Using engagement in sustainable construction to improve mental health and social connection in disadvantaged and hard to reach groups: a new green care approach

BackgroundThe positive impact of the outdoors on physical and mental health is increasingly being evidenced. However the impact on vulnerable and disadvantaged individuals engaging in group based sustainable building construction has not been examined.AimsTo provide the first pragmatic examination of the impact of engaging in a brief (eight days over eight weeks) outdoor sustainable construction project on the mental health and social connectedness of hard to reach and disadvantaged groups. MethodIn study 1, 93 young people not in education, employment or training took part whilst study 2 comprised 55 adults who were asylum seekers, long term unemployed or men with longstanding depression. Self report data were collected at baseline and towards the end of the programme.Results Those with poor mental health and social connection at baseline showed statistically and clinically significant improvements in depression, anxiety, resilience and social connection by the end of the brief intervention.ConclusionsEngagement in a group based sustainable construction project can provide significant mental health and social benefits to a range of vulnerable and hard to reach groups with difficulties in these areas. Building on these findings could be important for health and social care policy for marginalised groups

A Pragmatic Study of the Impact of a Brief Mindfulness Intervention on Prisoners and Staff in a Category B Prison and Men Subject to Community-Based Probation Supervision

Objectives: This paper presents two studies assessing the impact of mindfulness in prison (prisoners and staff) and non-custodial settings.Method: Study 1 - prisoners (n=17) and staff (n=15) in a UK prison completed a mindfulness programme; 16 individuals acted as a single time point comparison. Data were collected using self-report, computer based and physiological measurement. Study 2 - men under community probation supervision were allocated to mindfulness (completed, n=28) or TAU (n=27). Data were collected using self-report mindfulness measures.Results: Study 1 - statistically significant (increases in mindfulness skills (ηp2=.234 to ηp2=.388), cognitive control (ηp2=.28) and heart rate variability (SDNN; ηp2=.41) along with significant decreases in stress (ηp2=.398) were found. In study 2, the mindfulness group showed non significant improvements in mindfulness skills. Conclusions: The findings suggest brief mindfulness interventions could make an important contribution to offender rehabilitation and custodial staff wellbeing

Winning In Professional Team Sports: Historical Moments

Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/146921/1/ecin12702_am.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/146921/2/ecin12702.pd

The impact of glycaemic load on cognitive performance: A meta-analysis and guiding principles for future research

The effect of breakfast glycaemic load (GL) on cognition was systematically examined. Randomised and non-randomised controlled trials were identified using PubMed, Scopus, and Cochrane Library (up to May 2022). 15 studies involving adults (aged 20 – 80 years) were included. Studies had a low risk, or some concerns, of bias. A random-effects meta-analysis model revealed no effect of GL on cognition up to 119 min post-consumption. However, after 120 min, immediate episodic memory scores were better following a low-GL compared to a high-GL (SMD = 0.16, 95% confidence interval [CI] = −0.00 to 0.32, p = 0.05, I2 = 5%). Subgroup analyses indicated that the benefit was greater in younger adults (<35 years) and those with better GT. A qualitative synthesis of 16 studies involving children and adolescents (aged 5 – 17 years) suggested that a low-GL breakfast may also benefit episodic memory and attention after 120 min. Methodological practises were identified which could explain a failure to detect benefits in some studies. Consequently, guiding principles were developed to optimise future study design

Individual differences in sensory and expectation driven interoceptive processes: a novel paradigm with implications for alexithymia, disordered eating and obesity

Those with disordered eating and/or obesity often express difficulties in sensing or interpreting what is happening in the body (interoception). However, research is hindered by conceptual confusion, concerns surrounding domain specificity, and an inability to distinguish sensory (bottom-up) and expectation driven (top-down) interoceptive processes. A paradigm was therefore developed from an active inference perspective. Novel indices were computed and examined in those with alexithymia: a personality associated with interoceptive deficits and disordered eating. The paradigm successfully identified individuals driven by sensations rather than expectations: alexithymia was characterized by attenuated prior precision (a larger divergence between pre-prandial and post-prandial satiety, and low expectation confidence), and increased prediction error (a higher correlation between changes in hunger and blood glucose, and greater rebound hunger after a sensory incongruent drink). In addition, those with a higher BMI were less confident and had a larger anticipated satiety divergence. These findings demonstrate the need to move beyond existing paradigms such as the Satiety Quotient and Heartbeat Counting Task which may have limited our understanding of eating behaviour

Is the link between depressed mood and heart rate variability explained by disinhibited eating and diet?

Consistently it has been reported that a depressed mood and low heart rate variability (HRV) are linked. However, studies have not considered that the association might be explained by dietary behaviour. The resting inter-beat interval data of 266 adults (Study 1: 156 (51 M), Study 2: 112 (38 M)) were recorded for six minutes and quantified using linear (HF power: 0.15–0.4 Hz) and nonlinear indices (Sample entropy). Participants also completed the Profile of Mood States and the Three Factor Eating questionnaires. The Alternative Healthy Eating Index was used to quantify diet quality. In study 1 mood was associated with HRV; an effect partially mediated by diet. Study 2 replicated the finding: disinhibited eating (the tendency to lose control over one’s eating) and diet sequentially mediated the association between mood and HRV. Diet plays a role in the link between mood and HRV and studies should consider the influence of this factor