Identifying effective intervention strategies to reduce children’s screen time: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Background Excessive screen time ($$\ge$$ ≥ 2 h per day) is associated with childhood overweight and obesity, physical inactivity, increased sedentary time, unfavorable dietary behaviors, and disrupted sleep. Previous reviews suggest intervening on screen time is associated with reductions in screen time and improvements in other obesogenic behaviors. However, it is unclear what study characteristics and behavior change techniques are potential mechanisms underlying the effectiveness of behavioral interventions. The purpose of this meta-analysis was to identify the behavior change techniques and study characteristics associated with effectiveness in behavioral interventions to reduce children’s (0–18 years) screen time. Methods A literature search of four databases (Ebscohost, Web of Science, EMBASE, and PubMed) was executed between January and February 2020 and updated during July 2021. Behavioral interventions targeting reductions in children’s (0–18 years) screen time were included. Information on study characteristics (e.g., sample size, duration) and behavior change techniques (e.g., information, goal-setting) were extracted. Data on randomization, allocation concealment, and blinding was extracted and used to assess risk of bias. Meta-regressions were used to explore whether intervention effectiveness was associated with the presence of behavior change techniques and study characteristics. Results The search identified 15,529 articles, of which 10,714 were screened for relevancy and 680 were retained for full-text screening. Of these, 204 studies provided quantitative data in the meta-analysis. The overall summary of random effects showed a small, beneficial impact of screen time interventions compared to controls (SDM = 0.116, 95CI 0.08 to 0.15). Inclusion of the Goals, Feedback, and Planning behavioral techniques were associated with a positive impact on intervention effectiveness (SDM = 0.145, 95CI 0.11 to 0.18). Interventions with smaller sample sizes (n < 95) delivered over short durations (< 52 weeks) were associated with larger effects compared to studies with larger sample sizes delivered over longer durations. In the presence of the Goals, Feedback, and Planning behavioral techniques, intervention effectiveness diminished as sample size increased. Conclusions Both intervention content and context are important to consider when designing interventions to reduce children’s screen time. As interventions are scaled, determining the active ingredients to optimize interventions along the translational continuum will be crucial to maximize reductions in children’s screen time.

Assessing Student Perceptions of a Norwegian University's COVID-19 Response Strategy: A Cross-Sectional Study

Aim: This study aims to investigate Norwegian students' perceptions toward a higher education institution (HEI)'s COVID-19 response strategy, differentiating between three behavioral techniques: informing (i. e., email updates about COVID-19), nudging (i.e., visual cues as reminders), and creating novel opportunities (i.e., provision of antibacterial dispensers). In addition, the study assesses to what extent these perceptions are influenced by COVID-19 related psychological factors: risk perception; attitudes toward infection prevention and control (IPC) behaviors; perceived behavior control; institutional trust.Methods: A cross-sectional online survey was conducted among a student population. The survey was developed to evaluate the HEI's response strategy, and distinct perceptions of COVID-19 and related practices. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was applied to estimate the effect of the psychological factors on the attitude toward different behavioral techniques.Results: Creating novel opportunities was perceived most positively from the students, secondly, informing the students through email updates about COVID-19, finally, reminders through visual cues. Institutional trust presented the largest positive effect on informing the students through email updates, while no effect was measured for reminders. Attitudes toward IPC behaviors showed the strongest effect on students' perceptions of new opportunities and reminders, whereas providing email updates about COVID-19 is less affected by pre-existing perceptions.Conclusions: A host of factors such as institutional trust, and perceptions concerning IPC measures and risk severity, influence students' perceptions of different behavior change techniques. This type of knowledge can contribute to understanding how perceptions can impact acceptance and adoption of specific preventive measures within a pandemic response. An assessment as such may result in more ethical and relevant future efforts.

Evaluación de activación conductual en universitarios que consumen mariguana: estudio piloto

Introduction: In Mexico, marijuana consumption has increased in adults and university students, triggering problems in attention, concentration, anxiety, depression, dependence, and cardio-respiratory difficulties. Psychological interventions like brief motivational treatment (BMT) and cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) have reported some difficulties such as a low and medium effect size, decreased consumption without reaching abstinence, and heterogeneity in the use of both cognitive and behavioral techniques. The use of behavioral techniques in Behavioral Activation has reported effectiveness in the treatment of anxiety, depression, and recently in alcohol and tobacco. Objective: to evaluate the effect size of a Behavioral Activation treatment in abstinence of marijuana (BA-M) measured in units, occasions, and quantity of consumption. Method: in a sample of university students (n = 8), the intervention of behavioral activation was applied, which includes functional analysis, planning and goal setting, contingency management, skills training, and relapse prevention. It was carried out a multielement single case design with eight replications, calculating the effect size through the non-overlapping index of all pairs. Results: high effect size was obtained in the consumption pattern, ranging between 91.10% and 100%, 5 university students achieved abstinence. Discussion and conclusions: treatment in BA-M obtained a high effect size in abstinence and a decrease in marijuana abuse these results are similar to those reported in alcohol and tobacco.

Neuromodulation and Behavioral Flexibility in Larval Zebrafish: From Neurotransmitters to Circuits

Animals adapt their behaviors to their ever-changing needs. Internal states, such as hunger, fear, stress, and arousal are important behavioral modulators controlling the way an organism perceives sensory stimuli and reacts to them. The translucent zebrafish larva is an ideal model organism for studying neuronal circuits regulating brain states, owning to the possibility of easy imaging and manipulating activity of genetically identified neurons while the animal performs stereotyped and well-characterized behaviors. The main neuromodulatory circuits present in mammals can also be found in the larval zebrafish brain, with the advantage that they contain small numbers of neurons. Importantly, imaging and behavioral techniques can be combined with methods for generating targeted genetic modifications to reveal the molecular underpinnings mediating the functions of such circuits. In this review we discuss how studying the larval zebrafish brain has contributed to advance our understanding of circuits and molecular mechanisms regulating neuromodulation and behavioral flexibility.

CAUGHT IN A COGNITIVE TRAP? AN EXAMINATION OF STUDENT HEURISTICS AND DEBIASING WHEN ANALYZING AN ACCOUNTING RESTATEMENT CASE STUDY

Student evaluations and judgments of the accounting method used in the restatement of financial statements by a public company for channel stuffing are examined. To reduce any heuristics and biases that may have affected student judgments, a group brainstorming method was incorporated to supplement individual assessments made by the students. The case study was administered to 206 students in three student groups: non-degree, justice school and business school students. Qualitative evidence about the efficacy of the use of the brainstorming technique is provided. Between-subjects’ assessments of the accounting restatements show that justice school and business school students are more likely than non-degree students to disagree with the assessment that the restatement was appropriate. Empirical evidence was also found for the presence of social identity bias between business school and justice school students’ evaluation of sanctions. Implications on the use of behavioral techniques in accounting and ethics education are discussed.

Nostalgia enhances detection of death threat: neural and behavioral evidence

An experiment examined the potency of nostalgia—a sentimental longing for one’s past—to facilitate detection of death-related stimuli, using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and behavioral techniques (i.e., judgmental accuracy, reaction times). We hypothesized and found that, at the neural level, nostalgic (relative to control) participants evinced more intense activation in right amygdala in response to death-related (vs. neutral) words. We also hypothesized and found that, at the behavioral level, nostalgic (relative to control) participants manifested greater accuracy in judging whether two death-related (vs. neutral) words belonged in the same category. Exploratory analyses indicated that nostalgic (relative to control) participants did not show faster reaction times to death-related (vs. neutral) words. In all, nostalgia appeared to aid in death threat detection. We consider implications for the relevant literatures.

A Behavioral Intervention Increases Consumption of a New Biofortified Food by School Children: Evidence from a Field Experiment in Nigeria

Children’s diets can have major implications for a wide range of diseases and their development outcomes. In Africa, micronutrient deficiency remains a major challenge and affects the health and development of vulnerable populations, especially children. A major effort to combat micronutrient deficiency has targeted biofortification of staple foods, with greatest potential being registered in the enrichment of, among others, sweetpotato with beta carotene—a precursor for vitamin A. However, overcoming vitamin A deficiency is made all the more complicated by children’s general resistance to unfamiliar foods. We report the results of a field experiment in Nigerian schools designed to use behavioral techniques to promote consumption of an unfamiliar food: the pro-vitamin A rich orange-fleshed sweetpotato. We find that children eat more, on average, when the sweetpotato is introduced alongside behavioral nudges such as songs or association with aspirational figures. These results appear to conform to results found in a developed country context.

Cognitive-Behavioral Techniques and Family System Therapy

This article addresses the integration of cognitive-behavior therapy with families within the systemic movement. It reviews some of the updated empirical literature that supports its strategies as well as its attractiveness to systemic family therapists in Russia and across the globe.