We examined the prospective associations of COVID-19 fears and behavior, and daily physical activity and dysregulated eating. Adolescents ( N = 31) aged 11–17 completed selected subscales of the Fear of Illness and Virus Evaluation and completed a 7-day health behavior diary. Greater fear of contamination was associated with lower daily physical activity. In contrast, greater COVID-19 precautionary behavior was associated with greater daily physical activity. COVID-19 fears and precautionary behaviors have differential associations with health promoting behavior engagement. Future studies should explore the mechanisms underlying these links to guide adaptation of health behavior interventions for this unique cohort.

Objective: Research has established associations between parental self-efficacy (SE) related to managing their child’s food allergy (FA) and parent quality of life, but there has been limited examination of how parent variables predict child social outcomes. This study examined whether parental SE related to managing their child’s FA moderates the association between parental worry and activity limitation of the child. Methods: Parents of 218 children with parent-reported FA completed an online survey, which included measures of demographics, child FA characteristics, parental SE, parental worry, and social activity limitation. Participants were recruited locally and nationally through social media, e-mail listservs, and paper flyers in pediatricians’ and allergists’ offices in the region. Results: Linear regression results indicated that parental SE moderated the association between parental worry and limitation of child’s social activities, R2 = .14, F(3, 213) = 8.35, p < .001. Parents with higher SE were less likely to limit their child’s social activities, regardless of worry level, whereas parents with lower SE were more likely to limit child social activities as their reported worry increased. Conclusions: Findings suggest that SE may act as a protective factor against child’s activity limitation and impairment of social quality of life when parents report high levels of worry, suggesting treatment targets for anxious parents of children with parent-reported FA.

Objective: Thousands of Americans grieve the sudden death of a loved one each year. These sudden deaths may be the result of violent deaths, as in the cases of homicide, suicide, or fatal accidents, or may occur as the result of natural causes such as heart attacks or strokes. Sudden loss survivors often experience negative mental health outcomes such as depression, prolonged grief disorder, and posttraumatic stress disorder. Survivors may also misuse alcohol for varied reasons after these losses, which can put them at risk for alcohol-related consequences. Thus, the purpose of this study was to explore associations between psychological distress and alcohol-related outcomes among young adults with a history of sudden loss. Methods: A sample of 659 young adults completed a series of self-report measures assessing loss history, psychosocial distress, perceived alcohol-related problems, and drinking motives. Results: Results showed that survivors of sudden, violent losses reported higher rates of past 30-day alcohol use than those who had lost a loved one to a sudden, natural loss or those who reported no loss history. Though there were no statistically significant differences in drinking motives between violent or natural loss survivors, more severe depression symptoms among bereaved individuals were associated with drinking to cope and to conform. Participants experiencing prolonged grief symptoms were also more likely to report drinking to conform. Conclusions: Bereavement-related distress may influence drinking motives among young adults with a history of sudden loss.

Objective: The development of habit (i.e., behavioral automaticity, the extent to which a behavior is performed with decreased thresholds for time, attention [effort], conscious awareness, and goal dependence), for goal-directed health behaviors facilitates health behavior engagement in daily life. However, there is a paucity of research examining automaticity for Type 1 diabetes self-management in adolescence. This study examined if greater perceived automaticity for diabetes self-management was associated with increased daily selfmanagement, decreased daily self-regulation failures in glucose checking, and more optimal daily glycemic levels in adolescents with Type 1 diabetes. Method: Adolescents aged 13-17 and diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes (n = 79) completed the Self-Report Behavioral Automaticity Index, a measure of automaticity of diabetes self-management (i.e., automaticity of glucose checking, carbohydrate counting, and insulin dosing), and a measure of perceived self-management at baseline. One to 3 months later, a subsample of teens (n = 42) also completed a daily diary for a 7-day period including perceptions of daily self-management, daily selfregulation failures in glucose checking, and daily glucose levels. Results: Greater overall automaticity of diabetes self-management was associated with greater baseline and daily self-management, fewer daily self-regulation failures in glucose checking, and lower average daily mean blood glucose levels but not more optimal daily variations in blood glucose levels. Conclusions: Greater automaticity for diabetes self-management may support more optimal daily diabetes self-management in adolescence. Further research is needed to clarify the benefits and mechanisms of automaticity and explore possible interventions.

Food allergies (FAs) in children are increasingly common, and strict allergen avoidance and safety concerns place parents at risk for anxiety (Lau et al. in Pediatr Allergy Immunol 25:236-242, 2014). Assessing parental anxiety with generic instruments may not capture the unique experience of parents managing children's FAs. This study developed and preliminarily validated the 13-item Worry About Food Allergy (WAFA) questionnaire, a measure of FA-specific parental anxiety, in an online sample of 265 parents aged 22-66 (M = 40.25) of children with FAs. The WAFA showed good internal reliability (Cronbach's α = .89) and moderate convergent validity with other anxiety measures, indicating support for a reliable measure of a discrete, specific construct. Exploratory factor analysis indicated a single factor structure. Criterion validity was established through significant, small, positive correlations with relevant allergy variables. A coherent single factor measure, the WAFA, shows promise as a screening tool for parental anxiety in pediatric practice and FA management. Keywords Parental anxiety • Pediatric food allergy • Assessment • Measure developmentRecent prevalence rates for pediatric food allergy (FA) are estimated to be approximately 9% (Gupta et al., 2017), with 38.7% of children having a history of severe reactions (Gupta et al., 2011). Food allergy reactions can be life-threatening: In the US, every three minutes someone is sent to the emergency room due to a food allergy reaction (Clark, Espinola, Rudders, Banerji, & Camargo, 2011). The current management strategy for childhood food allergy is strict avoidance of the allergen, monitoring for cross contamination, carrying an epinephrine auto-injector, and yearly visits to the child's physician (Longo, Berti, Burks, Krauss, & Barbi, 2013). Although there is increasing focus on development of novel therapies such as allergen immunotherapy, which involves repeated exposure to increasing doses of the antigen (Burks, Laubach, & Jones, 2008), a recent analysis indicated risk for adverse reactions (Nurmatov et al., 2017), and long-term effects remain uncertain. As such, current practice in FA management generally remains focused on strict avoidance and preparation for a reaction.