Supporting early-career dementia researchers: Identifying support needs and ways forward via a European study.

Introduction: Early-career researchers contribute significantly to dementia research and clinical practice. However, a growing group of early-career dementia researchers (ECDRs) lack appropriate support throughout their careers. Thus, we aim to (i) explore support needs, (ii) determine recommendations, and (iii) set the agenda for organizations to better support ECDRs.

The Integration of Psychosocial Care into National Dementia Strategies across Europe: Evidence from the Skills in DEmentia Care (SiDECar) Project.

There is evidence supporting the use of psychosocial interventions in dementia care. Due to the role of policy in clinical practice, the present study investigates whether and how the issue of psychosocial care and interventions has been addressed in the national dementia plans and strategies across Europe. A total of 26 national documents were found.

A narrative synthesis systematic review of digital self-monitoring interventions for middle-aged and older adults.

Objective: Self-monitoring is crucial to raise awareness for own behaviors and emotions, and thus facilitate self-management. The composition of self-monitoring within interventions, however, varies and guidelines are currently unavailable. This review aimed to provide a comprehensive overview of technology-based self-monitoring interventions that intend to improve health in middle-aged and older adults (>45 years).

Self-regulation and obesity: the role of executive function and delay discounting in the prediction of weight loss.

Obesity rates are rising worldwide. Executive function and delay discounting have been hypothesized to play important roles in the self-regulation of behavior, and may explain variance in weight loss treatment success. First, we compared individuals with obesity (n = 82) to healthy weight controls (n = 71) on behavioral and self-report measures of executive function (working memory, inhibition and shifting) and delay discounting.

Gamified working memory training in overweight individuals reduces food intake but not body weight.

Working Memory (WM) plays a crucial role in successful self-regulation of behavior, including weight regulation. Improving WM might therefore be a promising strategy to support weight loss. In the present study, overweight individuals with a desire to lose weight (N = 91) received an online lifestyle intervention, in conjunction with either 25 sessions of gamified WM training (experimental condition) or a sham training (control).

Taking control: Working memory training in overweight individuals increases self-regulation of food intake.

Working memory (WM) plays a critical role in cognitive control by shielding self-regulatory goals from distraction by desire-related thoughts and emotions. This study examined whether training WM increases self-regulation in overweight participants. It was hypothesized that WM training would decrease psychopathological eating-related thoughts, (over)consumption of food in response to emotions and external cues, food intake and body weight.

Focus on the future: Episodic future thinking reduces discount rate and snacking.

Obesity seems related to a preference for immediate gratification. By changing this focus on short term benefits to a more future-oriented outlook, delay discounting (impulsive decision making) can be changed by a manipulation of episodic future thinking (EFT). EFT comprises a vivid mental simulation of general future experiences.

Impulsivity and overeating in children in the absence and presence of hunger.

Overweight children appear to be more responsive to environmental, hedonic cues and easily overeat in the current obesogenic environment. They are also found to overeat in the absence of hunger, and this overeating seems related to impulsivity: impulsive participants are more prone to external eating. However, some studies showed that impulsive adults are also more prone to hunger cues: impulsive participants overate especially when feeling hungry.

Time orientation and eating behavior: Unhealthy eaters consider immediate consequences, while healthy eaters focus on future health.

Time orientation could play an important role in eating behavior. The current study investigated whether eating behavior is associated with the Consideration of Future Consequences scale (CFC). Specifically, it was examined whether unhealthy eaters consider the future less and are more concerned with immediate gratification.