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BACKGROUND: The prevalence of hypertension is a major public health challenge. Despite it being highly preventable, hypertension is responsible for a significant proportion of global morbidity and mortality. Common methods for controlling hypertension include prescribing anti-hypertensive medication, a pharmacological approach, and increasing physical activity, a behavioural approach. In general, little is known about the comparative effectiveness of pharmacological and behavioural approaches for reducing blood pressure in hypertension. A previous network meta-analysis suggested that physical activity interventions may be just as effective as many anti-hypertensive medications in preventing mortality; however, this analysis did not provide the comparative effectiveness of these disparate modes of intervention on blood pressure reduction. The primary objective of this study is to use network meta-analysis to compare the relative effectiveness, for blood pressure reduction, of different approaches to increasing physical activity and different first-line anti-hypertensive therapies in people with hypertension. METHODS: A systematic review will be conducted to identify studies involving randomised controlled trials which compare different types of physical activity interventions and first-line anti-hypertensive therapy interventions to each other or to other comparators (e.g. placebo, usual care) where blood pressure reduction is the primary outcome. We will search the Cochrane Library, MEDLINE and PsycInfo. For studies which meet our inclusion criteria, two reviewers will extract data independently and assess the quality of the literature using the Cochrane Risk of Bias Tool. Network meta-analyses will be conducted to generate estimates of comparative effectiveness of each intervention class and rankings of their effectiveness, in terms of reduction of both systolic and diastolic blood pressure. DISCUSSION: This study will provide evidence regarding the comparability of two common first-line treatment options for people with hypertension. It will also describe the extent to which there is direct evidence regarding the comparative effectiveness of increasing physical activity and initiating anti-hypertensive therapy. SYSTEMATIC REVIEW REGISTRATION: PROSPERO CRD42017070579.

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Progress in the science and practice of health psychology depends on the systematic synthesis of quantitative psychological evidence. Meta-analyses of experimental studies have led to important advances in understanding health-related behaviour change interventions. Fundamental questions regarding such interventions have been systematically investigated through synthesising relevant experimental evidence using standard pairwise meta-analytic procedures that provide reliable estimates of the magnitude, homogeneity and potential biases in effects observed. However, these syntheses only provide information about whether particular types of interventions work better than a control condition or specific alternative approaches. To increase the impact of health psychology on health-related policy-making, evidence regarding the comparative efficacy of all relevant intervention approaches - which may include biomedical approaches - is necessary. With the development of network meta-analysis (NMA), such evidence can be synthesised, even when direct head-to-head trials do not exist. However, care must be taken in its application to ensure reliable estimates of the effect sizes between interventions are revealed. This review paper describes the potential importance of NMA to health psychology, how the technique works and important considerations for its appropriate application within health psychology.

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OBJECTIVE: We assess the association between conscientiousness and adherence to the oral contraceptive pill (OCP), and examine if such a relationship is independent of a measure of prospective memory and a range of social cognitive variables. METHOD: Data were collected from 150 OCP users at baseline, and 99 provided follow-up data four weeks later. Conscientiousness, a range of social cognitive predictors and prospective memory were assessed at baseline. OCP adherence was measured at baseline, and again at Time 2. Data were analysed using correlation and multiple linear regression. RESULTS: Higher conscientiousness was associated with higher overall OCP adherence in both cross-sectional (r = -0.28, p < 0.01) and prospective analysis (r = -0.34, p < 0.01). Conscientiousness predicted OCP adherence at Time 2, adjusting for OCP adherence at Time 1 (R(2) change = 0.02, p = 0.04). The association was reduced to non-significance when social cognitive predictors and prospective memory were included in the multivariable model. Prospective memory was an independent predictor of OCP adherence at Time 2. DISCUSSION: This is the first study to identify an association between conscientiousness and OCP adherence. The association is not independent from social cognitive predictors and prospective memory. Facet-level analysis of conscientiousness and formal mediation analyses are recommended in future replications.

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BACKGROUND: Approximately a quarter to a half of all people fail to take their medication regimen as prescribed (i.e. non-adherence). Conscientiousness, from the five-factor model of personality, has been positively linked to adherence to medications in several recent studies. PURPOSE: This study aimed to systematically estimate the strength and variability of this association across multiple published articles and to identify moderators of this relationship. METHOD: A literature search identified 16 studies (N = 3,476) that met the study eligibility criteria. Estimates of effect sizes (r) obtained in these studies were meta-analysed. RESULTS: Overall, a higher level of conscientiousness was associated with better medication adherence (r = 0.15; 95 % CI, 0.09, 0.21). Associations were significantly stronger in younger samples (r = 0.26, 95 % CI, 0.17, 0.34; k = 7). CONCLUSION: The small association between conscientiousness and medication adherence may have clinical significance in contexts where small differences in adherence result in clinically important effects.

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BACKGROUND: Depressed mood following an acute coronary syndrome (ACS) is a risk factor for future cardiac morbidity. Hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis dysregulation is associated with depression, and may be a process through which depressive symptoms influence later cardiac health. Additionally, a history of depression predicts depressive symptoms in the weeks following ACS. The purpose of this study was to determine whether a history of depression and/or current depression are associated with the HPA axis dysregulation following ACS. METHOD: A total of 152 cardiac patients completed a structured diagnostic interview, a standardized depression questionnaire and a cortisol profile over the day, 3 weeks after an ACS. Cortisol was analysed using: the cortisol awakening response (CAR), total cortisol output estimated using the area under the curve method, and the slope of cortisol decline over the day. RESULTS: Total cortisol output was positively associated with history of depression, after adjustment for age, gender, marital status, ethnicity, smoking status, body mass index (BMI), Global Registry of Acute Cardiac Events (GRACE) risk score, days in hospital, medication with statins and antiplatelet compounds, and current depression score. Men with clinically diagnosed depression after ACS showed a blunted CAR, but the CAR was not related to a history of depression. CONCLUSIONS: Patients with a history of depression showed increased total cortisol output, but this is unlikely to be responsible for associations between depression after ACS and later cardiac morbidity. However, the blunted CAR in patients with severe depression following ACS indicates that HPA dysregulation is present.

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BACKGROUND: The determinants of depression following acute coronary syndrome (ACS) are poorly understood. Triggering of ACS by emotional stress and low socio-economic status (SES) are predictors of adverse outcomes. We therefore investigated whether emotional triggering and low SES predict depression and anxiety following ACS. METHOD: This prospective observational clinical cohort study involved 298 patients with clinically verified ACS. Emotional stress was assessed for the 2 h before symptom onset and compared with the equivalent period 24 h earlier using case-crossover methods. SES was defined by household income and education. Depression was measured with the Beck Depression Inventory and the Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression and anxiety with the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale 3 weeks after ACS and again at 6 and 12 months. Age, gender, ethnicity, marital status, the Global Registry of Acute Coronary Events risk score, duration of hospital stay and history of depression were included as covariates. RESULTS: Emotional stress during the 2-h hazard period was associated with increased risk of ACS (odds ratio 1.88, 95% confidence interval 1.01-3.61). Both low income and emotional triggering predicted depression and anxiety at 3 weeks and 6/12 months independently of covariates. The two factors interacted, with the greatest depression and anxiety in lower income patients who experienced acute emotional stress. Education was not related to depression. CONCLUSIONS: Patients who experience acute emotional stress during their ACS and are lower SES as defined by current affluence and access to resources are particularly vulnerable to subsequent depression and anxiety.

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OBJECTIVES: Social support for physical activity is reliably associated with regular physical activity, however the social cognitive processes, particularly post-intentional processes, that can explain this link have not been well characterized. In this study, we examined the extent to which the relationship between social support for physical activity and subsequent physical activity can be accounted for by planning processes. DESIGN AND METHOD: The design was prospective observational and the sample consisted of 903 university students. Participants completed standard theory of planned behaviour, planning, and physical activity measures at 2 time points, approximately 7 weeks apart. A gender stratified multiple mediation model was conducted to test the study hypotheses. RESULTS: A significant interaction between social support and gender was observed. This indicated that lower levels of social support for physical activity were associated with lower levels of physical activity at Time 2, for women only. In multiple mediation analysis, this was partly explained by the indirect effects of social support through perceived behavioural control and coping planning. CONCLUSION: These findings highlight the importance of interpersonal processes in understanding the post-intentional social cognitive determinants of regular physical activity. It is likely that planning processes relating to physical activity are often influenced by those in the ongoing immediate social environment who support this behaviour. Future development of theory and interventions should take account of the socially interactive nature of planning processes.

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