Abstract Intolerance of uncertainty (IU) is a cognitive bias that leads to perception and intolerance of uncertainty and has associated negative cognitive, emotional, and behavioural responses. It plays a strong role in social anxiety disorder (SAD; Counsell et al., 2017). Our experimental study examined the impact of uncertainty related to a social stressor on SAD using a speech task. We examined features of SAD including anticipatory anxiety, anxiety during the task, willingness to perform the task, and avoidance of the task. Undergraduate students (N = 110, 88% female) with significant social anxiety completed a series of questionnaires, then were randomised to one of two conditions related to level of uncertainty about an impromptu speech task. The experimental condition (state IU) did not predict any of the outcome variables, while trait IU significantly predicted anxiety levels. Results indicate that increased uncertainty of a social situation does not impact acute anxiety levels in SAD and reinforce the strong role of trait IU as a transdiagnostic cognitive variable. Neither trait nor state IU predicted the willingness and avoidance variables. Results also highlighted the central role of the experience of anxiety on avoidance behaviours, above cognitive factors such as IU.

Abstract The inactive lifestyle of urban Indians has increased their risk of non-communicable diseases (NCDs). A qualitative study was designed to explore barriers and facilitators related to exercise participation among urban Indians. Underpinned by the developmental life course theory, nine focus group discussions (FGDs) were conducted with 29 women and 26 men residing in Mumbai, India. Focus groups were gender and age stratified. Both thematic analysis and content analysis techniques were used to analyse the data. While the lack of time was mentioned as a barrier by all groups, an unstructured schedule was mentioned specifically by women and awareness of physical health benefits emerged as the most popular facilitator for recreational physical activity. Based on the results of the FGDs, a pilot exercise intervention for sedentary women (N = 6) was conducted which consisted of a morning walk six days a week for 10 weeks. Post-intervention, an FGD was conducted to explore participants’ perspectives on their experience in the intervention. The participants reported that the intervention enhanced exercise self-efficacy and well-being. Exercise as relaxation, spousal support, and need for peers to exercise with emerged as primary themes during the follow-up FGD. These findings can inform the development of age and gender-specific as well as culturally appropriate interventions to facilitate active living.

Abstract The current study used behavioural and electroencephalograph measures to compare the transferability of three home-based interventions — cognitive training (CT), neurofeedback training (NFT), and CT combined with NFT — for reducing symptoms in children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (AD/HD). Following a multiple-baseline single-case experimental design, twelve children were randomised to a training condition. Each child completed a baseline phase, followed by an intervention phase. The intervention phase consisted of 20 sessions of at-home training. Tau-U analysis and standardised visual analysis were adopted to detect effects. Results showed that CT improved inhibitory function and NFT improved alpha EEG activity and working memory. The combined condition, which was a reduced ‘dose’ of CT and NFT, did not show any improvements. The three conditions did not alleviate AD/HD symptoms. While CT and NFT may have transfer effects on executive functions, considering the lack of improvement in symptoms, this study does not support CT and NFT on their own as a treatment for children with AD/HD.

Abstract Research investigating social anxiety and the impacts on romantic relationships remains scarce. An online questionnaire examining romantic relationship status, social anxiety and depression symptomology, relationship satisfaction, and several relationship processes was completed by 444 adults. Individuals with higher social anxiety were less likely to be in romantic relationships. For the 188 adults in our sample in current relationships, relationship satisfaction was not influenced by social anxiety when controlling for depression. Although it was proposed that self-disclosure, social support, trust, and conflict initiation might influence romantic relationship satisfaction, none of these mechanisms interacted with social anxiety to explain additional variance in relationship satisfaction. These findings indicate that depression symptomology may be a treatment target for socially anxious individuals wishing to improve romantic relationship satisfaction.

Abstract Effective and consistent engagement in personal hygiene practices is important for preventing the acquisition and transmission of communicable diseases in childhood. This study aimed to investigate trends in adherence to recommended hygiene practices and identify factors contributing to difficulties in establishing good hygiene habits with young children (0–4 years) in Australia. A self-selected community sample of parents (N = 426) completed an online survey assessing children's adherence to recommended hygiene practices and barriers and enablers of establishing good personal hygiene habits. Parents reported interest in receiving information/tips on children's personal hygiene (yes/no) and nominated topics of interest. Less than half of children in any age group consistently (always/almost always) covered coughs and sneezes, washed hands after toileting, or washed hands before meals or when dirty. Children's non-compliance (i.e. resistance, refusal) was the most commonly reported barrier to establishing good personal hygiene habits, while children's compliance (i.e. cooperative behaviour, following or complying with caregivers’ instructions) was the most commonly cited enabler. Despite low levels of adherence, less than half (41.2%) of parents wanted information/tips on children's hygiene. Results suggest a disconnect between parents’ knowledge about recommended hygiene practices and actual behaviour. Development and testing of approaches to behaviour change that incorporate evidence-based strategies to manage children's resistance and support parents to encourage the development of healthy hygiene habits is warranted.

Abstract Emerging research suggests that death anxiety is a transdiagnostic construct, which may underpin a number of mental illnesses. Although cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT) has been found to be the most effective treatment for death anxiety, no self-guided treatments for this construct exist at present. Furthermore, there is a growing need for accessible, scalable and cost-effective psychological treatments. To address these gaps, we createdOvercome Death Anxiety(ODA), an online CBT-based programme which specifically targets fears of death. ODA was designed to be a fully automated, standalone, yet individualised online treatment. The present study outlines the development and structure of this programme using responses from four users to illustrate feasibility. Research is needed to examine the efficacy and usability of ODA with a larger clinical sample.

Abstract According to cognitive theories of social anxiety, fear of negative evaluation (FNE) may be the mechanism whereby social anxiety induces distress. However, studying this can be challenging, as individuals with social anxiety may be reluctant to enter anxiety-provoking social situations, such as speaking in front of others. The present study used virtual reality (VR) to examine if giving a presentation in front of a virtual audience induced distress among undergraduate students and to test the hypothesis that FNE would mediate the relationship between social anxiety and distress. University students (N = 58, 70% female) entered a VR environment where they stood in front of a virtual audience and gave a short, impromptu presentation about their university. Participants also completed self-report measures of social anxiety, FNE, and distress (estimated before, during, and after VR). Distress and FNE had positive relationships with social anxiety and FNE fully mediated the relationship between social anxiety and distress. As far as we are aware, this is the first VR study to show this effect. The findings indicate that FNE could be a useful treatment target to reduce distress when presenting in front of an audience, either in VR or in person.

Abstract Recent models of obesity and eating behaviour have implicated both automatic responding to food-related cues and executive functioning in driving dietary choice. This study aimed to relate grazing severity to high weight with and without significant eating disorder features via the effects of inhibition and degree of goal-directed behaviour, in persons with obesity with and without significant eating disorder features compared to healthy controls. Forty-four participants with obesity (43.1% endorsing marked eating disorder features), and 43 healthy-weight age- and sex-matched participants (N= 87; 67.8% female, age = 28.57 (8.70; 18.18–58.34) years, BMI = 29.18 (7.80; 18.65–51.95) kg/m2) completed demographic and eating disorder-related questionnaires, a neuropsychological task of inhibition and an instrumental decision-making task. Bootstrapped serial mediation analyses were performed to examine the effect of group on grazing via goal-directed behaviour and inhibition. While significant differences existed between the groups in terms of inhibition, goal-directed behaviour and grazing severity, the effect of group on grazing severity was not found to be mediated by the degree of behavioural goal-directedness and inhibition.Therefore, :in persons with obesity with or without eating disorder symptoms, putative relationships between a reduced inhibitory profile and/or behaviour that is less flexible and goal-directed and eating behaviours such as grazing, remain unclear.

Abstract The FRIENDS for Life (FFL) programme, a school-based anxiety prevention programme, targets anxiety reduction and resiliency development in elementary school-aged children (Barrett, Sonderegger & Xenos, 2003). In the context of equivocal effectiveness findings regarding FFL in Canadian schools, the present study assessed pre–post changes in anxiety, self-esteem, and prosocial behaviour in a school system in Northeastern Canada. To yield further insight to the potential sources of equivocal FFL effectiveness findings, we also evaluated FFL treatment integrity (TI) and social validity (SV). Few studies have assessed FFL TI at the level of identifying which programme sessions, or within-session content, have or have not been adhered to (Higgins & O'Sullivan S, 2015). Similarly, few studies have provided detailed programme SV data or perceived programme benefits by children and parents. TI and SV can provide programme data beyond anxiety reduction, which is key in prevention programming research, as pre–post changes are challenging to detect in ‘healthy’ samples (Durlak & Wells, 1997). Treatment outcome, TI, and SV data were collected from classrooms across 10 elementary schools administering FFL. The sample included 210 child and 108 parent participants; post-testing occurred 1 week following FFL programme completion. Findings indicated significant decreases from pre- to post-test in child-reported anxiety and self-esteem but no changes in prosocial behaviours. Findings suggest that low TI ratings may have impacted anxiety, self-esteem, and prosocial behaviour results, and that child-reported SV may be more related to programme outcomes than parent-reported SV. Implications for FFL programme developers and future FFL evaluation studies are discussed.

Abstract Work ability is a prospective predictor of sick leave, disability pension and unemployment, and has been defined as the balance between human resources and the demands of work, taking into consideration that illness is not equivalent to work disability. In the present study we set out to explore predictors of work ability in a sample of individuals with common mental disorders. In particular, we were interested in exploring metacognitive beliefs as a potential predictor of work ability, as Wells’ (2009) metacognitive model of psychological disorder suggests that metacognitions may be an underlying factor in psychological vulnerability generally, and they have been associated with work status in previous studies. One hundred and seventy-seven individuals participated in an online survey and completed a battery of self-report questionnaires. Several factors correlated with reduced work ability: physical disorders, emotional distress symptoms and metacognitive beliefs. We found that confidence in memory predicted work ability even when controlling for gender/age, number of physical disorders, and levels of anxiety and depression symptoms. This finding suggest that metacognitions of poor memory performance are associated with low work ability among those with common mental disorders, and implies that these should be targeted in treatment with a view to increasing work ability and thus potentially facilitate return to work.