Publications

Background Sedentary behavior is most prevalent among those aged 80 years and above, referred to as the oldest-old. Current literature emphasizes the significance of sedentary behavior patterns, but further evidence is required to understand how these patterns relate to specific health outcomes and to identify at-risk profiles for tailored interventions in the oldest-old. Therefore, the aim of this study was to identify profiles of adults aged ...

Planning is an important tool to translate intentions into physical activity (PA) behavior. Affective and bodily states are known to influence how much PA individuals perform, but their impact on to formulation of PA plans is not yet known. The aim of the current study is to explore the effect of within‐ and between‐subject variations in affective and bodily states on the content of PA goals and plans. Over eight consecutive days, 362 students ...

BackgroundMobile Ecological Momentary Assessment (EMA) is increasingly used to gather intensive, longitudinal data on behavioral nutrition, physical activity and sedentary behavior and their underlying determinants. However, a relevant concern is the risk of non-random non-compliance with mobile EMA protocols, especially in older adults. This study aimed to examine older adults' compliance with mobile EMA in health behavior studies according to ...

Cities are challenged to provide older adults with high-quality neighborhoods that foster their mental health. Older adults with low socioeconomic position (SEP) are at risk for poor mental health, but research in this group is scarce. The neighborhood may have an impact on older adults’ mental health through the elicitation of emotions. Qualitative on-site research can provide detailed and context-sensitive information on the experienced ...

BackgroundWhile there is increasing evidence for negative physical health consequences of high volumes of sedentary time and prolonged sedentary time in adolescents, the association with cognition is less clear. This study investigated the association of volumes of habitual sedentary time and prolonged sedentary time with executive functions and short-term memory in adolescents.MethodsThis study has a cross-sectional observational study design. ...

Background. Digital interventions are a promising avenue to promote physical activity in healthy adults. Current practices recommend to include end-users early on in the development process. This study focuses on the wishes and needs of users regarding an a mobile health (mHealth) application that promotes physical activity in healthy adults, and on the differences between participants who do or do not meet the World Health Organization's ...

There is an ongoing debate about whether pain can be classically conditioned, but surprisingly, evidence is scarce. Here, we report 3 experiments investigating this idea. In a virtual reality task, healthy participants were approached and touched near or on their hand with a coloured pen (blue or yellow). During acquisition, participants learned that one of the colours of the pen (CS+) was predictive of a painful electrocutaneous stimulus (ECS) ...

Potential problems for investigating the effect of psychological factors on pain outcomes are identified and addressed from a causal or explanatory perspective. Big data and machine learning techniques offer opportunities to investigate the effects of psychological factors on pain outcomes. Nevertheless, these advances can only deliver when the quality of the data is high and the underpinning causal assumptions are considered. We argue that ...

Background: Oral health among frail home-dwelling older persons in Flanders (Belgium) is often insufficient, partly due to limited access to oral care and insufficient interprofessional collaboration in primary care. Objective: Frail home-dwelling people aged 65 and above have limited access to oral health care due to e.g. problems with transport and mobility, financial constraints, and the lack of knowledge about the importance and added value ...