice. Participants were 545 females aged 18–45 years (mean = 33 years), living in Australia, recruited through a national online recruitment panel. The sample was overweight on average (BMI = 26.5). Participants reporting a PCOS diagnosis were excluded from analyses. We found no main effects of the label or explanation on intention to eat healthier or perceived personal control of weight. For secondary outcomes, those given the genetic explanation reported higher weight stigma (range 1–7; MD = 0.27, 95%CI: 0.011,0.522), greater worry (range 1–7; MD = 0.27, 95%CI: 0.037,0.496), lower self-esteem (range 10–40; MD = 1.26, 95%CI: 0.28 to 2.24) and perceived their weight as more severe (range 1–7; MD = 0.28; 95%CI: 0.05,0.52) than those given the environmental explanation, averaged over disease label given. These findings further highlight the deleterious effects of genetic explanations on psychosocial outcomes and reinforce the need for caution when communicating the aetiology of weight-related health issues.

Hippocampal-Prefrontal Connectivity Prior to the COVID-19 Pandemic Predicts Stress Reactivity

BackgroundBy adolescence, foundational cognitive and affective neurobehavioral processes specialize based on environmental demands, such as stress, to determine the basis of adult trajectories. The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has increased stress for everyone, particularly adolescents who face unique stressors such as restrictions in socialization and education. However, variability in brain processes supporting stress reactivity is not well understood. Here, we leverage pre-pandemic brain development studies to identify how maturity of prefrontal connectivity with the amygdala and hippocampus (HPC) is associated with response to COVID-19. We hypothesized that age-related changes in connectivity of affective and cognitive brain systems may underlie the emotional response of adolescents during the pandemic. MethodsIn this study, 10- to 31-year-old participants (n = 111) completed resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging scans prior to the pandemic and then completed a questionnaire 9 months into the pandemic measuring worry, COVID-related stress, sadness, perceived stress, and positive affect. Associations between pairwise functional connectivity of HPC/amygdala subregions with prefrontal cortex subdivisions and affective reactivity during the pandemic were examined. ResultsRegression analyses indicated that both worry and COVID-19–related stress increased with age (false discovery rate–corrected p < .05). Furthermore, greater connectivity between the anterior ventromedial prefrontal cortex and posterior HPC was associated with greater worry and COVID-19–related stress (p < .05 corrected), which was primarily driven by individuals younger than 18 years. ConclusionsTaken together, our results indicate that increases in stress reactivity to the COVID-19 pandemic across the transition to adulthood are driven by maturation of posterior HPC–ventromedial prefrontal cortex coupling, which integrates stress response and emotional memory processing.

Assessment of intolerance of uncertainty: Validation of a modified anagram task

Background and objectivesIntolerance of uncertainty (IU) is an individual difference factor that reflects difficulty tolerating emotional distress in the context of uncertainty and is a robust transdiagnostic risk factor for emotional disorders. A limitation of prior research on IU is the heavy reliance on self-report measures to assess this construct. The aim of the present study was to examine the validity of a brief, computerized anagram task modified to assess IU (the PACT Anagram Task; PAT). MethodsParticipants were 221 unselected undergraduate students (71% female; Mage = 19; 89% Caucasian) who completed the PAT and a series of self-report measures of convergent, discriminant, and incremental validity, and measures of anxiety and depression symptoms online for course credit. ResultsGreater PAT-Distress was positively correlated measures of convergent validity and demonstrated incremental validity in relation to self-reported IU above and beyond attentional control. None of the PAT indicators were associated with compassion or empathic concern, evidencing discriminant validity. PAT-Distress and PAT-Answers were each associated with greater worry above and beyond self-reported IU. LimitationsStudy limitations include the cross-sectional design and lack of diversity in terms of sample demographics. Furthermore, we did not examine convergence between this task and other behavioral measures of IU. ConclusionSubjective distress following completion of the PAT may serve as one indicator of IU. Further research is needed in order to replicate these results and validate the use of the PAT in clinical samples.

Psychosocial impact of Covid-19 outbreak on Italian asthmatic children and their mothers in a post lockdown scenario

Italy was the first European country to fight the Covid-19 outbreak. To limit the transmission of the virus, the Italian Government imposed strict domestic quarantine policies and temporary closure of non-essential businesses and schools from March 10th,2020. Although more and more literature is exploring the impact of the pandemic on non-referred children and families, only a few studies are focused on the psychosocial impact of Covid-19 in chronically ill children and their caregivers. The present study investigates asthma control and children and mothers’ psychological functioning (i.e.: psychological well-being, fear of contagion, and mothers’ Covid-19 related fears) in 45 asthmatic children aged 7-to-14, compared to a control sample. The subjects were administered an online survey after the lockdown (from 28th May to 23rd August 2020). The analysis shows that asthmatic children presented higher concern in relation to contagion, however, no difference in psychological functioning was displayed between the two cohorts. Mothers reported more Covid-19 related fears, and greater worries according to the resumption of their children’s activities. Moreover, they indicated a global worsening of their psychological well-being during the lockdown. Furthermore, regarding the clinical sample, the multivariate regression model showed that a worsening of mothers' psychological and children’s physical well-being was associated with a worsening of children’s psychological well-being during the lockdown. The results of this study indicate that mothers of asthmatic children can be more prone to experience psychological fatigue in a pandemic scenario. Special programs should be developed to support caregivers of chronically ill children.

The Effect of Meditation and Physical Activity on the Mental Health Impact of COVID-19-Related Stress and Attention to News Among Mobile App Users in the United States: Cross-sectional Survey.

BackgroundThe COVID-19 pandemic has been declared an international public health emergency, and it may have long-lasting effects on people’s mental health. There is a need to identify effective health behaviors to mitigate the negative mental health impact of COVID-19.ObjectiveThe objectives of this study were to (1) examine the regional differences in mental health and COVID-19–related worry, attention to news, and stress, in light of the state-level prevalence of COVID-19 cases; (2) estimate the associations between mental health and COVID-19–related worry, attention to news, and stress and health behavior engagement (ie, physical activity, mindfulness meditation); and (3) explore the mediating effect of health behavior engagement on the associations between mental health and COVID-19–related worry, attention to news, and stress.MethodsA cross-sectional survey was distributed to a sample of US adult paying subscribers to the Calm app (data were collected from April 22 to June 3, 2020). The survey assessed COVID-19–related worry, attention to news, and stress; health behavior engagement; and mental health (ie, perceived stress, posttraumatic stress disorder, and anxiety and depression). Statistical analyses were performed using R software. Differences in COVID-19–related worry, attention to news, and stress and mental health by location were assessed using t tests and chi-square tests. Logistic and ordinary least squares models were used to regress mental health and health behavior on COVID-19–related worry, attention to news, and stress; moreover, causal mediation analysis was used to estimate the significance of the mediation effects.ResultsThe median age of the respondents (N=8392) was 47 years (SD 13.8). Participants in the Mid-Atlantic region (New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania) reported higher levels of stress, more severe depression symptoms, greater worry about COVID-19, paying more attention to COVID-19–related news, and more stress related to social distancing recommendations than participants living in other regions. The association between worry about COVID-19 and perceived stress was significantly mediated by changes in physical activity (P<.001), strength of meditation habit (P<.001), and stopping meditation (P=.046). The association between worry about COVID-19 and posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms was significantly mediated by changes in physical activity (P<.001) and strength of meditation habit (P<.001).ConclusionsOur findings describe the mental health impact of COVID-19 and outline how continued participation in health behaviors such as physical activity and mindfulness meditation reduce worsening of mental health due to the COVID-19 pandemic. These data have important implications for public health agencies and health organizations to promote the maintenance of health habits to reduce the residual mental health burden of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Online Survey of the Impact of COVID-19 Risk and Cost Estimates on Worry and Health Behavior Compliance in Young Adults.

The novel coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic is associated with elevated rates of anxiety and relatively lower compliance with public health guidelines in younger adults. To develop strategies for reducing anxiety and increasing adherence with health guidelines, it is important to understand the factors that contribute to anxiety and health compliance in the context of COVID-19. Earlier research has shown that greater perceived risk of negative events and their costs are associated with increased anxiety and compliance with health behaviors, but it is unclear what role they play in a novel pandemic surrounded by uncertainty. In the present study we measured (1) perceived risk as the self-reported probability of being infected and experiencing serious symptoms due to COVID-19 and (2) perceived cost as financial, real-world, physical, social, and emotional consequences of being infected with COVID-19. Worry was assessed using the Penn State Worry Questionnaire (PWSQ) and health compliance was measured as endorsement of the World Health Organization (WHO) health directives for COVID-19. Our results showed that greater perceived risk and costs of contracting the COVID-19 virus were associated with greater worry and while only costs were associated with greater compliance with health behaviors. Neither self-reported worry nor its interaction with cost estimates was associated with increased engagement in health behaviors. Our results provide important insight into decision making mechanisms involved in both increased anxiety and health compliance in COVID-19 and have implications for developing psychoeducational and psychotherapeutic strategies to target both domains.

Worry about Climate Change and Urban Flooding Risk Preparedness in Southern Italy: A Survey in the Simeto River Valley (Sicily, Italy)

Intensive urbanization and related increase of impervious surfaces, causes negative impacts on the hydrological cycle, amplifying the risk of urban floods. These impacts can get even worse due to potential climate change impacts. The urban areas of the Simeto River Valley (SRV), the largest river valley in Sicily (Italy), have been repeatedly hit by intense rainfall events in the last decades that lead to urban flooding, causing several damages and, in some instances, threats to population. In this paper, we present the results of a 10-question survey on climate change and risk perception in 11 municipalities of the SRV carried out within the activities of the LIFE project SimetoRES, which allowed to collect 1143 feedbacks from the residents. The survey investigated: (a) the level of worry about climate change in relation to extreme storms, (b) elements of urban flooding risk preparedness: the direct experience of the residents during heavy rain events, their trust in a civil protection regional alert system, and their knowledge of the correct behavior in case of flood, and (c) the willingness of citizens to implement sustainable drainage actions for climate change adaptation in their own municipality and real estates. The results show that more than 52% of citizens has inadequate knowledge of the correct behavior during flooding events and only 30% of them feel responsible for mitigation of flooding risk. There is a modest willingness by the population to support the construction of sustainable urban drainage infrastructures. A statistical cross-analysis of the answers to the different questions, based on contingency matrices and conditional frequencies, has shown that a greater worry about climate change has no significant impact either on the behavior of people in dangerous situations occurring during flooding events or on the willingness to support financially sustainable solutions. These results suggest that to build a higher worry about climate change and related urban flooding risk is not sufficient to have better preparedness, and that more direct educative actions are necessary in the area.

Aging faster: worry and rumination in late life are associated with greater brain age

Older adults with anxiety have lower gray matter brain volume—a component of accelerated aging. We have previously validated a machine learning model to predict brain age, an estimate of an individual's age based on voxel-wise gray matter images. We investigated associations between brain age and anxiety, depression, stress, and emotion regulation. We recruited 78 participants (≥50 years) along a wide range of worry severity. We collected imaging data and computed voxel-wise gray matter images, which were input into an existing machine learning model to estimate brain age. We conducted a multivariable linear regression between brain age and age, sex, race, education, worry, anxiety, depression, rumination, neuroticism, stress, reappraisal, and suppression. We found that greater brain age was significantly associated with greater age, male sex, greater worry, greater rumination, and lower suppression. Male sex, worry, and rumination are associated with accelerated aging in late life and expressive suppression may have a protective effect. These results provide evidence for the transdiagnostic model of negative repetitive thoughts, which are associated with cognitive decline, amyloid, and tau.

Resilience to Loneliness Amongst Older Adults Living in the Bronx, NY, During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Older adults may be particularly vulnerable to experiencing loneliness as a result of stay-at-home and social distancing orders during the COVID-19 pandemic. This study evaluated change in loneliness following the COVID-19 outbreak, using a longitudinal design and a validated loneliness measure, in a well-characterized sample who are at heightened risk for COVID-19 due to both age and location. The study included n = 226 older adults aged 70-90 years old, living in the Bronx, New York City, who had completed the 3-item Loneliness Scale prior to and during the peak of the COVID-19 outbreak in New York City. There was no evidence of significant increases in mean loneliness from pre- to post-COVID-19 outbreak. Multiple regression analyses were used to identify risk and protective factors for change in loneliness during the COVID-19 outbreak, adjusting for pre-outbreak loneliness. Living alone, higher levels of education, greater worry about contracting the coronavirus, and limiting of daily exercise activities were risk factors for greater loneliness after the outbreak. In contrast, Black race, older age, greater social support and frequent social interactions via video call, all related to lower levels of loneliness after the outbreak.The outcomes of this study demonstrate substantial resilience among older adults to loneliness in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, and highlight key risk and protective factors that may play an important role in individual differences in loneliness as pandemic-driven isolation continues.

The Who and When of Worry: The Fading Impact of Gender on Worry and Anxiety Severity Among Older Adults

Introduction. This study examined the influence of age and gender on diverse worry constructs and overall anxiety among younger (age 18-30) and older (age 65+) adults. Methods. 411 participants (311 younger, 100 older adults; 77.1% female) completed the PSWQ, BMWS, WDQ, and GAS online. Results. Among a series of 2x2 between-subjects ANOVAs, significant interaction effects between age and gender were found among all worry and anxiety measures. Specifically, there was a significant interaction effect on worry severity as measured by the PSWQ (F[1, 393]=4.28, p<.05), the WDQ (F[1, 397]=8.42, p<.01) and the BMWS (F[1, 396]=10.41, p<.01). Gender had a larger impact on worry among younger adults than older, though both age groups showed similar patterns of women reporting greater worry than men. Though both younger and older adults showed a gender difference in worry severity, this difference was mitigated by late life. There was also an interaction effect on anxiety (GAS total) in that younger women reported greater anxiety than younger men but older adults reported similar anxiety across genders, F(1, 384)=9.78, p<.01. Simple main effects analysis showed that younger women scored higher than older women on all measures of worry and anxiety, whereas younger men scored higher than older men on the PSWQ and WDQ but not the BMWS or GAS. Discussion. Consistent with previous literature, women reported greater worry and anxiety than men. However, this difference was mitigated and even extinguished among some measures in older adults. Possible explanations are discussed.

COVID-19 worries and mental health: the moderating effect of age

Background Older age (60+ years) increases the risk of contracting and dying from coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), which might suggest worse mental health for those in this age range during the pandemic. Indeed, greater worry about COVID-19 is associated with poorer mental health. However, older age is generally associated with better emotional well-being, despite increased likelihood of negative events (e.g. death of a spouse) with age. This study examined whether age moderated the relation between COVID-19 worries and mental health. Methods A national sample of U.S. adults (N = 848; aged 18–85 years) completed an online survey from March 30 to April 5, 2020. The survey assessed anxiety, depression, general concern about COVID-19, perceived likelihood of contracting COVID-19, social distancing, self-quarantining, current mood, health, and demographics. Results Older age was associated with better mental health (i.e. lower levels of anxiety and depression). Greater perceived likelihood of contracting COVID-19 was related to higher anxiety. However, this effect was moderated by age. At younger ages (18–49 years), the positive association between perceived likelihood of contracting COVID-19 and anxiety was significant, but the association was not significant at older ages (50+ years). Conclusion Older age may buffer against the negative impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on mental health. More research is necessary to understand the potential protective nature of age during the pandemic, as well as the recovery period.

Factors associated with fear of cancer recurrence in breast and colorectal cancer survivors: A cross-sectional study of cancer survivors.

To define the prevalence and severity of fear of cancer recurrence and identify factors associated with fear of cancer recurrence in breast cancer and colorectal cancer survivors attending the Sydney Cancer Survivorship Clinic. A cross-sectional study was performed using prospectively collected data. Survivors completed questionnaires assessing quality of life (Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-General and symptoms (Distress Thermometer, Patient's Disease and Treatment Assessment Form)). Survivors were assessed by a clinical psychologist for the presence of fear of cancer recurrence. Clinical and quality of life variables were evaluated for associations with fear of cancer recurrence. Overall, 315 survivors (181 breast cancer, 134 colorectal cancer) were included. In total, 201 survivors (64%) had fear of cancer recurrence according to psychology assessment, and of the 118 that had fear of cancer recurrence severity recorded, 64 (54%) were rated as moderate-severe. On univariate analysis, fear of cancer recurrence was associated with younger age (P<0.001), higher distress thermometer score (P=0.001) and poorer overall wellbeing (P<0.001). On multivariate analysis, younger age (P=0.043), being bothered by side effects of treatment (P=0.023), feeling sad (P=0.020) and greater worry that their condition will get worse (P=0.017) were independently associated with fear of cancer recurrence. Fear of cancer recurrence is common in breast and colorectal cancer survivors, and moderate-severe in over half. Fear of cancer recurrence was independently associated with younger age, feeling sad, being more bothered by side effects.

Dementia Worry and the Perception of Personal Risk

Abstract. The research examined dementia worry and the perception of personal dementia risk based on a 2-year longitudinal online study ( N = 129, 21–79 yrs). Participants completed questionnaires on attitudes, experiences, and worries concerning dementia. A fully saturated cross-lagged model was estimated. Results show that dementia worry was moderately stable, and that changes were unrelated to perceived risk or family history. In contrast, perceived dementia risk was more prone to change and was positively associated with prior dementia worry but not vice versa. Having a family history of dementia was cross-sectionally, but not longitudinally, associated with greater worry and higher perceived risk. Because of the limited variability of dementia worry, focusing on perception of personal risk is a promising approach. Future research may benefit from differentiating the plasticity of the two constructs.

Misbehaving in the Corona crisis: The role of anxiety and unfounded beliefs.

The aim of our study was to explore psychological determinants of COVID-19 responsible behavior. We focused on trait anxiety and worry about the corona crisis, knowledge and unfounded beliefs about coronavirus and thinking dispositions (cognitive reflection, actively open-minded thinking, faith in intuition and science curiosity) that should drive knowledge and beliefs. Additionally, we tested the effectiveness of a one-shot intervention based on the “consider counter-arguments” debiasing technique in changing COVID-19 unfounded beliefs. We used a convenience sample of 1439 participants who filled in the questionnaire on-line. Comparison of latent means showed that the “consider counter-arguments” intervention did not affect unfounded beliefs. Structural equation model, conducted on 962 participants with data on all variables, indicated that greater worry and weaker endorsement of COVID-19 unfounded beliefs lead to more responsible COVID-19 behavior. The relationship of trait anxiety and thinking dispositions with the criterion was mediated through the worry about COVID-19 and unfounded beliefs about COVID-19, respectively.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (10.1007/s12144-020-01040-4) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Sports Participation and Attitudes Toward Race and Ethnicity: A Study of Twelfth-Grade Students in the United States

Drawing on contact, social identity, and self-categorization theories, this study examines the extent to which adolescent sports participation associates with (a) concern about the treatment of minority groups and (b) worry about race relations in the United States. Based on data gathered in the 2016 Monitoring the Future study of twelfth-grade students, the study finds that females, Hispanic study participants, respondents in the West region, and sports participants expressed greater concern about minority treatment. On the second dependent variable, females, Black study participants, and respondents in the West region indicated greater worry about race relations. The study also examined whether attitudes appeared to vary across baseball/softball, basketball, and soccer participation. Baseball/softball participants, who were predominantly White, expressed less concern about minority groups but did not differ from others on attitudes toward race relations. Additionally, while Black adolescents competing in baseball/softball and soccer worried about race relations at relatively high levels, those competing in basketball expressed significantly less concern. Implications and recommendations for future research are provided.

Prevalence and correlates of skin self-examination practices among cutaneous malignant melanoma survivors.

Melanoma patients are at elevated risk for recurrence of the primary cancer as well as second primary melanomas. Regular skin self-examination (SSE) is recommended as part of follow-up surveillance. In this study, we examined SSE performance and comprehensiveness as well as knowledge and attitudinal correlates of SSE performance and comprehensiveness. Four hundred forty-one melanoma survivors completed measures of SSE performance as well as knowledge and attitudes about SSE and melanoma. Approximately two-thirds of the sample reported having conducted an SSE in the past two months; the average number of body parts examined was 10.64 (out of 15 maximum). Only 7.5% of the sample checked all 15 body parts. Greater worry about recurrence, fewer barriers to SSE, more planning for when to conduct SSE, and more confidence in the ability to conduct SSE and recognize a suspicious growth were associated with both SSE performance and greater SSE comprehensiveness. Physician influence was positively associated with SSE performance. Survivor education efforts may benefit from reminding survivors to check hard-to-see and sensitive areas, develop a plan for how to ask for assistance in conducting exams, as well as use mirrors to see hard-to-reach areas. Addressing perceived SSE barriers, fostering SSE planning, and improving SSE self-efficacy may be important foci for intervention efforts to enhance SSE performance and comprehensiveness.