Background
Dyadic interventions involving a close other (eg, romantic partner) have gained increased awareness and shown initial promise, but a shared language and systematic approach to describing their intervention content (ie, dyadic behavior change techniques [DBCTs]) is lacking.
Purpose
This study aimed to further develop a comprehensive and expert-validated Compendium of DBCTs focused on health behavior change in romantic couples to support intervention development and facilitate intervention reporting.
Methods
A 2-round Delphi process with international experts (1: N = 20; 2: N = 19) was conducted. Experts rated the clarity and comprehensibility of DBCTs, as well as their expected link with the most proximal mechanisms of action. Additionally, 14 experts convened for an online discussion via video conferencing to address key issues and emerging questions.
Results
The resulting Compendium of DBCTs v2.0 includes 219 DBCTs that specify who (ie, execution) does what (ie, intervention task) for whom (ie, target). DBCTs are linked to 32 hypothesized most proximal mechanisms of action. An interactive Webtool (www.dbctcompendium.com) was created to facilitate access to and use of the Compendium.
Conclusions
The Compendium of DBCTs v2.0 offers a classification of DBCTs validated through expert consensus. It supports systematic development and reporting of dyadic interventions aimed at health behavior change in couples by specifying hypothesized links with underlying mechanisms of action. Future research should focus on identifying the effectiveness of DBCTs under various conditions and the Compendium’s applicability to other dyad types and behavioral domains.
Most of the research on emotion in psychopathy has, to date, concentrated on criminal trials and focused on specific emotions without examining how the emotions are experienced. This study aims to verify whether and how individuals showing different scores on a psychopathic scale present mixed emotion, which are considered particularly challenging due to accompanying uncertainty and ambivalence. Sixty individuals participated in a computer experiment in which they were shown one of four excerpts from the film evoking: (1) negative emotion, (2) positive emotion, (3) mixed emotions, and (4) neutral affect. Subsequently, they reported the level of three forms of meta-emotions toward that experience: (1) curiosity, (2) distress, and (3) being moved. The level of the trait of psychopathy was measured using the Self-Report Psychopathy Scale-III. Results revealed that individuals scoring high on psychopathy show a lower ability to experience the meta-emotion of being moved in response to mixed emotions compared to individuals scoring low on psychopathy, which does not occur in the case of negative emotions. The results provide preliminary empirical support for the idea that individuals scoring high in the psychopathy scale may experience more challenging emotions in an acutely less profound and personal way than others. This may be a new line of explanation for the emotional superficiality and callousness characteristic of psychopaths, particularly in the social domain. This is also significant and consistent with what Kernberg stated regarding the difficulty of integrating the affects and the resulting personality disorders, especially psychopathy as the most socially harmful personality. Nevertheless, this study some limitations especially in the form of a small sample by which the interpretation of these results should be considered with caution.
Aims
Using cross-lagged panel analysis, this study tested the associations between sedentary behaviors and depressive symptoms among dyads of parents and their 9-15-year-old children. Both within-person and across-person effects were investigated.
Methods
Data from 203 dyads were collected at Time 1 (T1; baseline), Time 2 (T2; 8-month follow-up), and Time 3 (T3; 14-month follow-up). Parents/legal guardians were mostly women (86.7 %), aged 29–66 years. Depressive symptoms were assessed using the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 and sedentary time was measured with GT3X-BT accelerometers. Between T1 and T2, all dyads were enrolled in a healthy lifestyle education program, addressing definitions and patterns of sedentary behaviors, health consequences of sedentary behaviors, and strategies for interrupting sedentary bouts and minimizing overall sedentary time. Analyses controlled for age, gender, parental socioeconomic status and education level.
Results
Among children, more sedentary time at T1 was associated with more depressive symptoms at T2 (B = 0.197, SE=0.078). Depressive symptoms at T1 were related to more sedentary time at T2 (B = 0.192, SE = 0.058). Only one across-person indirect effect was found: more depressive symptoms among children at T1 were linked to more sedentary time among children at T2, and, in turn, to more parental depressive symptoms (B = 0.023; SE = 0.013) at T3.
Conclusion
The study provides preliminary evidence for both within-person and between-person associations linking children's depressive symptoms to their subsequent sedentary time, as well as to the sedentary time of their parents. These findings emphasize the need for family-based intervention approaches that address both sedentary behaviors and mental health.
