Ecological momentary assessment of urban adolescents' technology use and cravings for unhealthy snacks and drinks: differences by ethnicity and sex.

Background: Adolescents' technology use is generally associated with food cravings, but it is not clear whether specific types of technology elicit particular types of cravings or whether personal characteristics play a role in these associations.

Objective: We examined whether momentary associations between four technology types (ie, television, video games, computer messaging, and phone messaging) and cravings for unhealthy snack foods and sweetened drinks were moderated by youths' sex, ethnicity, body mass index, and age.

Methods: Urban adolescents (N=158) aged 14 to 17 years provided momentary information about their technology use and food cravings during the course of 1 week and completed survey reports of their personal characteristics.

Neural correlates of a Go/NoGo task with alcohol stimuli in light and heavy young drinkers.

Inhibitory processes are highly relevant to behavioral control affecting decisions made daily. The Go/NoGo task is a common task used to tap basic inhibitory processes important in higher order executive functioning. The present study assessed neural correlates of response inhibition during performance of a Go/NoGo task in which NoGo signals or tests of inhibitory control consisted of images of beer bottles.

Application of item response theory to tests of substance-related associative memory.

A substance-related word-association test (WAT) is one of the commonly used indirect tests of substance-related implicit associative memory and has been shown to predict substance use. This study applied an item response theory (IRT) modeling approach to evaluate psychometric properties of the alcohol- and marijuana-related WATs and their items among 775 ethnically diverse at-risk adolescents. After examining the IRT assumptions, item fit, and differential item functioning (DIF) across gender and age groups, the original 18 WAT items were reduced to 14 and 15 items in the alcohol- and marijuana-related WAT, respectively.

Inhibitory control effects in adolescent binge eating and consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages and snacks.

Inhibitory control and sensitivity to reward are relevant to the food choices individuals make frequently. An imbalance of these systems can lead to deficits in decision-making that are relevant to food ingestion. This study evaluated the relationship between dietary behaviors - binge eating and consumption of sweetened beverages and snacks - and behavioral control processes among 198 adolescents, ages 14 to 17.

Response inhibition moderates the association between drug use and risky sexual behavior.

Background: HIV infection is problematic among all drug users, not only injection drug users. Drug users are at risk for contracting HIV by engaging in risky sexual behaviors.

Objective: The present study sought to determine whether inhibitory processes moderate the relationship between problematic drug use and HIV-risk behaviors (unprotected sex and multiple sex partners).

Analyzing latent state-trait and multiple-indicator latent growth curve models as multilevel structural equation models.

Latent state-trait (LST) and latent growth curve (LGC) models are frequently used in the analysis of longitudinal data. Although it is well-known that standard single-indicator LGC models can be analyzed within either the structural equation modeling (SEM) or multilevel (ML; hierarchical linear modeling) frameworks, few researchers realize that LST and multivariate LGC models, which use multiple indicators at each time point, can also be specified as ML models. In the present paper, we demonstrate that using the ML-SEM rather than the SL-SEM framework to estimate the parameters of these models can be practical when the study involves (1) a large number of time points, (2) individually-varying times of observation, (3) unequally spaced time intervals, and/or (4) incomplete data.

Functional imaging of implicit marijuana associations during performance on an Implicit Association Test (IAT).

This research evaluated the neural correlates of implicit associative memory processes (habit-based processes) through the imaging (fMRI) of a marijuana Implicit Association Test. Drug-related associative memory effects have been shown to consistently predict level of drug use. To observe differences in neural activity of associative memory effects, this study compared 13 heavy marijuana users and 15 non-using controls, ranging in age from 18 to 25, during performance of a marijuana Implicit Association Test (IAT).

Functional imaging of an alcohol-Implicit Association Test (IAT).

This research assessed activation in neural substrates involved in implicit associative processes through functional magnetic resonance imaging of an alcohol-Implicit Association Test (IAT) focused on positive outcomes of alcohol use. Comparisons involved 17 heavy and 19 light drinkers, ranging in age from 18 to 22, during compatible and incompatible association task trials. Behaviorally, a significant IAT effect was found with heavy drinkers showing stronger positive implicit associations toward alcohol use than light drinkers.

Sweetened drink and snacking cues in adolescents: a study using ecological momentary assessment.

The objective of this study was to identify physical, social, and intrapersonal cues that were associated with the consumption of sweetened beverages and sweet and salty snacks among adolescents from lower SES neighborhoods. Students were recruited from high schools with a minimum level of 25% free or reduced cost lunches. Using ecological momentary assessment, participants (N=158) were trained to answer brief questionnaires on handheld PDA devices: (a) each time they ate or drank, (b) when prompted randomly, and (c) once each evening.

Exposure to alcohol advertisements and teenage alcohol-related problems.

Objective: This study used prospective data to test the hypothesis that exposure to alcohol advertising contributes to an increase in underage drinking and that an increase in underage drinking then leads to problems associated with drinking alcohol.

Methods: A total of 3890 students were surveyed once per year across 4 years from the 7th through the 10th grades. Assessments included several measures of exposure to alcohol advertising, alcohol use, problems related to alcohol use, and a range of covariates, such as age, drinking by peers, drinking by close adults, playing sports, general TV watching, acculturation, parents' jobs, and parents' education.

Prevention education effects on fundamental memory processes.

This study evaluated effects of a key session from a nationally recognized drug abuse prevention program on basic memory processes in 211 high-risk youth in Southern California. In a randomized, between-subject design, the authors manipulated assignment to a Myth and Denial program session and the time of assessment (immediate vs. 1-week delay).

Long-term effects of self-control on alcohol use and sexual behavior among urban minority young women.

High risk alcohol use and sexual behaviors peak in young adulthood and often occur in the same individuals. Alcohol use has been found to impair decision-making and contribute to high risk sexual activity. However, the association between alcohol use and risky sexual behavior may also reflect enduring individual differences in risk taking, sociability, self-control, and related variables.

Deliberative and spontaneous cognitive processes associated with HIV risk behavior.

Dual process models of decision-making suggest that behavior is mediated by a spontaneous behavior selection process or by a more deliberative evaluation of behavioral options. We examined whether the deliberative system moderates the influence of spontaneous cognition on HIV-risk behaviors. A measure of spontaneous sex-related associations (word association), a measure of deliberative working memory capacity (operation span), and two measures of sexual behavior (condom use and multiple partners) were assessed in a cross-sectional study among 490 adult drug offenders.

Dual process interaction model of HIV-risk behaviors among drug offenders.

This study evaluated dual process interaction models of HIV-risk behavior among drug offenders. A dual process approach suggests that decisions to engage in appetitive behaviors result from a dynamic interplay between a relatively automatic associative system and an executive control system. One synergistic type of interplay suggests that executive functions may dampen or block effects of spontaneously activated associations.

Component Processes of Executive Function-Mindfulness, Self-control, and Working Memory-and Their Relationships with Mental and Behavioral Health.

We examined the interrelationships between higher-order cognitive functions-mindfulness, self-control, and working memory-that appear to be component processes that underlie executive function (EF) and their association with indicators of mental and behavioral health. Data were collected from first-year medical students attending a large private university in California (N=31) via a computer-based questionnaire which was administered via email hyperlink. Results indicate that self-control schedule (SCS) scores were significantly correlated with the negative dimension of positive and negative affect schedule scores (r=-0.

Depression and medication adherence in the treatment of chronic diseases in the United States: a meta-analysis.

Objective: To conduct a meta-analysis of the association between depression and medication adherence among patients with chronic diseases. Poor medication adherence may result in worse outcomes and higher costs than if patients fully adhere to their medication regimens.

Data Sources: We searched the PubMed and PsycINFO databases, conducted forward searches for articles that cited major review articles, and examined the reference lists of relevant articles.

A systematic review of barriers to medication adherence in the elderly: looking beyond cost and regimen complexity.

Background: Medication nonadherence is a common problem among the elderly.

Objective: To conduct a systematic review of the published literature describing potential nonfinancial barriers to medication adherence among the elderly.

Methods: The PubMed and PsychINFO databases were searched for articles published in English between January 1998 and January 2010 that (1) described "predictors," "facilitators," or "determinants" of medication adherence or that (2) examined the "relationship" between a specific barrier and adherence for elderly patients (ie, ≥65 years of age) in the United States.

An empirical assessment of the Above the Influence advertising campaign.

This study evaluated the efficacy of Above the Influence (ATI), a national media-based health persuasion campaign to deter youth drug use. The campaign uses public service anti-drug prevention messages and targets youth between the ages of 14 and 16, a period of heightened susceptibility to peer influences. The evaluation utilized mall intercepts from geographically dispersed regions of the country.

Seniors' perceptions of prescription drug advertisements: a pilot study of the potential impact on informed decision making.

Objective: To conduct a pilot study exploring seniors' perceptions of direct-to-consumer advertising (DTCA) of prescription drugs and how the advertisements might prepare them for making informed decisions with their physicians.

Methods: We interviewed 15 seniors (ages 63-82) individually after they each watched nine prescription drug advertisements recorded from broadcast television. Grounded Theory methods were used to identify core themes related to the research questions.

The influence of school-based natural mentoring relationships on school attachment and subsequent adolescent risk behaviors.

A relatively new area of research suggests that naturally occurring mentoring relationships may influence the development of adolescents by protecting against risk behaviors. Few studies have explored how these relationships function to reduce risk behavior among youth, especially in the school context. Based on previous research and theory, we proposed and tested a mediation model, which hypothesized that school attachment mediated the longitudinal association between school-based natural mentoring relationships and risk behaviors, including eight indicators of substance use and violence.

Paradoxical effects of alcohol information on alcohol outcome expectancies.

Background: Cognitive associations with alcohol predict both current and future use in youth and young adults. Much cognitive and social cognitive research suggests that exposure to information may have unconscious influences on thinking and behavior. The present study assessed the impact of information statements on the accessibility of alcohol outcome expectancies.

Influence of a nationwide social marketing campaign on adolescent drug use.

In this study, we examined whether awareness (recall) of the National Youth Anti-Drug Media Campaign (NYADMC) benefited youth by attenuating their drug use. Data were obtained from the National Survey of Parents and Youth (NSPY), an evaluative survey tool designed to monitor campaign progress over 4 years. A growth modeling strategy was used to examine whether change in message recall or campaign brand awareness was related to declining patterns of drug use.

Influence of motivational interviewing on explicit and implicit alcohol-related cognition and alcohol use in at-risk adolescents.

Both implicit and explicit cognitions play an important role in the development of addictive behavior. This study investigated the influence of a single-session motivational interview (MI) on implicit and explicit alcohol-related cognition and whether this intervention was successful in consequently decreasing alcohol use in at-risk adolescents. Implicit and explicit alcohol-related cognitions were assessed at pretest and one month posttest in 125 Dutch at-risk adolescents ranging in age from 15 to 23 (51 males) with adapted versions of the Implicit Association Test (IAT) and an expectancy questionnaire.

Working memory capacity moderates the predictive effects of drug-related associations on substance use.

Some theories suggest that spontaneously activated, drug-related associations in memory may have a "freer reign" in predicting drug use among individuals with lower working memory capacity. This study evaluated this hypothesis among 145 at-risk youth attending continuation high schools (CHS). This is the 1st study to evaluate this type of dual-process interaction in the prediction of drug use among a sample of at-risk adolescents.

Affective decision-making deficits, linked to a dysfunctional ventromedial prefrontal cortex, revealed in 10th-grade Chinese adolescent smokers.

This study addressed the question of whether poor decision making would be associated with adolescent past 7-day smoking. We conducted a cross-sectional study of 208 10th-grade adolescents in Chengdu City, China. We used the Iowa Gambling Task (IGT) to assess decision-making, and the Self-ordered Pointing Task (SOPT) to assess working memory capacity.