The Effectiveness of A Slow-Paced Diaphragmatic Breathing Exercise in Children's Daily Life: A Micro-Randomized Trial.

OBJECTIVE: Breathing exercises have been proposed as an effective intervention to improve subjective well-being and manage anxiety symptoms. As they are comparatively easy to learn and to implement, breathing exercises may be particularly beneficial for children. Although breathing exercises are ultimately supposed to provide salutary effects in individuals' everyday lives, immediate effects of breathing exercises in naturalistic contexts have received limited empirical attention. The purpose of this study was to examine immediate effects of slow-paced diaphragmatic breathing on negative affect as well as on relaxation in an ecologically valid setting. To that end, we conducted a micro-randomized trial in children's daily life. METHOD: On each of 15 days, children (N = 171, aged 9-13 years, 54% female) were randomized to different conditions: performing a video-guided slow-paced diaphragmatic breathing exercise (experimental condition), watching a different video (active control condition), or a passive control condition. RESULTS: The breathing exercise had no immediate effects on negative affect or relaxation compared to both control conditions. However, in situations when children reported higher levels of worries than usual, relaxation was higher when children performed the breathing exercise compared to the passive control condition. Compared to the active control condition, the breathing exercise did not result in higher levels of relaxation in situations when children worried more than normally. CONCLUSIONS: Findings highlight that context-specific factors can modulate the effectiveness of breathing exercises and should be taken into account to tailor interventions to individuals' needs.

Assessing domain-general need fulfillment in children and adults: Introducing the General Need Satisfaction and Frustration scale.

Fulfillment of basic psychological needs has been postulated to be essential for mental health across the human life span. So far, validated domain-general instruments using the same items to assess these constructs in different age groups are lacking. To close this gap, we introduce the General Need Satisfaction and Frustration scale, a multidimensional instrument to capture fulfillment of the basic psychological needs for autonomy, competence, and relatedness in children and adults. The factor structure and correlates of this new instrument are examined in two cross-sectional studies with children (N = 185, age range = 7-14) and adults (N = 380, age range = 18-77), and one ambulatory assessment study with children (N = 84, age range = 8-10). Confirmatory factor analyses suggest adequate fit of the postulated six-dimensional measurement model (three needs, each split into satisfaction and frustration). Need satisfaction was linked to higher well-being, and need frustration was linked to higher ill-being in both children and adults. Findings suggest that the instrument introduced in this work is suitable to capture between-person differences as well as day-to-day fluctuations in the fulfillment of the basic needs for autonomy, competence, and relatedness in children and adults. The measurement instrument therefore is a useful tool to capture core ingredients for mental health in samples across a broad range of the human life span. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

Stressor anticipation and subsequent affective well-being: A link potentially explained by perseverative cognitions.

Anticipatory stress can prospectively and negatively influence diverse outcomes, including cognitive performance and emotional well-being. It has been suggested that perseverative cognitions (e.g., worry, rumination) during the anticipation period constitute a key mechanism driving these effects. The present study investigated the temporal dynamics among stressor anticipation, perseverative cognitions, and affective well-being. To accurately test the suggested mechanism, we focused on how these dynamics unfold within individuals over time. To that end, we analyzed data from an ecological momentary assessment study in an ethnically diverse sample (N = 243, 25-65 year olds, 68.7% Hispanic or non-Hispanic Black; 14 days, 5 measurement occasions per day) using dynamic structural equation modeling. Anticipating an upcoming stressor was linked to higher levels of perseverative cognitions approximately 3 hours later. At times when individuals reported higher levels of recent perseverative cognitions than typical for them, they also reported higher levels of negative affect and lower levels of positive affect. Mediational modeling indicated that perseverative cognitions accounted for the persistent effects of previous stressor anticipation on negative as well as positive affect several hours later. These findings suggest that perseverative cognitions may play an important role in explaining the detrimental effects of anticipatory stress on subsequent emotional well-being. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

Dynamic relations among COVID-19-related media exposure and worries during the COVID-19 pandemic.

OBJECTIVES: This study investigated how COVID-19-related media exposure during the COVID-19 crisis was related to same-day and next-day COVID-19-related worries. DESIGN: A 21-day diary study was conducted between late March and late April 2020 in Germany. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Hypotheses were tested in a sample of 561 participants (Mage = 42.79, SDage = 6.12). Every evening, participants indicated their exposure to COVID-19-related media (e.g., TV, print, online) and their COVID-19-related worries. RESULTS: Same-day analyses showed that participants reported more COVID-19-related worries on days with higher exposure to COVID-19-related media. Dynamical structural equation models provided evidence for a reciprocal cycle across days: Higher media exposure at one day predicted higher worries the next day, and higher worries at one day also predicted higher media exposure the next day. Individuals with high trait anxiety reported an enhanced general level of media exposure during the 21 days of assessment, and individuals high in neuroticism and anxiety reported an enhanced level of worries. CONCLUSION: These findings suggest a self-reinforcing cycle whereby consuming crisis-related media and worrying reciprocally influence each other across days, possibly amplifying adverse effects of the COVID-19 crisis and other crises alike on mental and physical health.

Distance learning, parent-child interactions, and affective well-being of parents and children during the COVID-19 pandemic: A daily diary study.

To slow down the spread of the COVID-19 virus, schools around the world were closed in early 2020, transferring children's scholastic activities to the homes and imposing a massive burden on parents and school-age children. Using data of a 21-day diary study conducted between March and April 2020 in Germany, this work examined whether (a) distance learning and (b) parents' involvement therein were associated with negative parent-child interactions and affective well-being of parents and children, over and above the effect of daily stressors. Participants were 562 parents (489 mothers, Mage = 42.79, SDage = 6.12, range = 25-63) most of whom were married (n = 382, 68.0%). They responded to the daily items with respect to the youngest child living in their household (Mage = 9.74, SDage = 2.81, range = 6-19). On days when children were working on school tasks, parents reported more negative parent-child interactions as well as lower parental and child positive affect and higher child negative affect, but not higher parental negative affect. Moreover, days when parents were more heavily involved in learning (i.e., when children worked less independently) were days with more negative parent-child interactions, lower parental and child positive affect, and higher parental and child negative affect. Negative parent-child interactions were linked to lower affective well-being of parents and children, and partially accounted for the relation among daily stressors and affective well-being. The present work highlights the need for measures to better support school-age children and their parents during distance learning. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).

Reciprocal relations of subjective sleep quality and affective well-being in late childhood.

High sleep quality has been associated with beneficial outcomes across the life span. Intensive longitudinal studies suggest that these beneficial effects can also be observed on a day-to-day level. However, the dynamic interplay between subjective sleep quality and affective well-being in children's daily life has only rarely been investigated. The aims of the present work were (a) to replicate findings from a prior ambulatory assessment study in this area (Könen et al., 2016), (b) to explore the effect of subjective sleep quality on well-being throughout the day, and (c) to examine the reciprocal relation between subjective sleep quality and well-being in more detail. Data from two ambulatory assessment studies with children between 8 and 11 years (N = 108/84, with assessments over 28/21 consecutive days) consistently showed that positive affect was higher and negative affect was lower after nights with better sleep quality, and that the effects of subjective sleep quality were stronger on well-being assessed in the morning compared with later in the day. Results from dynamic structural equation models revealed reciprocal effects of subjective sleep quality and positive affect. Negative affect was not consistently related to worse subsequent sleep quality after controlling for positive affect and prior night's sleep quality. Results suggest a close relation of sleep quality and positive affect, which strengthens the idea behind interventions targeting both, children's sleep and well-being. Differences between children in the dynamic interplay between sleep and affect may be important predictors of long-term outcomes. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).

Ambulatory assessment of rumination and worry: Capturing perseverative cognitions in children's daily life.

Rumination and worry are common forms of perseverative cognition in children. Research has started to target perseverative cognitions in the everyday life of children, however, valid measurement instruments reliably capturing rumination and worry in children's daily life are still missing. We conducted two ambulatory assessment studies validating short scales suitable for the measurement of rumination and worry in children's daily life. Results of the first study (N = 110, 8-11 year-olds, 31 days, up to 4 daily measurements) supported a unidimensional structure of the rumination scale. Rumination was associated with negative affect (but not positive affect) on the within- and on the between-person level. On the between-person level, children who ruminated more showed poorer working memory performance. In the second study (N = 84, 8-10 year-olds, 21 days, up to 3 daily measurements), findings of Study 1 were largely replicated. Moreover, we established a unidimensional worry scale in Study 2 reliably capturing worry in children's daily life. Importantly, Study 2 showed that worry and rumination share common variance but can be differentiated in children. On the within-person level, higher levels of worry were associated with higher levels of negative affect and lower levels of positive affect. On the between-person level, worry was associated with higher levels of negative affect and lower working memory performance. Altogether, findings of both studies demonstrated that the short scales had excellent psychometric properties suggesting that they are helpful tools for the assessment of rumination and worry in children's daily life.person level, worry was associated with higher levels of negative affect and lower working memory performance. Altogether, findings of both studies demonstrated that the short scales had excellent psychometric properties suggesting that they are helpful tools for the assessment of rumination and worry in children's daily life (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).

Homeschooling during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic: the role of students' trait self-regulation and task attributes of daily learning tasks for students' daily self-regulation.

As a means to counter the SARS-CoV­2 pandemic, schools were closed throughout Germany between mid-March and end of April 2020. Schooling was translocated to the students' homes where students were supposed to work on learning tasks provided by their teachers. Students' self-regulation and attributes of the learning tasks may be assumed to have played important roles when adapting to this novel schooling situation. They may be predicted to have influenced students' daily self-regulation and hence the independence with which they worked on learning tasks. The present work investigated the role of students' trait self-regulation as well as task difficulty and task enjoyment for students' daily independence from their parents in learning during the homeschooling period. Data on children's trait self-regulation were obtained through a baseline questionnaire filled in by the parents of 535 children (M age  = 9.69, SD age  = 2.80). Parents additionally reported about the daily task difficulty, task enjoyment, and students' learning independence through 21 consecutive daily online questionnaires. The results showed students' trait self-regulation to be positively associated with their daily learning independence. Additionally, students' daily learning independence was shown to be negatively associated with task difficulty and positively with task enjoyment. The findings are discussed with regard to students' daily self-regulation during the homeschooling period. Finally, implications for teaching practice during the pandemic-related school closures are derived.

A Little Autonomy Support Goes a Long Way: Daily Autonomy-Supportive Parenting, Child Well-Being, Parental Need Fulfillment, and Change in Child, Family, and Parent Adjustment Across the Adaptation to the COVID-19 Pandemic.

This study examined the effects of daily parental autonomy support on changes in child behavior, family environment, and parental well-being across 3 weeks during the COVID-19 pandemic in Germany. Day-to-day associations among autonomy-supportive parenting, parental need fulfillment, and child well-being were also assessed. Parents (longitudinal N = 469; Mage  = 42.93, SDage  = 6.40) of school children (6-19 years) reported on adjustment measures at two measurement occasions and completed up to 21 daily online questionnaires in the weeks between these assessments. Results from dynamic structural equation models suggested reciprocal positive relations among autonomy-supportive parenting and parental need fulfillment. Daily parental autonomy support, parental need fulfillment, and child well-being partially predicted change in adjustment measures highlighting the central role of daily parenting for children's adjustment during the pandemic.

Change in mental health symptoms during the COVID-19 pandemic: The role of appraisals and daily life experiences.

OBJECTIVE: When confronted with major threats, people often experience decline in well-being. The central purpose of this study was to identify mechanisms underlying change of well-being in times of threat, using the example of the COVID-19 pandemic, with a focus on appraisals of the pandemic and affective states, stress, as well as mindfulness in daily life. METHOD: We conducted a study across 3.5 weeks, including pretest, posttest, and a diary phase in-between. We worked with a sample of 460 adults, pre- and post-test information, as well as 7,189 observations from the diary phase. RESULTS: Results showed that deterioration in mental health symptoms across the duration of the study was associated with (a) change towards less fortunate appraisals of the pandemic and (b), more negative affect and less mindfulness in daily life. Furthermore, appraisals of the pandemic at pretest predicted experiences in daily life, with more negative appraisals of the pandemic predicting more negative affect and stressor occurrence as well as less mindfulness. CONCLUSIONS: These findings speak to the dynamic nature of well-being and appraisals in times of threat, and highlight the role of experiences in daily life in changes in well-being.

Tomorrow's gonna suck: Today's stress anticipation predicts tomorrow's post-awakening cortisol increase.

The cortisol awakening response (a rapid rise in cortisol concentration shortly after awakening) is hypothesized to prepare the organism to cope with upcoming demands, suggesting a key role for anticipatory stress in its regulation. Yet, no thorough test of this hypothesis incorporating temporal dynamics of the underlying processes has been conducted so far. To address this gap in the literature, the present study investigated the effects of anticipated stress for the next day (assessed in the evening) on an estimate of the cortisol awakening response (assessed in the following morning). In an ambulatory assessment paradigm, 42 participants (69% female; mean age = 22.8, range = 18-30 years) completed 5 consecutive days of assessments in their daily lives, collecting saliva samples at awakening and 30 min later. Using hierarchical linear modeling, associations with anticipatory stress were examined separately on the within- and between-person level. In line with our expectations, anticipatory stress predicted the post-awakening cortisol increase on the within-person level, implying an elevated cortisol rise on days for which more stress than usual had been anticipated. In contrast, on the between-person level higher average anticipatory stress did not predict an increased cortisol rise. Taken together, the findings confirm a key role of anticipatory stress in the regulation of the cortisol awakening response on the within-person level.