New Articles from Annals of Behavioral Medicine and Translational Behavioral Medicine

SBM's two journals, Annals of Behavioral Medicine and Translational Behavioral Medicine: Practice, Policy, Research (TBM), continuously publish online articles, many of which become available before issues are printed. Two recently published Annals and TBM articles are listed below.

SBM members who have paid their 2024 membership dues are able to access the full text of all Annals and TBM online articles via the SBM website by following the steps below.

1. Go to the Members Only section of the SBM website.
2. Log in with your username and password.
3. Click on the Journals link.
4. Click on the title of the journal which you would like to electronically access.

To check your membership status, or if you are having trouble accessing the journals online, please contact the SBM national office at info@sbm.org or (414) 918-3156.

Translational Behavioral Medicine

Multilevel factors influence the use of a cardiovascular disease assessment tool embedded in the electronic health record in oncology care

Maura M. Kepper, Raúl D. Gierbolini-Rivera, Kathryn E. Weaver, Randi E. Foraker, Emily V. Dressler, Chandylen L. Nightingale, Aylin A. Aguilar, Kimberly D. Wiseman, Jenny Hanna, Alyssa D. Throckmorton, Simon Craddock Lee

Lay Summary

Digital health tools improve patient care, yet they can be challenging to add to and use in clinical care. We studied using a digital health tool, the Automated Heart-Health Assessment (AH-HA) tool, that supports oncology care teams discussing heart health with their cancer survivor patients. Surveys and interviews were used to collect data on barriers and facilitators to using the AH-HA tool in four clinical practices. All providers felt that discussing cardiovascular health with their patients was important. The tool was well-received by providers and could be used successfully in routine care among cancer survivors. Providers liked the tool and found it easy to use, felt it improved the care they provided, and had the potential to generate benefits for their patients. The most common reasons clinicians reported not using the tool were lack of time and the tool not fitting with their workflow. We will use the study findings to improve the AH-HA tool and select strategies to support its use in other care settings. Lessons learned from this study can enhance the use of other similar tools to improve patient care in many clinical care settings.

A Prescription Produce Program integrating lifestyle behavior counseling and health education: A program description and evaluation

Kimberly Battle, Katherine Falls, Rachel Regal, Natalie Mansion, Jonathan Williams, Erin Lingo, Jered M. Wendte, Leland Waters, Elizabeth Prom-Wormley, Suzanne Judd, Ana F. Diallo

Lay Summary

Prescription Produce Programs (PPPs) are programs designed to help provide healthy fruits and vegetables to individuals who have limited access to healthy food. PPPs have been increasingly implemented in the clinical setting, due to the clear links between diet and several chronic medical conditions. In this study, we describe the implementation of a 6- or 12-week PPP to assess the immediate needs of individuals as well as provide goal setting and health education to support healthy behaviors. We evaluated the strengths and weaknesses of conducting the PPP and looked at health outcomes for individuals who participated in the PPP. We found that the partnerships with community members and organizations were a strength of the PPP and identified future areas for improvement, including reducing the number of surveys we asked participants to complete, increasing personnel for running the PPP, and identifying a sustainable funding source for the PPP. We also found that on average, individuals who participated in the PPP had greater food security by the end of the program. At the end of the program, the participants reported a higher frequency of fruit and vegetable consumption and felt more self-sufficient in being able to do so.

Annals of Behavioral Medicine

Yes I can! Exploring the impact of self-efficacy in a digital weight loss intervention

Angel E. Cleare, BS; Christopher D. Gardner, PhD; Abby C. King, PhD; Michele L Patel, PhD

Lay Summary

An important predictor of weight control is greater self-efficacy in making dietary changes. People with high self-efficacy feel more confident that they can resist overeating at a party or when upset. However, self-efficacy’s role in standalone digital weight loss interventions remains unclear. This study examined self-efficacy in a 12-week standalone digital weight loss intervention for adults with overweight or obesity. Two types of self-efficacy were assessed: self-efficacy for controlling eating (such as resisting overeating on vacation) and self-efficacy for tracking foods (such as tracking even when feeling tired). We looked at whether self-efficacy predicted either weight loss or actual engagement in tracking food each day via an app. This study found that improvement in self-efficacy for controlling eating in the first month of the intervention was linked to increased engagement in tracking food. Further, improvement in self-efficacy for tracking food was linked to both increased engagement and 3-month weight loss. These findings highlight the importance of developing self-efficacy early on in standalone digital weight loss interventions for optimal weight loss and engagement.

Heterogeneous depressive symptom trajectories among women with type 2 diabetes: findings from the Women’s Interagency HIV Study

Nicole Beaulieu Perez, PhD; Gail D’Eramo Melkus, EdD; Jason Fletcher, PhD; Kristen Allen-Watts, PhD, MPH; Deborah L. Jones, PhD; Lauren F. Collins, MD, MSc; Catalina Ramirez, MPH, MHA; Amanda Long, MSPH; Mardge H. Cohen, MD; Daniel Merenstein, MD; Tracey E. Wilson, PhD; Anjali Sharma, MD, MS; Brad Aouizerat, PhD, MS

Lay Summary

This study looked at how depression affects women with type 2 diabetes (T2D), especially those living with HIV. Depression is widespread among women with T2D and HIV, and it often makes these chronic conditions worse. However, depression can look very different from person to person, making early identification a challenge for healthcare providers. Researchers found women with T2D may experience different kinds and courses of depressive symptoms over time. By analyzing existing data from a large ongoing HIV study, they identified 5 distinct groups of women based on their depression severity and the type of symptoms they reported. Factors like lower income, less social support, and experiences of discrimination were linked to more severe depression groups, while other health indicators, like body mass index or HIV status, did not show a clear relationship. The findings highlight the importance of understanding mental health in various social and clinical contexts and the need to disentangle depression, which can be an overly broad term, to develop more personalized and effective therapies.