Associations between morning affect and later-day smoking urges and behavior

OBJECTIVE

Affective experiences are associated with smoking urges and behavior. Few studies have examined the temporal nature of these associations within a day, such as whether positive and negative affect in the morning are associated with smoking urges and behavior later in the day.

METHOD

Participants (N = 63; MAge = 50 years, 48% female; 60% White) were randomized into one of three smoking cessation interventions and answered up to five daily ecological momentary assessments for 28 days during a quit attempt (M = 21.0 days, SD = 7.1). Before analysis, scores for morning positive and negative affect and later-day smoking urges and behavior were calculated.

RESULTS

On days when individuals' morning positive affect was higher than usual, later-day smoking urges tended to be lower than usual. In contrast, on days when individuals' morning negative affect was higher than usual, later-day smoking urges tended to be higher than usual, and smoking was more likely. Further, individuals who had higher characteristic morning positive affect tended to have less intense later-day smoking urges, whereas those who tended to have higher characteristic morning negative affect tended to have more intense later-day smoking urges.

CONCLUSIONS

Morning positive and negative affect were associated with later-day smoking urges, and morning negative affect was related to later-day smoking behavior. Future research should examine whether interventions that boost positive affect on mornings when it is lower than usual and attenuate negative affect on mornings when it is higher than usual, may reduce the intensity of smoking urges and the likelihood of smoking later in the day. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

The association of sleep with physical and mental health among people experiencing homelessness

BACKGROUND

Sleep deprivation is a critical risk factor for physical and mental health problems. The current study examined whether sleep problems were related to housing status and physical and mental health among people experiencing homelessness.

METHODS

Data were collected via an anonymous survey completed by adults accessing services at a day shelter in Oklahoma City, OK. Demographic characteristics, sleep problems, days of poor physical and mental health, and self-rated health were assessed and compared across housing subgroups. Logistic regression analyses were performed to examine potential associations between sleep and health.

RESULTS

Participants (N = 404) were predominantly male (71.0%) and racially minoritized (57.4%) with an average age of 47.0 (SD=11.6) years. Days of unintentional sleep over the past 30days differed significantly by housing status. Logistic regression analyses indicated that short sleep duration of ≤6 hours was associated with poorer self-rated health and more days of poor physical health over the past 30days compared to those who reported an optimal sleep duration of 7-9 hours. Additionally, reporting ≥1 day of unintentional daytime sleep was associated with more days of poor mental and physical health over the past 30-day. Reporting more days of inadequate sleep was associated with poorer self-rated health, and more days of poor physical and mental health over the past 30days.

CONCLUSION

Sleep problems were associated with poorer physical and mental health among people experiencing homelessness. Safe environments where adults experiencing homelessness can sleep comfortably and without interruption may be needed to support good physical and mental health.

A Bayesian spatiotemporal approach to modelling arboviral diseases in Mexico

BACKGROUND

The objective of this study was to evaluate the spatial and temporal patterns of disease prevalence clusters of dengue (DENV), chikungunya (CHIKV) and Zika (ZIKV) virus and how socio-economic and climatic variables simultaneously influence the risk and rate of occurrence of infection in Mexico.

METHODS

To determine the spatiotemporal clustering and the effect of climatic and socio-economic covariates on the rate of occurrence of disease and risk in Mexico, we applied correlation methods, seasonal and trend decomposition using locally estimated scatterplot smoothing, hotspot analysis and conditional autoregressive Bayesian models.

RESULTS

We found cases of the disease are decreasing and a significant association between DENV, CHIKV and ZIKV cases and climatic and socio-economic variables. An increment of cases was identified in the northeastern, central west and southeastern regions of Mexico. Climatic and socio-economic covariates were significantly associated with the rate of occurrence and risk of the three arboviral disease cases.

CONCLUSION

The association of climatic and socio-economic factors is predominant in the northeastern, central west and southeastern regions of Mexico. DENV, CHIKV and ZIKV cases showed an increased risk in several states in these regions and need urgent attention to allocate public health resources to the most vulnerable regions in Mexico.

A Scoping Review and Meta-analysis of the Use of Remote Biochemical Verification Methods of Smoking Status in Tobacco Research

INTRODUCTION

Increasing digital delivery of smoking cessation interventions has resulted in the need to employ novel strategies for remote biochemical verification.

AIMS AND METHODS

This scoping review and meta-analysis aimed to investigate best practices for remote biochemical verification of smoking status. The scientific literature was searched for studies that reported remotely obtained (not in-person) biochemical confirmation of smoking status (ie, combustible tobacco). A meta-analysis of proportions was conducted to investigate key outcomes, which included rates of returned biological samples and the ratio of biochemically verified to self-reported abstinence rates.

RESULTS

A total of 82 studies were included. The most common samples were expired air (46%) and saliva (40% of studies), the most common biomarkers were carbon monoxide (48%) and cotinine (44%), and the most common verification methods were video confirmation (37%) and mail-in samples for lab analysis (26%). Mean sample return rates determined by random-effects meta-analysis were 70% for smoking cessation intervention studies without contingency management (CM), 77% for CM studies, and 65% for other studies (eg, feasibility and secondary analyses). Among smoking cessation intervention studies without CM, self-reported abstinence rates were 21%, biochemically verified abstinence rates were 10%, and 47% of individuals who self-reported abstinence were also biochemically confirmed as abstinent.

CONCLUSIONS

This scoping review suggests that improvements in sample return rates in remote biochemical verification studies of smoking status are needed. Recommendations for reporting standards are provided that may enhance confidence in the validity of reported abstinence rates in remote studies.

IMPLICATIONS

This scoping review and meta-analysis included studies using remote biochemical verification to determine smoking status. Challenges exist regarding implementation and ensuring high sample return rates. Higher self-reported compared to biochemically verified abstinence rates suggest the possibility that participants in remote studies may be misreporting abstinence or not returning samples for other reasons (eg, participant burden, inconvenience). Remote biochemical confirmation of self-reported smoking abstinence should be included in smoking cessation studies whenever feasible. However, findings should be considered in the context of challenges to sample return rates. Better reporting guidelines for future studies in this area are needed.

The Prevalence and Perceived Utility of Mobile Health Technology Among Recently Incarcerated Homeless Adults

Mobile technologies can deliver physical and mental health services for recently incarcerated homeless adults (RIHAs). The purpose of this study was to examine the prevalence and perceived utility of mobile technology to support health behavior change among RIHAs. Participants (n = 324) from an ongoing clinical trial at a homeless shelter in Texas were included in the current descriptive cross-sectional analyses. Over one fourth (28.4%) of participants had an active cell phone. Nearly 90 percent (88.6%) of participants reported at least weekly use of the internet, 77 percent used email (77.2%), and more than half used Facebook (55.2%). Although most participants (82.8%) believed that smartphone applications (apps) could help change their behavior, only a quarter (25.1%) had used an app for this purpose. These findings highlight the potential for smartphone-based intervention technologies, and future studies should examine whether smartphone apps that address mental health and health behaviors are feasible among RIHAs.

Smoking prevalence among Asian Americans: Associations with education, acculturation, and gender

There is evidence that smoking prevalence rates are related to acculturation, education, and gender among Asian Americans. However, no studies have examined how smoking rates among Asian Americans vary based on acculturation, education, and gender together. This study used National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) data (2010-2018) to examine cigarette smoking prevalence among Asian American men and women aged 18 and older (N = 14,680). Multivariate logistic regression models were used to estimate associations between educational attainment (i.e., college graduate or higher vs some college or lower), years spent in the United States (U.S.) as a proxy for acculturation (i.e., less than 10 years (less acculturated) vs 10 years or more (more acculturated) vs U.S.-born), and cigarette smoking prevalence across gender controlling for age, marital status, poverty (at/above vs below poverty threshold), country of origin (Chinese vs Filipino vs Asian Indian vs Other Asian), and the survey year. Current smoking prevalence was 9.0 % among all Asian Americans - 5.0 % among women and 13.5 % among men. Among respective gender-specific subgroups, U.S.-born Asian women without a college degree and more acculturated Asian immigrant men without a college degree had the highest odds of smoking (OR: 4.096 [95 % CI: 2.638, 6.360] and 1.462 [95 % CI: 1.197, 1.774], respectively). Findings indicated that less educated U.S.-born Asian women and less educated Asian immigrant men are at greatest risk for smoking. Smoking prevalence among Asian Americans is highly related to acculturation, education, and gender. Findings may inform development of policies and programs that are targeted toward smoking cessation among Asian Americans.

Quit Stage and Intervention Type Differences in the Momentary Within-Person Association Between Negative Affect and Smoking Urges

Background

Smoking urges and negative affect play important roles in daily cigarette smoking and smoking lapse during a cessation attempt. Traditionally, laboratory research has considered negative affect as a potential cause of smoking urges. A deeper understanding of momentary associations between negative affect and smoking urges during a smoking cessation attempt can inform treatment development efforts. This study examined whether the within-person association between negative affect and smoking urges differed before and after a quit attempt, and by intervention type.

Methods

Data are from a pilot randomized controlled trial comparing 3 smoking cessation interventions. Participants were randomly assigned to: (1) a novel, smartphone-based just-in-time adaptive intervention that tailored treatment content in real-time (Smart-T2; n = 24), (2) the National Cancer Institute QuitGuide app (n = 25), or (3) a clinic-based tobacco cessation program (TTRP; n = 23) that followed Clinical Practice Guidelines. All participants received up to 12 weeks of nicotine replacement therapy and completed up to 5 assessments per day (M PreQuit = 25.8 assessments, SD = 6.0; M PostQuit = 107.7 assessments, SD = 37.1) of their negative affect and smoking urges during the 7 days (M = 6.6 days, SD = 1.0) prior to their quit-date and the 29 days (M = 25.8 days, SD = 6.4) after their quit-date. Prior to analysis, repeated measures of smoking urges were decomposed into between-person and within-person components.

Results

After accounting for baseline nicotine dependence, Bayesian multilevel models indicated that the extent of within-person association between negative affect and smoking urges was stronger in the post-quit stage of the intervention than the pre-quit stage. Results also indicated that in the post-quit stage of the intervention, the within-person association between negative affect and smoking urges was weaker for those in the Smart-T2 and TTRP groups compared with those in the QuitGuide group. The extent of this within-person association did not differ between those in the Smart-T2 and TTRP groups.

Conclusions

These findings offer preliminary evidence that the momentary within-person association between negative affect and smoking urges increases following a quit attempt, and that the TTRP and Smart-T2 interventions may weaken this association. Research is needed to replicate and expand upon current findings in a fully powered randomized controlled trial.

Clinical Trial Registration

ClinicalTrials.gov NCT02930200; https://clinicaltrials.gov/show/NCT02930200.

The relations between discrimination, stressful life events, and substance use among adults experiencing homelessness

The current study investigated whether stressful life events and everyday discrimination experiences were associated with using one or more substances in the past 30-days and substance use disorder (SUD) among adults experiencing homelessness. We obtained survey data from adults (N = 501) seeking services at a day shelter. Participants self-reported whether they used cigarettes, other tobacco products, cannabis, alcohol, opioids, amphetamine, and cocaine/crack in the past 30-days, and the total number of substances used were also calculated. We measured stressful life events and everyday discrimination using validated scales. We used multivariable logistic and negative binomial regression analyses to evaluate hypothesised associations. Results indicated that reporting a higher number of stressful life events was associated with past 30-days cannabis, tobacco, alcohol, and other substance use, screening positive for a SUD, and using a greater number of substances in the past 30 days. After accounting for stressful life events, everyday discrimination was associated with only past 30-days cannabis use. Overall, we found that reporting stressful life events was related to current substance use and screening positive for a SUD. Findings suggest that life stressors, and discrimination to a lesser extent, were associated with substance use and SUD among adults experiencing homelessness.

Daily use of nicotine replacement medications is related to daily smoking status: An ecological momentary assessment study

BACKGROUND

Few studies have examined how daily adherence to nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) impacts daily smoking abstinence.

METHODS

Data from a pilot randomized controlled trial of a smartphone-based smoking cessation intervention were used. Separate, generalized linear mixed models examined the association between ecological momentary assessments of NRT use and same-day and next day smoking status. Separate models examined the relationship between daily smoking status and (1) any use of NRT, (2) quantity of nicotine gum used, and (3) nicotine patch wear time. Reasons for medication non-adherence were also examined.

RESULTS

Participants (n = 77) were predominantly White (66.2%) and female (50.6%), 50.4 years old (SD=11.6) on average, and they smoked an average of 21.8 cigarettes per day (SD=11.0) at baseline. Daily NRT use was significantly associated with a lower likelihood of smoking both within that same day and the following day. While using the gum and patch together, and using the patch alone were associated with reduced odds of same-day and next-day smoking, using the gum alone was not significantly associated with reduced odds of smoking. The most commonly cited reasons for not using the patch or gum was "other" (43.3%), followed by "side effects" (27.1%), and "forgot" (18.9%).

CONCLUSION

Daily use of the patch or both the patch and gum was associated with a lower risk of daily smoking. Low levels of nicotine gum use alone may not be an effective cessation strategy. Future studies should further explore reasons for NRT non-compliance, and ways to increase NRT adherence.

Unsheltered homeless and unstably housed adults have higher levels of stress and more health risk factors than sheltered homeless adults

In the United States, approximately 580,000 individuals were homeless on a single night in 2020. Homelessness can be categorized into three subgroups: sheltered homeless, unsheltered homeless, and unstably housed. Few studies have examined the relations between homelessness subtypes, shelter service utilization, levels of stress experienced, and health risk factors. This study aimed to empirically examine whether shelter status the previous night was related to current stress, recent utilization of shelter-based mental health services, and current health risk factors. Data were collected at multiple homeless shelters in 2016 in the Oklahoma City area (N=575). All participants completed assessments of demographic characteristics, including age, sex, race, marital status, years of education, and incarceration history and victimization. Multiple linear and logistic regression analyses were conducted to examine relations between homelessness subgroups and outcomes (shelter-based service utilization, health risk factors, and stressors). Results indicated that the sheltered group was younger and more likely to be White than the unsheltered group, had higher levels of education, and reported more lifetime months in jail than the unstably housed group. In addition, unsheltered homeless and unstably housed adults used fewer shelter-based health services, exhibited more health risk factors, experienced greater levels of stress, and had higher levels of food insecurity than sheltered homeless adults. Homeless adults who reside at shelters benefit most from available shelter services. The development of policies and programs targeted toward increasing sheltering options for unsheltered and unstably housed adults is needed.

Predicting the first smoking lapse during a quit attempt: A machine learning approach

BACKGROUND

Just-in-time adaptive interventions (JITAI) aim to prevent smoking lapse using tailored support delivered via mobile technology in the moments when it is most needed. Effective smoking cessation JITAI rely on the development of accurate decision rules that determine when someone is most likely to lapse. The primary goal of the present study was to identify the strongest predictors of first lapse among smokers undergoing a quit attempt.

METHODS

Smokers attending a clinic-based smoking cessation program (n = 74) were asked to complete ecological momentary assessments five times daily on study-provided smartphones for 4 weeks post-quit. A three-stage modeling process utilized Cox proportional hazards regression to examine time to lapse a function of 31 predictors. First, univariate models evaluated the relationship between each predictor and time to lapse. Second, the elastic net machine learning algorithm was used to select the best predictors. Third, backwards elimination further reduced the set of predictors to optimize parsimony.

RESULTS

Univariate models identified seven predictors significantly related to time to lapse. The elastic net algorithm retained five: perceived odds of smoking today, confidence in ability to avoid smoking, motivation to avoid smoking, urge to smoke, and cigarette availability. The reduced model demonstrated inadequate approximation to the non-penalized baseline model.

CONCLUSIONS

Accurate estimation of moments of high risk for smoking lapse remains an important goal in the development of JITAI. These results demonstrate the utility of exploratory data-driven approaches to variable selection. The results of this study can inform future JITAI by highlighting targets for intervention.

Automated Mobile Delivery of Financial Incentives for Smoking Cessation Among Socioeconomically Disadvantaged Adults: Feasibility Study

BACKGROUND

Socioeconomic disadvantage is associated with a reduced likelihood of smoking cessation. Smartphone ownership is increasing rapidly, including among low-income adults, and smartphone interventions for smoking cessation may increase access to smoking cessation treatment among socioeconomically disadvantaged adults.

OBJECTIVE

This study aimed to evaluate the feasibility of an automated smartphone-based approach to delivering financial incentives for smoking cessation.

METHODS

Socioeconomically disadvantaged adults initiating tobacco cessation treatment were followed from 1 week before a scheduled quit attempt through 26 weeks after the quit date. Participants received telephone counseling and nicotine replacement therapy. Smoking cessation was verified 5 times per week via smartphone prompts to self-report smoking status and submit a breath sample via a portable carbon monoxide (CO) monitor that was connected with participants' smartphones. Identity was verified during smoking status assessments using smartphone-based facial recognition software. When smoking abstinence and identity were verified, an automated credit card payment was triggered. Participants were incentivized for abstinence on the quit date and up to five days per week during the first 4 weeks after the scheduled quit date, with additional incentives offered during postquit weeks 8 and 12. In total, participants had the opportunity to earn up to US $250 in abstinence-contingent incentives over the first 12 weeks of the quit attempt.

RESULTS

Participants (N=16) were predominantly female (12/16, 75%) and non-Hispanic white (11/16, 69%), black (4/16, 25%), or Hispanic of any race (1/16, 6%). Most participants (9/16, 56%) reported an annual household income of <US $11,000. During the first 4 weeks after the scheduled quit date, participants completed a median of 16 (out of 21; range 1-21) mobile smoking status assessments, and they earned a median of US $28 in abstinence-contingent incentives (out of a possible US $150; range US $0-US $135). Median earnings did not change during the 8- and 12-week incentivized follow-up periods (total median earnings over 12 weeks=US $28; range US $0-US $167). During the first 4 weeks after the scheduled quit date, participants abstained from smoking on a median of 5 (out of 21) assessment days (range 0-20). At the in-person follow-up visits, the expired CO-confirmed 7-day point prevalence abstinence rates were 19% (3/16) and 13% (2/16) at 12 and 26 weeks postquit, respectively. Overall, most participants reported that the system was easy to use and that they would recommend this treatment to their friends and family.

CONCLUSIONS

Preliminary data suggest that this smartphone-based approach to verifying identity and smoking status and automating the delivery of abstinence-contingent incentives to a credit card is feasible for use among socioeconomically disadvantaged adults. However, continued refinement is warranted.

A Mobile Just-in-Time Adaptive Intervention for Smoking Cessation: Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial

Background

Smartphone apps for smoking cessation could offer easily accessible, highly tailored, intensive interventions at a fraction of the cost of traditional counseling. Although there are hundreds of publicly available smoking cessation apps, few have been empirically evaluated using a randomized controlled trial (RCT) design. The Smart-Treatment (Smart-T2) app is a just-in-time adaptive intervention that uses ecological momentary assessments (EMAs) to assess the risk for imminent smoking lapse and tailors treatment messages based on the risk of lapse and reported symptoms.

Objective

This 3-armed pilot RCT aimed to determine the feasibility and preliminary efficacy of an automated smartphone-based smoking cessation intervention (Smart-T2) relative to standard in-person smoking cessation clinic care and the National Cancer Institute’s free smoking cessation app, QuitGuide.

Methods

Adult smokers who attended a clinic-based tobacco cessation program were randomized into groups and followed for 13 weeks (1 week prequitting through 12 weeks postquitting). All study participants received nicotine patches and gum and were asked to complete EMAs five times a day on study-provided smartphones for 5 weeks. Participants in the Smart-T2 group received tailored treatment messages after the completion of each EMA. Both Smart-T2 and QuitGuide apps offer on-demand smoking cessation treatment.

Results

Of 81 participants, 41 (50%) were women and 55 (68%) were white. On average, participants were aged 49.6 years and smoked 22.4 cigarettes per day at baseline. A total of 17% (14/81) of participants were biochemically confirmed 7-day point prevalence abstinent at 12 weeks postquitting (Smart-T2: 6/27, 22%, QuitGuide: 4/27, 15%, and usual care: 4/27, 15%), with no significant differences across groups (P>.05). Participants in the Smart-T2 group rated the app positively, with most participants agreeing that they can rely on the app to help them quit smoking, and endorsed the belief that the app would help them stay quit, and these responses were not significantly different from the ratings given by participants in the usual care group.

Conclusions

Dynamic smartphone apps that tailor intervention content in real time may increase user engagement and exposure to treatment-related materials. The results of this pilot RCT suggest that smartphone-based smoking cessation treatments may be capable of providing similar outcomes to traditional, in-person counseling.

Trial Registration

ClinicalTrials.gov NCT02930200; https://clinicaltrials.gov/show/NCT02930200

Dual Versus Single Parental Households and Differences in Maternal Mental Health and Child's Overweight/Obesity

Objectives Mothers report higher levels of psychological stress than fathers. s. Psychological stress is posited to influence parenting practices that could increase children's obesity risk. However, previous studies have not investigated several aspects of maternal mental health and the moderating role of household structure on children's obesity risk. The objective was to investigate associations of maternal mental health with child obesity risk, and whether these associations differed by household structure (single-parent vs. dual parent/multigenerational). Methods Mothers and their 8-12 year old children (N = 175 dyads) completed baseline questionnaires on mothers' mental health and child anthropometrics. Separate logistic regressions assessed associations of standardized maternal mental health indicators with the odds of child overweight/obesity, controlling for child age, and women's BMI, age, education, employment status, and annual income. Household structure was investigated as a moderator of these relationships.Results There were no statistically significant relationships between maternal mental health characteristics and odds of child overweight/obesity. Among single mothers only, greater anxiety was associated with higher risk of child overweight/obesity [OR (95% CI) = 3.67 (1.27-10.62); p = 0.0163]; and greater life satisfaction was marginally associated with lower risk of child overweight/obesity [OR (95% CI) = 0.44 (0.19-1.01); p = 0.0522]. Mothers' life satisfaction may lower risk for their children's overweight/obesity, whereas higher anxiety may increase this risk, particularly among children living in single-mother households. Conclusions for Practice Future interventions could increase resources for single mothers to buffer the effects of stress and lower pediatric obesity risk.

Mean level of positive affect moderates associations between volatility in positive affect, mental health, and alcohol consumption among mothers

Affective volatility (i.e., variability) is typically conceptualized as a marker of poor mental and behavioral health. The current research challenges this notion. Among individuals who typically experience low positive affect (PA), vacillation between bouts of joy and marked anhedonia may be associated with better behavioral health relative to a restricted range of PA experience. We therefore tested the hypothesis that mean levels of PA captured via an 8-day intensive repeated Ecological Momentary Assessment (EMA) would moderate the association of EMA-measured PA variability with behavioral health measured at intake among working mothers (N = 202) with young children-a population at risk for experiencing repeated stress- and reward-induced PA changes. Mixed-effects location scale modeling parsed variance in PA mean and variability, which were used in subject-level regression models of associations with depressive symptoms, anxiety, and alcohol use. PA mean moderated the associations of PA variability with depressive symptoms (Interaction: β = .20, p = .02) and alcohol consumption frequency (Interaction: β = .22, p = .02). PA variability and depressive symptom and alcohol consumption levels were positively associated at higher PA mean levels, whereas PA variability was inversely associated with depressive symptom and alcohol consumption at low mean PA. PA Mean × Variability Interactions were not significant for anxiety and binge drinking. We conclude that (a) intensive longitudinal modeling of Affect Mean × Variability Interaction effects may provide incremental information in psychopathology research; (b) PA volatility does not unilaterally indicate poor behavioral health; and (c) a nuanced perspective on the role of PA volatility may benefit clinical services for working mothers. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2018 APA, all rights reserved).

Association of Digital Media Use With Subsequent Symptoms of Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder Among Adolescents

IMPORTANCE

Modern digital platforms are easily accessible and intensely stimulating; it is unknown whether frequent use of digital media may be associated with symptoms of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

OBJECTIVE

To determine whether the frequency of using digital media among 15- and 16-year-olds without significant ADHD symptoms is associated with subsequent occurrence of ADHD symptoms during a 24-month follow-up.

DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS

Longitudinal cohort of students in 10 Los Angeles County, California, high schools recruited through convenience sampling. Baseline and 6-, 12-, 18-, and 24-month follow-up surveys were administered from September 2014 (10th grade) to December 2016 (12th grade). Of 4100 eligible students, 3051 10th-graders (74%) were surveyed at the baseline assessment.

EXPOSURES

Self-reported use of 14 different modern digital media activities at a high-frequency rate over the preceding week was defined as many times a day (yes/no) and was summed in a cumulative index (range, 0-14).

MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES

Self-rated frequency of 18 ADHD symptoms (never/rare, sometimes, often, very often) in the 6 months preceding the survey. The total numbers of 9 inattentive symptoms (range, 0-9) and 9 hyperactive-impulsive symptoms (range, 0-9) that students rated as experiencing often or very often were calculated. Students who had reported experiencing often or very often 6 or more symptoms in either category were classified as being ADHD symptom-positive.

RESULTS

Among the 2587 adolescents (63% eligible students; 54.4% girls; mean [SD] age 15.5 years [0.5 years]) who did not have significant symptoms of ADHD at baseline, the median follow-up was 22.6 months (interquartile range [IQR], 21.8-23.0, months). The mean (SD) number of baseline digital media activities used at a high-frequency rate was 3.62 (3.30); 1398 students (54.1%) indicated high frequency of checking social media (95% CI, 52.1%-56.0%), which was the most common media activity. High-frequency engagement in each additional digital media activity at baseline was associated with a significantly higher odds of having symptoms of ADHD across follow-ups (OR, 1.11; 95% CI, 1.06-1.16). This association persisted after covariate adjustment (OR, 1.10; 95% CI, 1.05-1.15). The 495 students who reported no high-frequency media use at baseline had a 4.6% mean rate of having ADHD symptoms across follow-ups vs 9.5% among the 114 who reported 7 high-frequency activities (difference; 4.9%; 95% CI, 2.5%-7.3%) and vs 10.5% among the 51 students who reported 14 high-frequency activities (difference, 5.9%; 95% CI, 2.6%-9.2%).

CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE

Among adolescents followed up over 2 years, there was a statistically significant but modest association between higher frequency of digital media use and subsequent symptoms of ADHD. Further research is needed to determine whether this association is causal.

Associations Between Maternal Mental Health and Well-being and Physical Activity and Sedentary Behavior in Children

OBJECTIVE

This study assessed whether aspects of maternal mental health and well-being were associated with objective monitor-based measures of child's physical activity (PA) and sedentary behavior (SB) and the extent to which household structure (i.e., single- vs multigenerational/dual-parent) and maternal employment (i.e., full-time vs not full-time) moderated those associations.

METHODS

Dyads (N = 191) of mothers and their 8- to 12-year-old children participated in the baseline wave of the Mother's and Their Children's Health study. Mothers (Mage = 40.9 yr [SD = 6.1]; 49% Hispanic) completed a battery of questionnaires to assess maternal mental health and well-being (i.e., self-esteem, life satisfaction, depressive symptoms, anxiety, perceived stress, parenting stress, financial stress, and life events stress). Children (Mage = 9.6 yr [SD = 0.9]; 54% Hispanic; 51% girls) wore an accelerometer across 1 week during waking hours to objectively measure moderate-to-vigorous PA (MVPA) and SB.

RESULTS

In single-parent families (n = 47), but not multigenerational/dual-parent families, mothers' parenting stress was negatively associated with child's MVPA (β = -.34, p = .02). In corrected analyses, all other aspects of maternal mental health and well-being were not related to children's activity patterns.

CONCLUSION

Parenting stress was the only maternal mental health variable associated with objective monitor-based measures of child's PA after adjusting for multiple comparisons. Results indicated weaker associations between maternal mental health and well-being and child's MVPA and SB than previously identified using subjective measures of behavior. Study findings support the need to use objective measurements of child's activity patterns to minimize potential confounding because of maternal report in evaluating child's PA and SB.