Practice-Based Implementation Network: Behavioral Health Technician Optimization Pilot Lessons Learned.

Introduction: Between June 2021 and December 2022, the Practice-Based Implementation (PBI) Network conducted a pilot to study the optimization of behavioral health technicians (BHTs) within military behavioral health (BH) care system specialty BH clinics. Behavioral health technicians are paraprofessionals found in all branches of the military, and with training across a variety of clinic functions. Behavioral health technicians support BH specialty providers in many clinic functions (i.

A systematic review and meta-analysis of loss-of-control eating in relation to cardiometabolic health components and inflammatory markers.

Introduction: Loss-of-control (LOC) eating, or the subjective experience of being unable to stop eating, is a hallmark feature of binge-eating episodes, which are also characterized by consuming an unusually large amount of food. However, regardless of the size of eating episode, LOC-eating may be a risk factor for adverse health outcomes. This systematic review and meta-analysis comprehensively examine the relationship of LOC-eating with cardiometabolic health components and inflammatory markers.

Evidence-based telehealth interventions for posttraumatic stress disorder, depression, and anxiety: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Introduction: The goal of this systematic review was to examine the efficacy of behavioral health care treatments for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, and anxiety delivered via telehealth.

Methods: We searched a combination of keywords related to telehealth, relevant mental health disorders, and evidence-based psychotherapies in three databases (PubMed, PsycInfo, and Embase) from database inception to April 2022. We included randomized controlled trials published in English wherein at least one arm received an evidence-based psychotherapy via telehealth.

The Relationship Between Anxiety, Coping, and Disordered-Eating Attitudes in Adolescent Military-Dependents at High-Risk for Excess Weight Gain.

Adolescent military-dependents are an understudied population who face unique stressors due to their parents' careers. Research suggests that adolescent military-dependents report more anxiety and disordered-eating than their civilian counterparts. While anxiety symptoms predict the onset and worsening of disordered-eating attitudes, the mechanisms underlying this relationship remain unclear.

Influence of puberty on relationships between body composition and blood pressure: a cross-sectional study.

Background: Fat mass (FM) and fat-free mass (FFM) are positively associated with blood pressure (BP) in youth. Yet, how puberty, independent of age, affects these relationships remains unclear. Given puberty may be a crucial period for cardiometabolic health, we examined how pubertal development moderates the associations of FM/FFM with BP.

The impact of racially-targeted food marketing and attentional biases on consumption in Black adolescent females with and without obesity: Pilot data from the Black Adolescent & Entertainment (BAE) study.

Unhealthy food advertisements ("advertisements" hereafter referred to as "ads") are linked to poor diet and obesity, and food companies disproportionally target Black youth. Little is known about the mechanisms whereby food ads influence diet. One possibility may be racially-targeted ads that appeal to Black youth.

The impact of a guided paced breathing audiovisual intervention on anxiety symptoms in Palestinian children: a pilot randomized controlled trial.

Background: Children in Palestine may be at high risk for anxiety symptoms. However, access to mental health services is limited. Therefore, the objective of this study was to conduct a pilot randomized controlled trial to examine whether a guided audiovisual paced breathing intervention was feasible, acceptable, and improved anxiety symptoms in Palestinian children.

A qualitative evaluation of the revised amyotrophic lateral sclerosis functional rating scale (ALSFRS-R) by the patient community: a web-based cross-sectional survey.

Objective: The revised Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis Functional Rating Scale (ALSFRS-R) is the most commonly used outcome measure in ALS studies. The aim of this study was to identify potential limitations of the ALSFRS-R from the perspective of people living with ALS and their caregivers.

Methods: A web-based survey was developed by investigators, people living with ALS, and their caregivers, and shared across social media.

Addressing Anxiety and Stress for Healthier Eating in Teens (ASSET): A Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial Protocol for Reducing Anxiety, Disinhibited Eating, Excess Weight Gain, and Cardiometabolic Risk in Adolescent Girls.

(1) Background: Standard-of-care lifestyle interventions show insufficient effectiveness for the prevention and treatment of excess weight and its associated cardiometabolic health concerns in adolescents, necessitating more targeted preventative approaches. Anxiety symptoms are common among adolescents, especially girls at risk for excess weight gain, and have been implicated in the onset and maintenance of disinhibited eating. Thus, decreasing elevated anxiety in this subset of adolescent girls may offer a targeted approach to mitigating disinhibited eating and excess weight gain to prevent future cardiometabolic health problems.

Heart Rate Variability and Laboratory-Based Loss-of-Control Eating in Children and Adolescents.

Among youth, greater heart rate (HR) and lesser HR variability (HRV) are precursors to loss-of-control (LOC) eating episodes in the natural environment. However, there are limited data examining whether pre-meal HR and HRV are associated with greater LOC-eating in the laboratory setting. We therefore examined temporal relationships between pre-meal HR, frequency- and time-based metrics of pre-meal HRV, perceived LOC-eating, and energy intake during a meal designed to simulate a LOC-eating episode.

Associations among alexithymia, disordered eating, and depressive symptoms in treatment-seeking adolescent military dependents at risk for adult binge-eating disorder and obesity.

Purpose: Evidence suggests that difficulties identifying and describing one's feelings, core components of alexithymia, are associated with attitudinal and behavioral symptoms of disordered eating; depressive symptoms also may underlie these associations. Specifically, research indicates that alexithymia is positively related to depressive symptoms, which in turn may promote both disordered-eating attitudes and certain disinhibited-eating behaviors (e.g.

State negative affect in relation to loss-of-control eating among children and adolescents in the natural environment.

Affect regulation theory proposes that loss-of-control (LOC)-eating is preceded by increases and followed by decreases in negative affect (NA), but empirical tests of this theory among pediatric samples in the natural environment are needed. Using an ecological momentary assessment approach, we conducted post-hoc analyses to examine LOC-eating severity reported during post-meal surveys in relation to the intensity of composite NA and NA components (anger, anxiety, depression, guilt) throughout the day for two weeks in a cohort of healthy children and adolescents. Multilevel models tested the associations among LOC-eating severity and NA components reported at pre-meal surveys (t-1), post-meal surveys (t), and lagged post-meal surveys (t+1).

Loss-of-Control Eating and Cardiometabolic Health in Relation to Overweight and Obesity.

Purpose Of Review: Loss-of-control (LOC) eating, the subjective feeling of being unable to control what or how much is being consumed, is common. The purpose of this review was to examine the relationships among LOC eating, cardiometabolic health, and weight management intervention outcomes.

Recent Findings: In youth and adults, LOC eating is associated with and predictive of psychological symptoms, high weight, and worsened cardiometabolic health.

Examination of the Interaction between Parental Military-Status and Race among Non-Hispanic Black and Non-Hispanic White Adolescents with Overweight/Obesity.

Objectives: Adolescent military-dependents experience distinct risk and protective factors, which may necessitate additional clinical considerations. In civilian youth, overweight/obesity is associated with eating, internalizing, and externalizing difficulties, with some studies reporting more difficulties among non-Hispanic White (vs. non-Hispanic Black) youth.

Retrieval-induced forgetting in children and adolescents with and without obesity.

Background/objectives: Previous research indicates that youth with obesity exhibit deficits in executive functioning (EF), which often take the form of impaired response inhibition. One aspect of EF not previously studied in obesity is the adaptive process known as retrieval-induced forgetting (RIF), the suppression/inhibition of intrusive or non-target items by the retrieval of specific items from memory. The present study investigated if child or adolescent obesity disrupts the ability to inhibit retrieval of intrusive memories.

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) as a systemic disorder: Pathways to cardiovascular disease.

Evidence indicates that post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a significant risk factor for the development and progression of cardiovascular disease (CVD). Most explanations for PTSD-CVD associations conceptualize PTSD as a stress-related mental health disorder that elicits physiological, behavioral, and psychological responses that are causal factors in the development of cardiovascular disorders. This article reviews evidence for the broader physical health consequences of PTSD, and presents a conceptual model based on research suggesting that PTSD is a systemic disorder.

A comparison of negative affect and disinhibited eating between children with and without parents with type 2 diabetes.

Background: Children whose parents have type 2 diabetes (T2D) are at high-risk for developing T2D. In youth, negative affect has been shown to predict insulin resistance (IR), and disinhibited-eating behaviors have been linked to IR. It is unknown if youth with a parent with T2D (P-T2D) report greater psychological and behavioral symptoms than those without a P-T2D.

Longitudinal associations between facets of sleep and adiposity in youth.

Objective: Beyond sleep duration, other facets of sleep such as variability and timing may be associated with obesity risk in youth. However, data are limited. Using a longitudinal design, this study tested whether multiple facets of sleep were associated with fat mass gain over 1 year.

Associations of sleep with food cravings and loss-of-control eating in youth: An ecological momentary assessment study.

Background: Inconsistent sleep patterns may promote excess weight gain by increasing food cravings and loss-of-control (LOC)-eating; however, these relationships have not been elucidated in youth.

Objective: We tested whether sleep duration and timing were associated with food cravings and LOC-eating.

Method: For 14 days, youths wore actigraphy monitors to assess sleep and reported severity of food cravings and LOC-eating using ecological momentary assessment.

Food cravings and loss-of-control eating in youth: Associations with gonadal hormone concentrations.

Objective: Among youth with overweight, food cravings (FC) are associated with loss-of-control (LOC)-eating, but the impact of sex-associated biological characteristics on this relationship is unknown. We examined whether sex and gonadal hormone concentrations moderated the relationships between FC and LOC-eating severity among healthy boys and girls across the weight strata in natural and laboratory environments.

Method: Using ecological momentary assessment (EMA), FC, and LOC-eating severity were reported 3-5 times a day for 2 weeks.

Associations between weight-based teasing and disordered eating behaviors among youth.

Weight-based teasing (WBT) is commonly reported among youth and is associated with disinhibited and disordered eating. Specifically, youth who experience WBT may engage in disordered eating behaviors to cope with the resultant negative affect. Therefore, we examined associations between WBT and disordered eating behaviors among youth and assessed whether negative affect mediated these relationships.

Bridging executive function and disinhibited eating among youth: A network analysis.

Objective: Poorer executive function (EF) has been linked to disinhibited eating in youth, suggesting poor EF predisposes toward obesity, yet the specific nature and extent of interconnections between facets of these domains is unclear. Network analysis provides a promising framework for elucidating the relationship between poor EF and disinhibited eating, and offers insights into potential maintenance processes.

Method: Among youth ages 8-17 years, a regularized partial correlation network of EF and disinhibited eating facets was estimated to examine expected influence centrality and bridge expected influence.

Weight-Based Teasing and Metabolic Syndrome Components among Adolescent Military Dependents at Risk for Adult Obesity.

Among adults, weight stigma is associated with markers of poor cardiometabolic health. Although weight-based teasing (WBT) is common among youth with high body weight, few studies have examined its associations with cardiometabolic markers. Owing to unique stressors (, parental deployment and frequent moves), military-dependent youth may be at particularly high risk for obesity, WBT, and poor cardiometabolic health.

Permanent change of station moves and disordered-eating attitudes and behaviors in prevention-seeking adolescent military-dependents.

Objective: Military-dependent youth appear to be at greater risk for disordered-eating than their civilian counterparts. Permanent change of station moves (PCS-moves), typically occurring every 2-3 years, are commonly experienced by adolescent military-dependents. However, the links between PCS-moves and disordered-eating in this population have not been explored.