Examining the day-level impact of physical activity on affect during the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic: An ecological momentary assessment study

Associations between affect dynamics and eating regulation in daily life: a preliminary ecological momentary assessment study

Disordered eating behaviors consistently associated with emotion regulation difficulties. However, most studies have focused on affect intensity without considering dynamic affective patterns. We examined these patterns in relation to daily overeating, loss of control eating (LOCE), dietary restraint, and food craving in young adults using ecological momentary assessment (EMA).Adults (N = 24) completed a 10-day EMA protocol during which they reported momentary affect and eating patterns. Generalized linear mixed-models examined each index in relation to eating variable.Higher PA instability (within-person) was associated with higher ratings of binge-eating symptoms (B = 0.15, SE = 0.06, p = 0.007). Lower NA differentiation (within-person) was associated with higher levels of food craving (B = -10.11, SE = 4.74, p = 0.033).Our results support previous findings suggesting that acute fluctuations in PA may increase risk of binge-eating symptoms. Further, inability to differentiate between momentary states of NA was associated with cravings. This study highlights the importance of examining multiple facets of NA and PA in relation to eating regulation.Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT02945475.

Exercising healthy behaviors: A latent class analysis of positive coping during the COVID-19 pandemic and associations with alcohol-related and mental health outcomes

OBJECTIVE

To identify latent classes of positive coping behaviors during the COVID-19 pandemic and examine associations with alcohol-related and mental health outcomes across participants with and without a history of alcohol use disorder (AUD).

METHODS

Baseline data from 463 participants who were enrolled in the NIAAA COVID-19 Pandemic Impact on Alcohol (C19-PIA) Study were analyzed. Latent class analysis (LCA) was applied to five positive coping behaviors during COVID-19: taking media breaks, taking care of their body, engaging in healthy behaviors, making time to relax, and connecting with others. Latent class differences and the moderating role of history of AUD on six alcohol-related and mental health outcomes were examined using multiple regression models.

RESULTS

LCA revealed two latent classes: 83.4% High Positive Coping and 16.6% Low Positive Coping. Low Positive Coping was associated with higher levels of perceived stress, anxiety symptoms, and loneliness. A history of AUD was consistently associated with higher levels of alcohol-related and mental health outcomes. Significant interactions between Coping Latent Classes and history of AUD indicated that the associations of Low Positive Coping with problematic alcohol use, depressive symptoms, and drinking to cope motives were either stronger or only significant among individuals with a history of AUD.

CONCLUSIONS

Individuals with a history of AUD may be particularly vulnerable to depressive symptoms and alcohol-related outcomes, especially when they do not utilize positive coping strategies. The promotion of positive coping strategies is a promising avenue to address alcohol-related and mental health problems during a public health crisis and warrants future research.

Long-term effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on children's physical activity and sedentary behavior

Background

During the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic, decreases in physical activity (PA) and increases in sedentary behavior (SB) were reported among children in the United States (U.S.). This follow-up analysis examines 13-month effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on children's PA and SB one year into the pandemic.

Methods

Parents of 5-13-year-old children in the U.S. (N = 71) reported on their child's PA and SB during the early COVID-19 period (April-May 2020) and again 12-14 months later (June-July 2021).

Results

Paired t-tests showed significant within-subject reductions in SB minutes per day (M diff = -86.20, t = 3.26, p < 0.01) but no changes in PA minutes per day. Separate mixed-model repeated-measures analysis of covariance procedures found that within-subject changes in PA and SB did not differ by child sex or age.

Conclusion

As COVID-19 restrictions lessened, there were more opportunities for children to reduce SB, but there were still barriers to engage in PA.

Investigating the day-level associations between affective variability and physical activity using ecological momentary assessment

BACKGROUND

Understanding affect as a determinant of physical activity has gained increased attention in health behavior research. Fluctuations in affect intensity from moment-to-moment (i.e., affective variability) may interfere with cognitive and regulatory processes, making it difficult to engage in goal-directed behaviors such as physical activity. Preliminary evidence indicates that those with greater trait-level affective variability engage in lower levels of habitual physical activity. However, the extent to which daily fluctuations in affect variability are associated with same-day physical activity levels is unknown. This study used ecological momentary assessment (EMA) to investigate day-level associations between affective variability (i.e., within-subject variance) and physical activity.

METHODS

Young adults (N = 231, M = 23.58 ± 3.02 years) provided three months of smartphone-based EMA and smartwatch-based activity data. Every two weeks, participants completed a 4-day EMA measurement burst (M = 5.17 ± 1.28 bursts per participant). Bursts consisted of hourly randomly-prompted EMA surveys assessing momentary positive-activated (happy, energetic), positive-deactivated (relaxed), negative-activated (tense, stressed), and negative-deactivated (sad, fatigued) affect. Participants continuously wore a smartwatch to measure physical activity across the three months. Mixed-effects location scale modeling examined the day-level associations of affective variability (i.e., positive-activated, positive-deactivated, negative-activated, and negative-deactivated) and physical activity, controlling for covariates such as mean levels of affect, between-subject effects of physical activity, time of day, day of week, day in study, and smartwatch wear time.

RESULTS

There were 41,546 completed EMA surveys (M = 182.22 ± 69.82 per participant) included in the analyses. Above and beyond mean levels of affect, greater day-level variability in positive-activated affect was associated with greater physical activity on that same day compared to other days (τ = 0.01, p < .001), whereas greater day-level variability in negative-deactivated affect was associated with less physical activity on that same day compared to other days (τ = -0.01, p < .001). Day-level variability in positive-deactivated affect or negative-activated affect were not associated with day-level physical activity (ps > .05) CONCLUSIONS: Individuals were less active on days with greater variability in feeling sad and fatigued but more active on days with greater variability in feeling happy and energetic. Understanding the dynamic relationships of affective variability with day-level physical activity can strengthen physical activity interventions by considering how these processes differ within individuals and unfold within the context of daily life. Future research should examine causal pathways between affective variability and physical activity across the day.

The association between morning pleasant anticipation and daily positive incidental affect on adults' daily steps: An ecological momentary assessment study

OBJECTIVE

This study investigated the association between morning pleasant anticipation (i.e., how pleasant will the day be?) and daily positive incidental affect (PIA, e.g., feeling enjoyable, energetic) on daily steps as measured by ecological momentary assessment (EMA) and accelerometry.

METHODS

A total of 152 adults in Taiwan (female = 67.1 %, age range = 18-59, M = 24.97) completed smartphone-based surveys upon waking and at three quasi-random times during the day for seven days during the COVID-19 outbreak (February-July 2022). They also wore accelerometers for the same seven days to measure physical activity (daily steps). The morning survey asked participants to self-report pleasant anticipation throughout the day, and the three quasi-random time surveys assessed current PIA. Multilevel modeling was used to examine day-level associations between morning pleasant anticipation, PIA, and daily steps. A list of key covariates (i.e., age, sex, educational attainment, marital status, living arrangement, chronic disease, body mass index [BMI], smoking, drinking, wellbeing, daily sleep quality, daily sleep hours, and accelerometer wear time) were included in the models to adjust for the covariates' potential effects on the study outcomes.

RESULTS

The study sample consisted of 989 morning observations and 2714 quasi-random time observations (EMA response rate = 87.01 %). Findings suggest that higher-than-usual levels of pleasant anticipation in the morning were significantly associated with more same-day daily steps (b = 0.03, SD = 0.01, p = .03) after adjusting for covariates. In addition, daily PIA was a significant moderator between morning pleasant anticipation and daily steps (b = 0.02, SD = 0.01, p < .01), such that higher levels of daily PIA were associated with greater increases in daily steps in response to higher levels of morning pleasant anticipation.

CONCLUSION

On days when participants had higher levels of pleasant anticipation in the morning, they took more steps per day. In addition, the association between morning pleasant anticipation and steps per day was stronger on days when participants had higher levels of PIA. These findings have practical implications for future EMA studies investigating the "anticipatory" affective processes on movement behaviors with the goal of promoting physical activity in daily life.

Motivational Profile as a Predictor of Physical Activity Among US Adults During the Early Months of the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Daily Diary Study

This study used a daily diary approach to examine associations between day-level physical activity (PA) behavior, PA-specific motivational profile, and days since the COVID-19 national emergency declaration during the early months (April-June 2020) of the pandemic. A total of 468 US adults (Mage = 34.8 y, 79% female) participated in a 28-day smartphone-based daily diary study assessing PA. A baseline survey assessed PA and motivation for PA using the Behavioral Regulation in Exercise Questionnaire. Multilevel linear regression models examined the main effects and interactions of motivational profile and time (days since the US March 13, 2020, COVID-19 national emergency declaration) on daily PA minutes. Latent profile analysis identified 4 distinct motivational profiles for PA among this sample: profile 1: high amotivation (n = 100, 21%); profile 2: low controlled motivation (n = 55, 12%); profile 3: high external regulation (n = 47, 10%); and profile 4: moderate autonomous motivation (n = 266, 57%). After controlling for baseline PA, there were significant interactions between profile and time on daily PA (-0.21, P < .01). Profile 2 showed greater decreases in daily PA minutes over time than profile 1 (b = -0.29, P < .01). Profiles 3 and 4 did not indicate significant decreases in PA compared with profile 1 (b = 0.14, P = .31 and b = -0.16, P = .05, respectively). Contrary to previous research, individuals with lower controlled or moderate autonomous motivation demonstrated the largest decreases in PA over time, whereas individuals with higher amotivation or external regulation demonstrated smaller decreases over time. These findings suggest that external motivation may have provided short-term protection against declines in PA observed during early months of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Daily Physical Activity: Associations With Memory and Affect

PURPOSE

Little is known about effects of moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA) and resistance training on daily variations in memory and affect. This study examined the relationship of MVPA and resistance training to memory and affect in daily life.

DESIGN

Short-term longitudinal 7-day diary.

SETTING

Northeast; primarily Boston-area communities.

SAMPLE

Adults aged 25 to 94.

MEASURES

For seven days, MVPA was assessed with an Actigraph. and resistance training was self-reported. Each evening, memory failures, positive and negative affect were recorded in a written diary and objective memory performance was assessed by telephone.

ANALYSIS

Multilevel linear regression analyses examined the between and within person associations of MVPA and resistance training with memory performance, memory failures, and affect.

RESULTS

Those who engaged in more MVPA had better memory performance across the week (b = 0.0163, SE = 0.0076, f2 = 0.004, p = 0.033). Participants reported higher levels of positive affect on days in which they spent more time in MVPA than usual (b = 0.003, SE = 0.001, f2 = 0.144, p < .001) and on days they engaged in resistance training (b = 0.1547, SE = 0.079, f2 = 0.007; p = 0.049).

CONCLUSIONS

Those who spent more time in MVPA had better memory performance, and on days with greater than usual MVPA time and resistance training, affect was more positive than on days with less activity. Implications for motivating physical exercise are considered.

Within-Person Temporal Associations Among Self-Reported Physical Activity, Sleep, and Well-Being in College Students

OBJECTIVE

A holistic understanding of the naturalistic dynamics among physical activity, sleep, emotions, and purpose in life as part of a system reflecting wellness is key to promoting well-being. The main aim of this study was to examine the day-to-day dynamics within this wellness system.

METHODS

Using self-reported emotions (happiness, sadness, anger, anxiousness) and physical activity periods collected twice per day, and daily reports of sleep and purpose in life via smartphone experience sampling, more than 28 days as college students ( n = 226 young adults; mean [standard deviation] = 20.2 [1.7] years) went about their daily lives, we examined day-to-day temporal and contemporaneous dynamics using multilevel vector autoregressive models that consider the network of wellness together.

RESULTS

Network analyses revealed that higher physical activity on a given day predicted an increase of happiness the next day. Higher sleep quality on a given night predicted a decrease in negative emotions the next day, and higher purpose in life predicted decreased negative emotions up to 2 days later. Nodes with the highest centrality were sadness, anxiety, and happiness in the temporal network and purpose in life, anxiety, and anger in the contemporaneous network.

CONCLUSIONS

Although the effects of sleep and physical activity on emotions and purpose in life may be shorter term, a sense of purpose in life is a critical component of wellness that can have slightly longer effects, bleeding into the next few days. High-arousal emotions and purpose in life are central to motivating people into action, which can lead to behavior change.

Sleep quality, valence, energetic arousal, and calmness as predictors of device-based measured physical activity during a three-week mHealth intervention

Physical inactivity is known to be a risk factor for several noncommunicable diseases and has a high prevalence in today’s society. Therefore, it is crucial to understand the psychological factors associated with physical activity (PA). Recent developments in the field of ambulatory assessment and technological advances are promising to enhance our understanding of this relationship by analyzing longitudinal data within- and between-persons. These analyses can reveal important factors to design behavior change interventions to enhance PA. Therefore, this study used an ecological momentary assessment during the 3‑week intervention period in the SMARTFAMILY2.0 trial and aimed to investigate whether valence, calmness, energetic arousal, and sleep quality predict daily steps and moderate to vigorous PA. Overall, 49 adults (35–60 years) and 40 children (5–19 years) were included in this analysis and self-rated their mental state within our smartphone application while also wearing a hip-worn accelerometer for 21 consecutive days (996 days included) during the intervention period. Multilevel analyses were conducted to predict daily PA while considering covariables (e.g., child/adult and non-wear time) both within- and between-persons. The results indicated that higher than average ratings of a person’s valence and energetic arousal on one day predicted increased PA while higher than average calmness predicted decreased PA at the same day within this person. Sleep quality and between-person effects of the affective states showed no clear associations to PA. Overall, these results showed that within-person associations of valence, calmness, and energetic arousal should be considered when designing PA interventions for both children and adults. The influence of sleep quality, as well as between-person effects, should be further explored by future studies.