Goals bias face perception.

Faces-the most common and complex stimuli in our daily lives-contain multidimensional information used to infer social attributes that guide consequential behaviors, such as deciding who to trust. Decades of research illustrates that perceptual information from faces is processed holistically. An open question, however, is whether goals might impact this perceptual process, influencing the encoding and representation of the complex social information embedded in faces.

Coping and Social Support in Relation to Minority Stress and Cigarette Smoking Among Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Veterans.

The intersection between a minoritized sexual orientation identity and a U.S. military Veteran status places lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) Veterans at increased risk for cigarette smoking.

A Community-Engaged Research Study to Inform Tailored Programming for Smoking Cessation and Lung Cancer Screening Among At-Risk LGBTQ+ Elders.

. Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death, with most cases attributable to cigarette smoking. Many communities within the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer/questioning (LGBTQ+) umbrella have high rates of smoking, but focused lung cancer prevention is limited.

Language sentiment predicts changes in depressive symptoms.

The prevalence of depression is a major societal health concern, and there is an ongoing need to develop tools that predict who will become depressed. Past research suggests that depression changes the language we use, but it is unclear whether language is predictive of worsening symptoms. Here, we test whether the sentiment of brief written linguistic responses predicts changes in depression.

A Multistakeholder Qualitative Study to Inform Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Data Collection in the Cancer Care Setting.

Sexual and gender minoritized (SGM) populations face health disparities along the cancer care continuum, although attempts to define these disparities are limited by a lack of comprehensive sexual orientation and gender identity (SOGI) data collection. The objective of this study was to interview a diverse group of stakeholders to understand attitudes, barriers, and facilitators to inform data collection approaches in a cancer care setting. This was a qualitative study conducted from March to July 2023 with paired surveys of stakeholders including patients, caregivers, providers, and cancer registry staff.

Item response theory analysis of benefits and harms of cannabis use in cancer survivors.

Medical cannabis with cancer as a qualifying condition has become legalized in more states, but currently there are no standardized measures of perceived benefits and harms of cannabis use in cancer. This study surveyed a population-based sample of cancer survivors (n = 1539) with various types of cancer including breast (25%), prostate (17%), and gastrointestinal (11%) cancers. Item response theory analyses were used to evaluate the items for measuring perceived benefits and harms.

A Novel mHealth App for Smokers Living With HIV Who Are Ambivalent About Quitting Smoking: Formative Research and Randomized Feasibility Study.

Background: More people who smoke and are living with HIV now die from tobacco-related diseases than HIV itself. Most people are ambivalent about quitting smoking and want to quit someday but not yet. Scalable, effective interventions are needed to motivate and support smoking cessation among people ambivalent about quitting smoking (PAQS) who are living with HIV.

Enhancing sleep quality for adult patients: Interventions and insights.

Sleep is critical to a person's physiological and psychological functioning. Approximately 30% to 40% of the general population experiences insomnia, and among patients with mental health conditions, the prevalence of insomnia and other sleep disturbances rises to about 70%. Insomnia is associated with many adverse health issues, including lower immunity, weight gain, elevated BP, and increased mortality, and it is often undiagnosed and either untreated or self-treated.

Behavioral Activation mHealth Application for Smoking Cessation: A Randomized Controlled Pilot Trial.

Introduction: Behavioral activation (BA) is an effective intervention for both depression and substance use disorders. Combining BA with a standard smoking cessation intervention may improve quit rates by addressing depressive symptoms, a key barrier to quitting. This study preliminarily evaluated the acceptability and efficacy of the BA-based Actify! mobile health application (mHealth app) for smoking cessation.

Cannabis use after a cancer diagnosis in a population-based sample of cancer survivors.

Purpose: This study aimed to characterize the prevalence and correlates of cannabis use and the methods and reasons for use among recently diagnosed cancer survivors in a population sample within Washington state.

Methods: We identified individuals diagnosed with invasive cancers in the prior 6 to 17 months from April 2020 to December 2020 using the Seattle-Puget Sound Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) cancer registry. Participants (n = 1,515) completed a questionnaire, including demographics, medical history, cannabis use, and other substance use.

Prevalence and Correlates of Post-Diagnosis Alcohol Use among Cancer Survivors.

Background: Alcohol is a risk factor for cancer and may pose unique risks for cancer survivors. Population-based studies of confirmed cancer cases are needed to estimate the extent of drinking among cancer survivors and to understand which survivors are most at risk of alcohol-related health problems.

Methods: Cancer survivors who resided in the Puget Sound Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) region, were ages 21 to 74 years at diagnosis, and were 6 to 17 months post-diagnosis at the start of the recruitment period (April 2020-December 2020) were sent a survey that included demographics, substance use, mental health, and cancer-related items.

SOMAScience: A Novel Platform for Multidimensional, Longitudinal Pain Assessment.

Chronic pain is one of the most significant health issues in the United States, affecting more than 20% of the population. Despite its contribution to the increasing health crisis, reliable predictors of disease development, progression, or treatment outcomes are lacking. Self-report remains the most effective way to assess pain, but measures are often acquired in sparse settings over short time windows, limiting their predictive ability.

Combining varenicline preloading with Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) in persons with serious mental illness who smoke: The randomized ACTSLow pilot feasibility trial.

Background: People with serious mental illness (SMI; bipolar [BD] or schizophrenia spectrum disorders [SSD]) who smoke have 30-60% lower odds of quitting and are more prone to experience neuropsychiatric adverse events (NPSAEs) when quitting than smokers without SMI. We pilot-tested the feasibility of combining two different dosing strategies of varenicline preloading with Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) in persons with SMI in an attempt to bolster quit rates without increasing NPSAEs.

Methods: Twelve-week, single center, randomized, double-blind, pilot feasibility trial of low (0.

Associations of Sexual Orientation-Related Minority and Military Stressors With Past-Year Cigarette Use Among Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Veterans.

Introduction: Lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) individuals and Veterans are more likely to report current smoking than the general adult population in the United States. The Minority Stress Model may explain the high prevalence of cigarette smoking among LGB individuals, who experience unique interpersonal (e.g.

Cigarette Smoking Motives and Stages of Change in Smoking Cessation Among Veterans: Differences by Gender and Sexual Orientation.

Purpose: To examine differences across gender and sexual orientation in cigarette smoking motives and stages of change in smoking cessation among Veterans.

Design: Secondary data analysis of cross-sectional baseline surveys from a prospective cohort study.

Setting: United States, self-administered online survey.

Feasibility, Acceptability, and Potential Impact of a Novel mHealth App for Smokers Ambivalent About Quitting: Randomized Pilot Study.

Background: Most smokers are ambivalent about quitting-they want to quit someday, but not now. Interventions are needed that can engage ambivalent smokers, build their motivation for quitting, and support future quit attempts. Mobile health (mHealth) apps offer a cost-effective platform for such interventions, but research is needed to inform their optimal design and assess their acceptability, feasibility, and potential effectiveness.

An Avatar-Led Web-Based and SMS Text Message Smoking Cessation Program for Socioeconomically Disadvantaged Veterans: Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial.

Background: Despite the declining prevalence of cigarette smoking in the United States, socioeconomically disadvantaged veterans receiving care from the Veterans Health Administration have a high prevalence of smoking. Currently, available treatment options for these veterans focus on tobacco users who are ready to quit and have limited reach. Consequently, there is a great need for accessible, effective smoking cessation interventions for veterans at all levels of readiness to quit smoking.

Conceptual representations of uncertainty predict risky decision-making.

Decisions made under uncertainty often are considered according to their perceived subjective value. We move beyond this traditional framework to explore the hypothesis that conceptual representations of uncertainty influence risky choice. Results reveal that uncertainty concepts are represented along a dimension that jointly captures probabilistic and valenced features of the conceptual space.

Tobacco Cessation and Prevention Interventions for Sexual and/or Gender Minority-Identified People and the Theories That Underpin Them: A Scoping Review.

Introduction: This scoping review takes stock of the social and behavior change theories that have underpinned tobacco interventions tailored to sexual and/or gender minority (SGM) people and reflects on the need to target contextually based drivers of SGM tobacco use inequities.

Aims And Methods: Data sources were Medline (Ovid), Scopus, PubMed, and Google Scholar (January 01, 1946 to October 27, 2022). Peer-reviewed publications in English from anywhere in the world describing SGM-tailored tobacco cessation and/or prevention interventions were independently identified by a librarian and screened by the first and third authors.

A generalizable framework for assessing the role of emotion during choice.

The study of emotion has been plagued by several challenges that have left the field fractionated. To date, there is no dominant method for measuring the nebulous and often ill-defined experience of emotion. Here, we offer a new way forward, one that marries numerically precise measurements of affect with current models of human behavior, to more deeply understand the role of emotion during choice, and in particular, during social decision-making.

Association of financial worry with substance use, mental health, and quality of life in cancer patients.

Purpose: Financial worry is an under-appreciated negative effect of cancer. The relationship of financial worry and health behaviors in cancer is poorly characterized and has important clinical implications. This study examined the association of financial worry with substance misuse, mood, and quality of life.