Guest column | I’m a psychologist. Here’s how mindfulness can help you get healthier. And getting started is easier than you might think.

What a birthday gift: I had a column published in @washingtonpost.com! 🤩

I wrote about mindfulness-supported behaviour change, including practical tips from my whole PhD's worth of research. 🧠

It’s a quick read:
www.washingtonpost.com/wellness/202...

#Mindfulness #BehaviourChange #SciComm

Frontiers | Intensive Longitudinal Data for Behavioral and Digital Health Innovation The rapid growth of wearable and mobile sensing technologies has enabled the continuous collection of highly granular behavioral data over time. These intens...

🗓️ Optional EOIs due: 29 Sept 2025
📝 Full papers due: 19 Dec 2025
🔗 All the info: www.frontiersin.org/research-top...

#SpecialIssue #DigitalHealth #JITAI #EMA #Wearables #BehaviouralScience 🧪📈

We want your best work using:
📱 EMA
⌚ Sensor/wearable data
📦 JITAI
🧠 Real-time self-report
⏱️ Any creative take on temporally dense data in behavioural health!

I'm guest editing a special issue in @frontiersin.bsky.social #DigitalHealth on Intensive Longitudinal Data for Behavioural and Digital Health Innovation with the awesome Dr Jason Fanning & Dr Vincent Berardi💡

🚨 Call for Papers! 🚨

Are you working with high-frequency data like EMA, wearables, or digital interventions in health? This one's for you 👇🧵

Grateful to my stellar supervisors Max J. Western, @benainsworth.bsky.social, @oliviamaynard.bsky.social & proud of my fellow doctors @loisplayer.bsky.social, Ryan Hughes, Joris Šimaitis, Howard Richards, Lucy Waldren and Olivia Malkowski ❤️🎉

What a joyful and proud day it was when I recently returned to @uniofbath.bsky.social to officially receive my PhD! 🥹🙌

Savouring my achievement, and getting to celebrate those of my friends, was a true privilege.

How to Cut Down Screen Time for Kids | SBM - Society of Behavioral Medicine From tablets to televisions, smartphones to gaming consoles, screens are an ever-present part of daily life. In the U.S., children between the ages of 8 and 10 spend an average of six hours per day on...

📱⌛ New short piece out today on science-backed ways to help kids reduce screen time:
👉 www.sbm.org/healthy-livi...

For @sbm.org in a fab collab with Drs Danae Dinkel & Matt Buman.

#SciComm is key—even if it sometimes means adding to screen time to get the message out! 🧠

Thanks to everybody who chimed in!

I arrived at the conclusion that (1) there's a lot of interesting stuff about interactions and (2) the figure I was looking for does not exist.

So, I made it myself! Here's a simple illustration of how to control for confounding in interactions:>

Congratulations to Jess Harvey for leading the effort & co-authors Emma Solomon-Moore, Max J. Western, Olivia Malkowski et al. @uniofbath.bsky.social for being great collaborators! 🎉

(🧵 5/5)

🔬 Research Recs:

📅 Longitudinal studies throughout full cycles
📱 Real-time symptom tracking (EMA)
📏 Objective PA measures (as with all PA research!)
🎙️ Qualitative work centering girls’ voices
🧪 High-quality RCTs of PA for period-related symptoms

(🧵 4/5)

🛠️ Policy & Practice Recommendations

We recommend:
✔️ Menstrual health education in schools
✔️ Free & accessible period products
✔️ Supportive, stigma-free activity spaces for girls

(🧵 3/5)

📊 Key Findings:
Menstruation is a barrier to activity for many girls—due to pain, stigma, & lack of resources. But PA can also ease symptoms. A complex, 2-way relationship. ↔️

(🧵 2/5)

Adolescents, menstruation, and physical activity: insights from a global scoping review - BMC Women's Health Background Adolescent girls tend to be less physically active than boys, a trend that coincides with puberty. Menstruation may act as a barrier to physical activity, which in turn may influence menstr...

📢 Just published: Our global scoping review on #menstruation & #physicalactivity in adolescence. Timely, needed, and open access! 🌍🩸🏃‍♀️

👉 doi.org/10.1186/s129...

(🧵 1/5)

Likewise, Jeroen. It's amazing to see your team & projects doing so well! 👏

What a privilege to connect, present, and mingle at #ISBNPA2025 last week in Auckland, New Zealand!

Highlights:
📢 sharing our 'Getting Active' RCT
🧠 first in-person meeting for our MH & WB SIG
🏙️ strong ASU representation!
💚 seeing the sights of stunning New Zealand

Thank you #SBM2025! 🧠

So many ideas exchanged, so much brilliant science shared & quality time spent with colleagues.

Grateful for this community & already excited for Chicago 2026 @sbm.org 🏙️🤍

Feeling energised after two days of catching up with friends & collaborators at beautiful @stanforduniversity.bsky.social 🌴☀️

Next stop: #SBM2025 in SF! See everyone there 😍

🚨Job Alert!🚨

We're launching a funded study on how period pain impacts adolescent girls’ lives & school engagement. Join our team.

🔹 Research Associate 👉 (www.bath.ac.uk/jobs/Vacancy...)
🔹 Research Assistant 👉 (www.bath.ac.uk/jobs/Vacancy...)

Please share! #PeriodPain #PainResearch

You’re a star!! So proud of you and so grateful to have been part of the journey ❤️🥹

Beyond excited to share that I’ve joined the 24hr Behaviors Lab at @asuhealthsolutions.bsky.social as a postdoctoral scholar!! 🤗

Looking forward to working on all things #wearables, #biomarkers, #digital & #precisionhealth — as well as getting plenty of vitamin D in sunny Phoenix! ☀️🏜️

❤️

Thank you, Laura! Hope all is well with your many impressive projects too 🤗

Thank you Aliya!! Hope all is well at your end too 🤗

TO DO LIST:
✅ Become a Dr!

Delighted to share that I passed my viva last week 🍾🥳

Hugely grateful to Dr Heathcote & Prof Gillison for thorough and thoughtful questions, to my supervisors for mentorship & my close ones for endless love and support ❤️

Bring on the postdoc! 🙌☀️

Hi Ryan, could I be added too, please? A keen practitioner of scicomm in behavioural science, including the creation of a science podcast! :)

Brilliant suggestion, thank you!

Sounds spot on to me, Laura! 😌

Hey BSky, nice to meet you!

I'm Masha, a behavioural scientist interested in helping people live healthier & happier lives. 🧠

So far through #mHealth, #mindfulness, #physicalactivity 🧘🏻‍♀️
PhD at @uniofbath.bsky.social submitted, defending soon.

#BehSci / #SciComm / kind people, welcome to my feed!

Hi Laura, could I get added to this please? Just joined over here! :)