2016 – 2019

• Trial design and methodology for a non-restricted sequential multiple assignment randomized trial to evaluate combinations of perinatal interventions to optimize women’s health
  • Pre-pregnancy overweight/obesity and excessive gestational weight gain (GWG) independently predict negative maternal and child health outcomes. To date, however, interventions that target GWG have not produced lasting improvements in maternal weight or health at 12-months postpartum. Given that interventions solely aimed at addressing GWG may not equip women with the skills needed for postpartum weight management, interventions that address health behaviors over the perinatal period might maximize maternal health in the first postpartum year. Thus, the current study leveraged a sequential multiple assignment randomized trial (SMART) design to evaluate sequences of prenatal (i.e., during pregnancy) and postpartum lifestyle interventions that optimize maternal weight, cardiometabolic health, and psychosocial outcomes at 12-months postpartum.
  • Germeroth et al. Contep Clin Trials. 2019 Apr. DOI: 10.1016/j.cct.2019.03.002
• Healthcare provider advice on gestational weight gain: uncovering a need for more effective weight counselling.
  • This study examined factors related to knowledge of gestational weight gain (GWG) recommendations and the receipt of advice from healthcare providers regarding GWG recommendations among women with pre-pregnancy overweight/obesity.
  • Emery et al. J Obstet Gynaecol. 2018 Oct. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/01443615.2018.1433647
• Mothers’ loss of control over eating during pregnancy in relation to their infants’ appetitive traits
  • We were interested in prospectively examining mothers’ LOC during pregnancy in relation to their infants’ appetitive traits. In particular, we were interested in this relationship among women with overweight/obesity, given that their infants are at greater risk for obesity.
  • Kolko et al. Appetite. 2018 Jan 1. DOI: 10.1016/j.appet.2017.08.007
• Adapting the eating disorder examination for use during pregnancy: Preliminary results from a community sample of women with overweight and obesity.
  • The Eating Disorder Examination (EDE) is a structured clinical interview that is widely used for assessing disordered eating. Although the EDE has been used in pregnant women, no standard pregnancy version has been developed. Accordingly, the present study aimed to document adaptations made to a pregnancy version of the EDE (EDE-PV) and to describe the internal reliability of this adapted version.
  • Emery et al. Int J Eat Disord. 2017 May. DOI: 10.1002/eat.22646
• Loss of control over eating before and during early pregnancy among community women with overweight and obesity.
  • This study examined the prevalence of and changes in loss of control over eating (LOC) among pregnant women with overweight/obesity, along with associations between LOC and depressive symptoms and stress. LOC during pregnancy was prevalent and associated with distress, particularly when present before and during pregnancy
  • Kolko et al. Int J Eat Disord. 2016 Sep 23.DOI: 10.1002/eat.22630
• The Role of Self-Efficacy and Motivation in Postpartum Sustained Smoking Abstinence
  • Postpartum relapse to cigarette smoking is common and relapse prevention interventions have indicated limited efficacy. Abstinence motivations and self-efficacy are two factors that might fluctuate during the postpartum period and predict smoking abstinence. The present study was a secondary analysis that examined statistical trends in motivations and self-efficacy to sustain postpartum abstinence and evaluated their association with sustained abstinence from pregnancy through 52 weeks postpartum
  • Germeroth et al. Womens Health Issues. 2019 May 6. DOI: 10.1016/j.whi.2019.03.006
• Do Psychiatric Disorders or Measures of Distress Moderate Response to Postpartum Relapse Prevention Interventions?
  • Most women who quit smoking during pregnancy will relapse postpartum. Interventions for sustained postpartum abstinence can benefit from understanding prenatal characteristics associated with treatment response. Given that individuals with psychiatric disorders or elevated depressive symptoms have difficulty quitting smoking and that increases in depressive symptoms prenatally are common, we examined the relevance of psychiatric diagnoses, prenatal depressive symptoms, and stress to postpartum relapse prevention intervention response.
  • Kolko et al. Nicotine Tob Res. 2017 May 1. DOI: 10.1093/ntr/ntw385
• The Influence of Smoking on Breast feeding Among Women Who Quit Smoking During Pregnancy
  • Understanding factors related to breast-feeding intention, initiation, duration, and weaning among women who quit smoking as a result of pregnancy may inform interventions to increase breast-feeding rates among women who smoke.
  • Joseph et al. Nicotine Tob Res. 2017 May. DOI: 10.1093/ntr/ntw254
• Optimal carbon monoxide criteria to confirm smoking status among postpartum women
  • Although expired-air carbon monoxide (CO) is a well characterized biomarker of cigarette smoking, limited research has assessed whether the standard clinical CO cutoffs need to be altered for postpartum women and whether these cutoffs remain constant across the postpartum year. Accordingly, the present study evaluated the effectiveness of using CO as a method to confirm smoking status relative to salivary cotinine among postpartum women and assessed optimal CO criteria to confirm smoking status across the postpartum year. Differences in optimal CO criteria to confirm smoking status also were examined between black and white postpartum women.
  • Emery et al. Nicotine & Tobacco Research. 2016 September 18. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/ntr/ntv196
• Preventing Postpartum Smoking Relapse: A Randomized Clinical Trial
  • Most women who quit smoking during pregnancy will relapse postpartum. Previous efforts to prevent postpartum relapse have been unsuccessful at increasing rates of sustained abstinence
  • Levine et al. JAMA Intern Med. 2016 Apr. DOI: 1001/jamainternmed.2016.0248
• Prevalence and correlates of a lifetime cannabis use disorder among pregnant former tobacco smokers.
  • Following tobacco and alcohol, cannabis is the most commonly used substance during pregnancy. Given the high prevalence of concurrent cannabis and tobacco use as well as the health consequences associated with prenatal substance use, we sought to document the relative contributions of psychosocial and psychiatric factors commonly associated with cannabis use in predicting a lifetime cannabis use disorder (CUD) among women who had quit smoking tobacco as a result of pregnancy.
  • Emery et al. Addict Behav. 2016 Mar. PMCID: PMC4713331
• Predictive utility of subtyping women smokers on depression, eating, and weight-related symptoms
  • Smoking and overweight or obesity are preventable causes of disease and death. Women are reluctant to quit smoking because of concerns about postcessation weight gain, underscoring the need to elucidate patterns of weight concerns and associated psychosocial factors that may affect smoking cessation outcomes. The present study aimed to subtype women smokers based on psychosocial and behavioral factors associated with smoking and weight, and examine the utility of these subtypes to predict abstinence and postcessation weight gain.
  • Salk et al. Healt Psychol. 2019 Mar. DOI: 10.1037/hea0000702
• Taste manipulation during a food cue-reactivity task: Effects on cue-elicited food craving and subsequent food intake among individuals with overweight and obesity
  • Food cue-reactivity tasks are used to induce and evaluate food cravings. Extant research has implicated the role of tasting foods in heightening cue-elicited food craving. The present study was the first to evaluate a taste manipulation during a food cue-reactivity task to optimize cue-elicited craving and predict food intake.
  • Germeroth et al. Eat Behav. 2019 March 29. DOI: 10.1016/j.eatbeh.2019.03.005
• Postcessation weight gain concern as a barrier to smoking cessation: Assessment considerations and future directions
  • Concern about postcessation weight gain may be one potential barrier to quitting smoking. In this ‘mini-review’ of recent literature, we summarize findings on the relationship between postcessation weight gain concern and smoking cessation, and evaluate varied use of postcessation weight gain concern assessments and potential moderators of the postcessation weight gain concern-cessation association.
  • Germeroth LG, Levine MD. Addict Behav. 2018 Jan. DOI: 10.1016/j.addbeh.2017.08.022
• Questionnaire and Behavioral Task Measures of Impulsivity are Differentially Associated With Body Mass Index: A Comprehensive Meta-Analysis
  • These meta-analytic findings demonstrate that impulsivity is positively associated with BMI and further document that this association varies by the type of impulsivity measure used and the domain of impulsivity assessed.
  • Emery, RL, Levine, MD. Psychol Bull. 2017 May. PMID: 28493725
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  • Commentary on Meta-Analysis
• Examining the effect of binge eating and disinhibition on compensatory changes in energy balance following exercise among overweight and obese women.
  • Some women behaviorally compensate for the energy expended during exercise by increasing their energy intake or becoming more sedentary, thereby decreasing their energy  Although behavioral compensation can attenuate or even reverse the energy deficit generated by exercise, few data are available on predictors of compensatory responses to exercise. The present study aimed to identify eating-related predictors of compensatory changes in energy balance following exercise.
  • Emery et al. Eat Behav. 2016 Aug. PMCID: PMC4983198