Assessing Mediating Effect of Motivation Types on Competition Intervention For Physically Inactive Adults

Competition has been widely used as the behaviour change technique for physical activity intervention (Peng, Crouse, & Lin, 2012), this approach might push someone motivation to achieve the desired behaviour. Therefore, the objective of this study was to assess the mediating effects of the motivation on the competition intervention effectiveness. An experimental research was conducted where participants were randomly allocated into one of two groups (control and competition group). For calculating the motivation types, Behavioural Regulation in Exercise Questionnaire (BREQ-2) was administered. The results revealed that motivation was not found to mediate the effect of competition intervention

Knowing their people and being known by them: A changing Episcopal role within Accompanied Ministry Development in the Diocese of Truro

Using a range of qualitative data, this article presents a case study of changing episcopal roles in the Diocese of Truro, necessitated by its bishops’ involvement in the innovative Accompanied Ministry Development Programme (AMD). This style of engagement foregrounds the activity specified in the ordinal of ‘getting to know the people and being known by them’. Findings raise questions such as whether roles currently undertaken by the bishops could be shared among senior staff and, if not, how the role of bishops could be adjusted to cope with an ongoing commitment to engage with incumbents and parishes across the Diocese on a regular basis. These are questions upon which any diocese may wish to reflect when initiating change that requires direct episcopal support

How parents build a case for Autism Spectrum Disorder during initial assessments: “We’re fighting a losing battle”

Integral to the diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is the initial assessment through which the existence of a ‘problem’ is first ascertained. Despite this, there remains limited research on this early part of the diagnostic pathway. In this paper, we utilised conversation analysis to examine relevant issues in relation to the practitioner-family interactions that take place within this initial assessment context. Our findings illustrated that parents typically first raised the possibility of the presence of an ASD diagnosis through ‘building a case’, which professionals were then able to ratify or negate. Further, we found that the assessments unfolded sequentially and clinical decisions were typically reached through a distinctive pattern of interaction. These findings have important implications for clinical practice, including for the study of ASD assessments and diagnosis

Interventions to reduce consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages or increase water intake: evidence from a systematic review and meta-analysis

A systematic review and meta-analyses were conducted to evaluate the effects of interventions to reduce sugar-sweetened beverages (SSB) or increase water intakes and to examine the impact of behaviour change techniques (BCTs) in consumption patterns. Randomized and nonrandomized controlled trials published after January 1990 and until December 2016 reporting daily changes in intakes of SSB or water in volumetric measurements (mL d¯¹) were included. References were retrieved through searches of electronic databases and quality appraisal followed Cochrane principles. We calculated mean differences (MD) and synthesized data with random-effects models. Forty studies with 16 505 participants were meta-analysed. Interventions significantly decreased consumption of SSB in children by 76 mL d¯¹ (95% confidence interval [CI] −105 to −46; 23 studies, P < 0.01), and in adolescents (−66 mL d¯¹, 95% CI −130 to −2; 5 studies, P = 0.04) but not in adults (−13 mL d¯¹, 95% CI −44 to 18; 12 studies, P = 0.16). Pooled estimates of water intakes were only possible for interventions in children, and results were indicative of increases in water intake (MD +67 mL d¯¹, 95% CI 6 to 128; 7 studies, P = 0.04). For children, there was evidence to suggest that modelling/demonstrating the behaviour helped to reduce SSB intake and that interventions within the home environment had greater effects than school-based interventions. In conclusion, public health interventions – mainly via nutritional education/counselling – are moderately successful at reducing intakes of SSB and increasing water intakes in children. However, on average, only small reductions in SSBs have been achieved by interventions targeting adolescents and adults. Complementary measures may be needed to achieve greater improvements in both dietary behaviours across all age groups