Using early phase studies to advance intervention research: The science of behavior change.

This special issue showcases how investigators working in different areas of health behavior change are utilizing early phase studies to advance intervention development. Through the publication of design or protocol papers for currently funded Science of Behavior Change (SOBC) network projects, the special issue illustrates how investigative teams are implementing the experimental medicine approach to advance our understanding of the mechanisms of action that underlie behavior change interventions and, in turn, develop an evidence base that can inform future intervention design. Given that a goal of the experimental medicine approach is the accumulation of an evidence base regarding the links between intervention strategies and putative mechanisms of action, it is critical that this evidence base is readily accessible to investigators and practitioners.

Presenting Characteristics, Comorbidities, and Outcomes Among 5700 Patients Hospitalized With COVID-19 in the New York City Area.

Importance: There is limited information describing the presenting characteristics and outcomes of US patients requiring hospitalization for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).

Objective: To describe the clinical characteristics and outcomes of patients with COVID-19 hospitalized in a US health care system.

Design, Setting, And Participants: Case series of patients with COVID-19 admitted to 12 hospitals in New York City, Long Island, and Westchester County, New York, within the Northwell Health system.

Health behaviour change in cardiovascular disease prevention and management: meta-review of behaviour change techniques to affect self-regulation.

Self-regulation processes assume a major role in health behaviour theory and are postulated as important mechanisms of action in behavioural interventions to improve health prevention and management. The need to better understand mechanisms of behaviour change interventions for cardiovascular diseases (CVD) called for conducting a meta-review of meta-analyses for interventions targeting self-regulation processes. The protocol, preregistered on Open Science Framework (OSF), found 15 eligible meta-analyses, published between 2006 and August 2019, which quantitatively assessed the role of self-regulatory mechanisms and behaviour change techniques (BCTs).

Involvement of the oxytocin system in the nucleus accumbens in the regulation of juvenile social novelty-seeking behavior.

Exploration of novel environments, stimuli, and conspecifics is highly adaptive during the juvenile period, as individuals transition from immaturity to adulthood. We recently showed that juvenile rats prefer to interact with a novel individual over a familiar cage mate. However, the neural mechanisms underlying this juvenile social novelty-seeking behavior remain largely unknown.