Parent-Targeted Oral Health Text Messaging for Underserved Children Attending Pediatric Clinics: A Randomized Clinical Trial.

Importance: Caries is the most common chronic childhood disease, with substantial health disparities.

Objective: To test whether parent-targeted oral health text (OHT) messages outperform child wellness text (CWT) messages on pediatric caries increment and oral health behaviors among underserved children attending pediatric well-child visits.

Design, Setting, And Participants: The parallel randomized clinical trial, Interactive Parent-Targeted Text Messaging in Pediatric Clinics to Reduce Caries Among Urban Children (iSmile), included participants who were recruited during pediatric medical clinic visits at 4 sites in Boston, Massachusetts, that serve low-income and racially and ethnically diverse (herein, underserved) populations.

"I knew the effects the whole time." Examination of facilitators and barriers to quit vaping among adolescents.

Despite declines in adolescent nicotine vaping during the COVID-19 pandemic, vaping continues to be a public health issue for many adolescents. Most studies on teen reasons for vaping and on barriers and facilitators of vaping were conducted prior to the pandemic. Because teen culture changes so rapidly, and because the pandemic had wide-reaching effects on teens and mental health, it is critical to have a current understanding what helps adolescents to quit vaping (facilitators), as well as what prevents them from quitting (barriers) in order to design effective and engaging interventions.

The Longitudinal Reciprocal Relationships of Tooth Brushing Behaviors Between Underserved Children and Their Caregivers.

Background: Tooth brushing is effective in preventing early childhood caries. However, it is unclear how children's and caregiver's tooth brushing are reciprocally related.

Purpose: The current study investigated whether the longitudinal relationships between children and caregiver tooth brushing are moderated by a caregiver-targeted child oral health intervention and caregiver depression.

Pain-Related Smoking Expectancies and Smoking Behavior Among U.S. Adult Cigarette Smokers with Chronic Pain.

Background: This study investigated the factor structure of a measure of pain-smoking interrelations and expectancies (pain and smoking inventory (PSI)) and examined associations with risk factors for smoking maintenance among smokers with chronic pain (CP).

Method: Participants (n = 504; M age = 46 ± 13 years; 58% female) completed an online survey about health-related factors and smoking characteristics. Data were analyzed using Horn's parallel analysis (PA) and multiple linear regression.

Methods used to quit vaping among adolescents and associations with perceived risk, addiction, and socio-economic status.

Despite widespread evidence suggesting that e-cigarettes are harmful to youth, the prevalence of adolescent vaping continues to rise. The first aim of this cross-sectional study was to determine which methods adolescents have previously used to quit vaping and their interest in using various methods to quit vaping in the future. The second aim was to investigate the associations between vaping-related characteristics and (1) motivation to quit vaping and (2) previous use of pharmacological methods to quit vaping or previous use of unassisted quitting.

The differential predictive utility of two caregiver-targeted self-efficacy measures to promote oral health of underserved children.

Objective: Oral health self-efficacy is a modifiable determinant of early childhood caries, which is one of the most prevalent childhood diseases. Yet, two common measures of self-efficacy (i.e.

Greater engagement in valued activities is associated with less barriers to quitting smoking among smokers with mobility impairments.

Background: Individuals with mobility impairments (MI; use equipment to ambulate) have a high prevalence of both smoking and depression. Behavioral activation (BA) purports that depressed mood is remediated through valued activity engagement and may facilitate smoking cessation in MI populations.

Objective: We examined cross-sectional associations between activity engagement and variables important for smoking cessation among a high-risk group of smokers (people with MIs) and also describe a smoking cessation intervention based on BA, given the lack of studies on smokers with MIs.

Associations Between Smoking Status and Physical and Mental Health-Related Quality of Life Among Individuals With Mobility Impairments.

Background: In the general population, quitting smoking is associated with improved health-related quality of life (QoL), but this association has not been examined in smokers with chronic mobility impairments (MIs).

Purpose: We examined associations between smoking status and health-related QoL over 6 months, and whether relationships are moderated by depression and MI severity.

Methods: This is a secondary analysis of a smoking cessation induction trial among smokers with MIs (n = 241, 56% female, 36% Black) assessed at baseline, and 4 and 6 months after.

Facebook usage, participation patterns, and social support from Facebook activity among smokers with mobility impairments.

People with mobility impairments (MIs; use assistive devices to ambulate) have twice the smoking prevalence versus the general population. A Facebook intervention could improve reach to smokers with MIs, but use and patterns of use are unknown. The study examined: (a) Facebook use and relationship with Facebook-based social support and (b) whether Facebook use differs by motivation to quit smoking.

An Interactive Parent-Targeted Text Messaging Intervention to Improve Oral Health in Children Attending Urban Pediatric Clinics: Feasibility Randomized Controlled Trial.

Background: Effective preventive treatments for dental decay exist, but caries experience among preschoolers has not changed, with marked disparities in untreated decay. Despite near-universal use of SMS text messaging, there are no studies using text messages to improve the oral health of vulnerable children.

Objective: This randomized controlled feasibility trial aimed to test the effects of oral health text messages (OHT) versus a control (child wellness text messages or CWT).

Perceived Pain and Smoking Interrelations and Expectancies Are Associated With Pain and Smoking Cessation in Individuals With Mobility Impairments.

Introduction: Smoking and pain are highly prevalent among individuals with mobility impairments (MIs; use assistive devices to ambulate). The role of pain-related smoking motives and expectancies in smoking cessation is unknown. We examined cross-sectional and prospective associations between a novel measure of pain-related smoking motives (how smokers with pain perceive their pain and smoking to be interrelated) and pain and smoking behavior in smokers with MI.

Associations of perceived stress and state anger with symptom burden and functional status in patients with heart failure.

Psychosocial stress and anger trigger cardiovascular events, but their relationship to heart failure (HF) exacerbations is unclear. We investigated perceived stress and anger associations with HF functional status and symptoms. In a prospective cohort study (BETRHEART), 144 patients with HF (77% male; 57.

Parental Depression is Prospectively Associated With Lower Smoking Cessation Rates and Poor Child Asthma Outcomes.

Background: Depressive symptoms are elevated in parents of asthmatic children compared with parents of healthy children. The role of depression in smoking cessation and pediatric asthma outcomes in this population is unclear.

Purpose: To prospectively examine the effect of parent depression on smoking cessation and child asthma outcomes.

Pro-tobacco advertisement exposure among African American smokers: An ecological momentary assessment study.

Introduction: Many African Americans live in communities with a disproportionately high density of tobacco advertisements compared to Whites. Some research indicates that point-of-sale advertising is associated with impulse purchases of cigarettes and smoking. Ecological Momentary Assessment (EMA) can be used to examine associations between tobacco advertisement exposure and smoking variables in the natural environment.

Smokers who are unmotivated to quit and have a child with asthma are more likely to quit with intensive motivational interviewing and repeated biomarker feedback.

Objective: Smokers who are not motivated to quit are an important group for intervention, particularly if they have children with asthma. Research indicates that unmotivated smokers are less responsive to intensive interventions, although motivation-by-treatment interactions have not been tested. This study examines whether motivation to quit moderates the effect of a cessation induction intervention.

Effect of attentional retraining on cognition, craving, and smoking in African American smokers.

African American cigarette smokers have lower rates of cessation than Whites and live in communities with a higher number of tobacco advertisements. Exposure to smoking cues may promote smoking and undermine cessation. It may be possible to reduce attention to smoking cues ("attentional bias").

Self-reported and automatic cognitions are associated with exercise behavior in cancer survivors.

Objective: Physical activity is beneficial for cancer survivors, but exercise participation is low in this population. It is therefore important to understand the psychological factors underlying exercise uptake so that more effective interventions can be developed. Social-cognitive theory constructs such as outcome expectancies predict exercise behavior, but self-report measures have several limitations.

Psychological stress and short-term hospitalisations or death in patients with heart failure.

Objective: Standard predictors do not fully explain variations in the frequency and timing of heart failure (HF) adverse events (AEs). Psychological stress can trigger acute cardiovascular (CV) events, but it is not known whether stress can precipitate AEs in patients with HF. We investigated prospective associations of psychological stress with AEs in patients with HF.

Post-menopausal Women Exhibit Greater Interleukin-6 Responses to Mental Stress Than Older Men.

Background: Acute stress triggers innate immune responses and elevation in circulating cytokines including interleukin-6 (IL-6). The effect of sex on IL-6 responses remains unclear due to important limitations of previous studies.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine sex differences in IL-6 responses to mental stress in a healthy, older (post-menopausal) sample accounting for several moderating factors.

Decreased reaction time variability is associated with greater cardiovascular responses to acute stress.

Cardiovascular (CV) responses to mental stress are prospectively associated with poor CV outcomes. The association between CV responses to mental stress and reaction times (RTs) in aging individuals may be important but warrants further investigation. The present study assessed RTs to examine associations with CV responses to mental stress in healthy, older individuals using robust regression techniques.

The effect of experimentally induced sedentariness on mood and psychobiological responses to mental stress.

Background: Evidence suggests a link between sedentary behaviours and depressive symptoms. Mechanisms underlying this relationship are not understood, but inflammatory processes may be involved. Autonomic and inflammatory responses to stress may be heightened in sedentary individuals contributing to risk, but no study has experimentally investigated this.

Effect of short-term weight loss on mental stress-induced cardiovascular and pro-inflammatory responses in women.

Epidemiologic evidence links psychosocial stress with obesity but experimental studies examining the mechanisms that mediates the effect of stress on adiposity are scarce. The aim of this study was to investigate whether changes in adiposity following minimal weight loss affect heightened stress responses in women, and examine the role of the adipokine leptin in driving inflammatory responses. Twenty-three overweight or obese, but otherwise healthy, women (M age = 30.

Physical activity, stress reduction, and mood: insight into immunological mechanisms.

Psychosocial factors, such as chronic mental stress and mood, are recognized as an important predictor of longevity and wellbeing. In particular, depression is independently associated with cardiovascular disease and all-cause mortality, and is often comorbid with chronic diseases that can worsen their associated health outcomes. Regular exercise is thought to be associated with stress reduction and better mood, which may partly mediate associations between depression, stress, and health outcomes.

Loneliness and stress-related inflammatory and neuroendocrine responses in older men and women.

Loneliness is a predictor of mortality and increased cardiovascular morbidity. Inflammation is a potential pathway through which loneliness might impact health. The aim of the study was to investigate the relationship between loneliness and inflammatory interleukin-6 (IL-6), interleukin-1 receptor antagonist (IL-1Ra) and monocyte chemotactic protein-1 (MCP-1) responses to standardized mental stress.

Cortisol responses to mental stress and the progression of coronary artery calcification in healthy men and women.

Background: Psychosocial stress is a risk factor for coronary heart disease (CHD). The mechanisms are incompletely understood, although dysfunction of the hypothalamic pituitary adrenal (HPA) axis might be involved. We examined the association between cortisol responses to laboratory-induced mental stress and the progression of coronary artery calcification (CAC).