Journal of Health Psychology, Ahead of Print.
Over the past decade research has increased on dynamics between mindfulness, positive affect, and pain. While there have been studies examining the direct use of positive psychology for pain management, few have examined the use of a specific mindfulness-enhanced positive affect induction (i.e. a singular brief technique engendering mindfulness and strong positive affect) toward acute pain and pain flare management. This topical commentary discusses the need for such a technique toward bolstered gold-standard interventions, related studies, and possible future directions for acute and post-surgical pain management. Future research is encouraged to build from prior research on loving-kindness meditation and examine novel, brief mindfulness-enhanced positive affect inductions for acute pain management.

Journal of Health Psychology, Ahead of Print.
The relationship between body dissatisfaction and negative affect is complex, with some research suggesting that this combination motivates individuals to engage in more health-related behaviors; while other studies find it increases unhealthy behavior. To bridge this gap, it may be the case that to the extent these individuals have continuity between their present and future selves, the more likely they are able to make positive health-related choices with this future self in mind. We examined individuals (n = 344; 51.74% men) aged between 18 and 72 years (M = 39.66, SD = 11.49) who endorsed high negative affect along with body dissatisfaction but either had high or low levels of future self-continuity. We found individuals experiencing body dissatisfaction and negative affect reported higher engagement in healthy behaviors only if they had a strong connection to their future self, index of moderated mediation = 0.07 (95% CI = 0.02, 0.13). These findings support targeting future-self continuity in therapeutic regimens to bolster engagement in healthy behaviors among individuals with body dissatisfaction and high negative affect.

Journal of Applied Gerontology, Ahead of Print.
Post-acute and long-term care (PALTC) delivery is complex, and the COVID-19 pandemic created additional complexities. This qualitative study investigates how PALTC administrators responded to the pandemic, factors that impacted their leadership role and decision-making. Participants from North Carolina (N = 15) and Pennsylvania (N = 6) were interviewed using an interview guide containing open-ended questions. The results revealed three themes: (1) critical knowledge and competencies; (2) resources, supports and essential actions taken; and (3) psychosocial impact. The findings suggest communication and relationship building were the most useful competencies. Lack of staff was a primary stress point during and after the pandemic.

Journal of Applied Gerontology, Ahead of Print.
In this study, the relationship between life changes in family members and engagement in economic activities among female older adults was explored in two East Asian countries: China and South Korea. Using panel data from wave 2 (2008) to wave 6 (2016) of the Korean Longitudinal Study of Aging and wave 1 (2011) to wave 3 (2015) of the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study, a correlated random effects probit model was estimated. The sample included 4,412 observations from South Korea and 1,972 observations from China. The results demonstrate that life changes in family affect engagement in economic activity among female older adults in both countries. However, the influence of family members on economic activity differed between the countries. These results suggest that participation in economic activities among female older adults needs to be understood in different macro-social contexts.

Journal of Applied Gerontology, Ahead of Print.
Latin America is aging rapidly. Thus, governments in the region are reformulating their social protection policies. In 2022, Costa Rica passed a national long-term care law. A discussion developed on how to provide such care, whether through public or private in-kind benefits or cash-for-care (CfC) to beneficiaries. CfC has been used in developed countries with various outcomes. However, there are still no evaluations of its effects in middle-income countries. The objective of this study was to evaluate the impact of CfC pilot study on female caregivers in a middle-income country. The expectations of the program were to find positive effects of CfC on caregivers. After conducting a literature review, we developed four domains of analysis: labor market participation, time for personal activities, use of CfC, and caregiver burnout. The results indicate that CfC has no significant impact on caregivers’ integration into the labor market, or ability to have leisure time. However, there was a positive effect on the funding of basic needs and mitigation of factors predicting burnout.

Journal of Health Psychology, Ahead of Print.
Media coverage of large-scale violence can result in interfering thoughts and depression. This research investigates the relationship between interfering thoughts and depression when watching the Russo-Ukrainian war. In the theoretical model, the more the war is watched, the more it is related to interfering thoughts, which are related to depression. With the ongoing pandemic, depression, when watching the war, was related to coronavirus threat. Data was collected online from April to June, 2022, with university students in Germany, Finland, and Canada (N = 865). Path analysis results in each sample showed that the model fit the data with sample-specific modification indices. There was full mediation of watching the war by interference on depression, indicating that it is not watching the war, per se, but rather its relationship to cognitive interference, that is associated with depression. Denial and coronavirus threat were positively related to depression. Implications for research and student support are considered.

Journal of Applied Gerontology, Ahead of Print.
ObjectivesFalls are persistent among community-dwelling older adults despite existing prevention guidelines. We described how urban and rural primary care staff and older adults manage fall risk and factors important to integration of computerized clinical decision support (CCDS).MethodsInterviews, contextual inquiries, and workflow observations were analyzed using content analysis and synthesized into a journey map. Sociotechnical and PRISM domains were applied to identify workflow factors important to sustainable CCDS integration.ResultsParticipants valued fall prevention and described similar approaches. Available resources differed between rural and urban locations. Participants wanted evidence-based guidance integrated into workflows to bridge skills gaps.DiscussionSites described similar clinical approaches with differences in resource availability. This implies that a single intervention would need to be flexible to environments with differing resources. Electronic Health Record’s inherent ability to provide tailored CCDS is limited. However, CCDS middleware could integrate into different settings and increase evidence use.

Journal of Health Psychology, Ahead of Print.
This study aimed to review the findings on body image (BI) dissatisfaction and muscle dysmorphia (MD) in Brazilian RT practitioners and the differences in the assessment tools used. A critical review of studies with searches in PubMed, Brazilian Virtual Health Library, SciELO, PsycInfo, and SPORTDiscus databases was conducted. A total of 23 studies were included. Nine tools were used to assess BI dissatisfaction or MD: three questionnaires and six visual scales. The overall mean BI dissatisfaction was 56.5% (59.2% in men vs 57.3% in women). The mean MD was 42.4% (45.1% in women vs 38.5% in men). BI dissatisfaction and MD are related to women seeking slimness and men wanting to increase muscle mass. In conclusion, the frequency of BI was high in both sexes, and MD, when identified, was higher in women. The scales and questionnaires used differ significantly in depth and scope for the same purpose.

Journal of Health Psychology, Ahead of Print.
The purpose of this study is to investigate the role of psychological flexibility in mediating the beneficial effects of resilience on distress and quality of life (QoL) in people with MS (PwMS). The psychological flexibility framework underpinning acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) was used to conceptualise psychological flexibility. A total of 56 PwMS completed an online survey that assessed global psychological flexibility and each of its six core sub-processes, resilience, distress, mental and physical health QoL, socio-demographics, and illness variables. Mediation analyses showed that, as hypothesised, higher levels of global psychological flexibility and its sub-processes were associated with increases in the positive impacts of resilience on distress and mental and physical health QoL via a mediational mechanism. These findings suggest that psychological flexibility skills build resilience capacities in PwMS. The psychological flexibility framework offers an ACT-based intervention pathway to build resilience and enhance mental health and QoL in PwMS.

Journal of Health Psychology, Ahead of Print.
The use of generic “you” (GY) in writing samples fosters psychological distancing and functions as a linguistic mechanism to facilitate emotion regulation. This method of creating psychological distance from the traumatic experience of cancer may be used by patients processing emotions. We used behavioral coding to analyze expressive writing samples collected from 138 cancer patients to examine the association between the use of “you” and cancer-related symptoms and psychological outcomes. Occurrences of GY were low, but our qualitative results showed how the use of GY could create a universal experience of cancer. The use of GY was not associated with cancer-related symptoms and depressive symptoms, but longitudinal analyses revealed that those using GY had fewer intrusive thoughts and avoidance behaviors across the follow-up period of 1, 4, and 10 months after the intervention. The development of psychological self-distancing prompts to use in writing interventions or as a clinical tool for cancer patients should be explored.