To whom do we communicate? stage tailoring and framing of health messages in the promotion of fruit and vegetable intake

As campanhas de saúde são amplamente utilizadas para persuadir as pessoas a adoptarem estilos de vida saudáveis, incluindo o consumo de frutas e vegetais. O principal objectivo desta tese foi identificar os mecanismos pelos quais preditores sócio-cognitivos afectam o consumo de frutas e vegetais, utilizando esse conhecimento, e teoria, para o desenvolvimento de mensagens de saúde, avaliando a sua eficácia na promoção deste comportamento. Realizaram-se quatro estudos, descritos em cinco capítulos. As hipóteses formuladas sustentam-se no modelo Health Action Process Approach (Schwarzer, 2008) e na literatura sobre enquadramento de mensagens. Nos estudos descritos nos capítulos 2 e 3 verificou-se a utilidade teórica do modelo para este comportamento e selecionaram-se as crenças mais relevantes para cada constructo, a fim de desenvolver mensagens dirigidas a pessoas em diferentes estádios de mudança. No capítulo 4, demonstrou-se a superioridade de mensagens adequadas ao estádio na promoção da auto-eficácia entre pessoas num estádio não-intencional e intencional, e da intenção e progressão de estádio entre não-intencionais, sustentando a validade dos estádios. Os estudos apresentados nos capítulos 5 e 6, demonstraram o valor da adequação entre o enquadramento da mensagem e a orientação motivacional e as intenções dos destinatários, o qual mostrou variar consoante a qualidade percebida da mensagem. Os contributos aplicados apoiam o uso de teorias psicológicas no desenvolvimento de mensagens de saúde e a adaptação do seu conteúdo e enquadramento de acordo com o estádio de mudança e/ou orientação motivacional da audiência, para maior eficácia na promoção de mudanças nos comportamentos de saúde.Health communication campaigns are ubiquitous in the endeavor of persuading people to adopt healthier lifestyles, including fruit and vegetable intake. The central aim of this dissertation was to identify relevant mechanisms by which key psychological antecedents affect fruit and vegetable intake, using this knowledge and theory to inform the design of health messages, and evaluating their effectiveness in promoting this health behavior. We conducted four studies, which are described in five chapters. The theoretical underpinning of our hypotheses was based on the Health Action Process Approach (Schwarzer, 2008), and on the literature on health message framing. The studies described on chapters 2 and 3 allowed to verify the theoretical model utility in predicting fruit and vegetable intake, and to select relevant beliefs under the theoretical constructs for the development of health messages targeted at people in different stages of change. The study described on chapter 4 demonstrated the superiority of staged-matched health messages for instilling self-efficacy among non-intenders and intenders, and intention and stage progression for non-intenders, supporting the validity of stage assumptions. The two other studies, presented in chapters 5 and 6 demonstrated the value of matching the frame to the recipients´ motivational orientation and baseline intentions, which was shown to vary according to the perceived message quality. The applied contributions support the use of psychological theories for the development of health messages, and matching their content and frame to the recipient stage and/or motivational orientation for increased effectiveness in promoting health behavior change

Gain framing increases support for measures promoting plant-based eating in university settings

Global concerns with public health, animal suffering, and environmental problems linked to meat-centric diets have increased over the last decade. One way to help address these concerns is to implement measures that reduce meat consumption and increase plant-based eating in collective meal contexts, such as catering services in schools and universities. The present study provides insight into how consumers may react to these measures. A simple experiment (within-subjects design; N = 295) tested whether framing a set of plant-forward measures in terms of gain (i.e., measures to promote or increase the consumption of plant-based meals) or loss (i.e., measures to curtail or reduce the consumption of meals with meat) impacted consumer support for these measures in university settings. The results showed that consumer support was higher for gain-framed measures compared to loss-framed measures. Furthermore, the impact of framing was higher for measures focusing on sensory cues (e.g., make plant-based meals tastier and more appealing vs. make meals with meat less tasty and less appealing) and lower for measures focusing on behavioral constraints (e.g., serve only plant-based meals vs. do not serve meals with meat). Overall, the findings suggest that framing plant-forward measures in terms of gain can be a simple and potentially effective way to increase consumer support for food sustainability transitions.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Clear-cut terms and culture-sensitive characteristics of distinctive casual sexual relationships in Portuguese emerging adults

Casual sexual relationships (CSR) are increasingly common but limited empirical research has addressed their terminology and distinctive characteristics. This study sought to identify the most clear-cut terms and to consider how culture-sensitive characteristics distinguish casual sexual relationships among Portuguese emerging adults (N = 262, 18-29 years old). We combined two qualitative studies – one by association and another by free recall – to ascertain the clarity of the terms, plus a quantitative study to further characterize and differentiate them. Participants were asked to match descriptions of CSRs with the respective terms by which they are known (Study 1). The same was investigated using an evocation task requesting that participants produce the terms by which the described CSRs are known (Study 2). Binary logistic regressions were performed to analyze the associations between encounters and labels chosen, taking the effect of gender and age into account. In the third study, participants rated the degree to which eight characteristics were present in the types of CSR, a simultaneous task that led to greater understanding of their descriptive and differentiating characteristics. Multivariate analysis of variance was used, with gender and age as covariates. We conclude that two types of CSR – friends with benefits and one-night stand – and, to a lesser extent, making out, are understood and associated with consensual labels, also found by free-recall. These CSRs proved to be distinct, as they are understood as more different than similar in a set of psychoemotional, behavioral, and sexual characteristics.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

A Fertile Ground for Ambiguities: Casual Sexual Relationships Among Portuguese Emerging Adults

Casual sexual relationships (CSRs) are frequent relationship experiences in young adulthood that provide opportunities for many to explore sexual relationships and to construct their sexual identity. Empirical research on casual sex is still lacking outside North-American countries, despite evidence pointing to the need to contextualize sexual interactions in their own sociocultural context. In order to better understand casual sexual relationships, these should be examined in with novel samples in other countries where a “hookup culture” as it is described in the North-American university campus is apparently absent. Through a qualitative study, we explored what casual sexual relationships consist of according to the perceptions of Portuguese college students (N=35). The thematic analysis of eight focus group interviews resulted in the generation of six themes, three of which are presented here: (1) What CSRs are, regarding features and types of CSRs, (2) Why individuals engage in CSRs, focusing on positive and negative motivations, and (3) What one gets from CSRs, focusing on positive and negative outcomes of CSRs. Our findings showed that Portuguese emerging adults are familiarized with CSRs, particularly with one-night stand, friends with benefits and “curte”/hookup. Sexual interactions associated with other CSRs, such as booty call or fuck buddies, were mentioned but rarely associated with a distinctive label and established characteristics. Participants described the CSRs in a partially overlapping manner presenting some areas of ambiguity, such as with regard to sexual exclusivity and still-unlabeled sexual interactions. CSRs are generally evaluated as positively motivated and mainly beneficial. This study adds to the literature around casual sexual relationships by exploring and describing CSRs in a different sociocultural context, as well as indicating directions for future research in order to better prepare and empower young adults in their sexual and relational trajectories.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Género e multimodalidade na aula de ILE : compreender e comentar o texto publicitário

O presente trabalho analisa e avalia a produção escrita dos alunos de licenciatura em Comunicação Social e Cultural na disciplina de Inglês como língua estrangeira (ILE) ao longo de um semestre, através da elaboração e experimentação de materiais que associam a literacia visual (ou multimodal) ao domínio dos géneros da escrita. O objectivo foi descrever e analisar a forma como estes estudantes interpretam os textos multimodais, nomeadamente os anúncios publicitários impressos, e o modo como assimilaram os conteúdos e os recursos didáctico-pedagógicos utilizados. Trata-se de uma investigação em Línguística Aplicada que tem como finalidade a aplicação empírica de duas teorias elaboradas com base na Linguística Sistémico- Funcional de Michael Halliday: a teoria da semiótica social multimodal que sustenta a gramática do design visual (Kress & van Leeuwen, 2006) e a abordagem baseada em género da Escola de Sydney (Rothery, 1996; Martin, 1989; Martin e Rose, 2007, 2008). Se, por um lado, a gramática do design visual respondeu à necessidade de fornecer aos estudantes ferramentas para a interpretação dos recursos semióticos que compõem os textos publicitários utilizados como estímulo à produção escrita, a pedagogia dos géneros orientou a metodologia adoptada para a pedagogia da escrita. Enquadrados na metodologia de investigação-acção em contexto colaborativo, numa primeira fase piloto em 2009/10, contámos com a colaboração de uma colega que leccionou a disciplina nesse ano e, no ano seguinte, em 2010/ 11, com a participação dos três colegas da disciplina que também aceitaram testar o material didáctico. O estudo insere-se no paradigma qualitativo e incide sobre a análise de um pequeno corpus de 9 textos produzidos por três alunos de níveis diferentes (bom, médio e fraco) no contexto de sala de aula ao longo de um semestre em três momentos de avaliação distintos: teste diagnóstico, teste intermédio e teste final. Não sendo de forma alguma representativa, a pequena amostra pretende observar o desenvolvimento da capacidade de escrita em Inglês como língua estrangeira ao longo de um semestre no que diz respeito ao domínio do género em estudo, assim como analisar de que forma os conceitos introduzidos e a discussão sobre a análise dos textos multimodais efectuada na sala de aula transparece nos textos dos alunos. Em última análise, o presente estudo pretende fornecer dados para reflexão sobre a pedagogia da escrita em LE, no sentido de ajudar os estudantes universitários a tornaremse leitores mais críticos e perceptivos dos textos que lêem e escrevem.This study assesses and analyses the written production of undergraduate Media Studies students in English as a Foreign Language (EFL), through the production and experimentation of pedagogical resources which associate visual (or multimodal) literacy to the genre-based approach to teaching writing. The aim was to describe and analyse how students interpret multimodal print advertisements and how they assimilate the contents of the teaching materials. Within an applied linguistics framework, the research aims to empirically apply two theories drawn from Michael Halliday’s Systemic Functional Grammar: the theory of multimodal social semiotics which supports the Grammar of Visual Design (Kress and van Leeuven, 2006) and the Sydney School genre-based approach (Rothery, 1996; Martin, 1989; Martin and Rose, 2007, 2008). On the one hand, the grammar of visual design provided students with the necessary tools to understand the semiotic resources of the print advertisements used as visual stimuli and, on the other, the genre-based approach offered the methodology for the writing pedagogy used in the project. Framed within action-research in a collaborative context, in the pilot phase we had the valuable collaboration of one colleague who taught the subject in 2009/10 and the following year, in 2010/ 11, of three colleagues who also agreed to use the teaching materials. The research is qualitative-based and covers the analysis of a small corpus of twelve texts produced by three students of three different levels (good, average and weak) in the context of three assessment moments: diagnostic test, midterm test and final test. Although the sample is too small to be truly representative, the aim was to observe the EFL writing skills development of the three students concerning mastery of the genre, and to see how the classroom discussions and input on analysis of multimodal texts were revealed through the students’ writing

the Portuguese model

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Modelling Longitudinal Directional Associations Between Self-regulation, Physical Activity, and Habit: Results from a Cross-lagged Panel Model

Versión preprintBackground The directionality of associations between self-regulatory variables, behavior, and automaticity is seldomly tested. In this study, we aimed to examine a volitional, self-regulatory sequence of variables proposed in the Health Action Process Approach framework (intention → action plans → action control → behavior) and its relationship with the construct of automaticity of the physical activity habit. Methods Longitudinal data was collected from high school students (N = 203, Mage = 15.39 (SD = 1.43), 52% women) at three measurement points. First, a confirmatory factor analysis measurement model was used to examine the study variables across measurement points. Next, a cross-lagged panel model was used to test directionality between variables. Results After adequate fit of the measurement model was confirmed, a mechanism integrating self-regulation with behavior and automaticity was examined. The hypothesized directionality between variables was verified overall by cross-lagged analysis. However, for the intention-action plan association, the inverse relationship was found: plans were associated with subsequent intentions, but intentions did not predict plans. Moreover, automaticity was not associated with subsequent physical activity behavior. Conclusions In general, our findings supported the hypothesized longitudinal direction of the associations, confirming that self-regulation may lead to behavior performance and automaticity. Unexpected findings and implications for intervention and future research are discussed.UCR::Vicerrectoría de Investigación::Unidades de Investigación::Ciencias Sociales::Instituto de Investigaciones Psicológicas (IIP

#EntreViagenseAprendizagens: study protocol of a school-based intervention to promote well-being and healthy lifestyles among adolescents

Background: Adolescence is a critical period of development in which well-being usually decreases, mental health problems (e.g., depression, anxiety) increase, and lifestyles become less healthy. Schools are a primary setting for the promotion of the well-being and overall health of adolescents, and preventive actions should be a priority within the scope of health-promoting schools. #EntreViagenseAprendizagens is a school-based intervention aiming to promote well-being and healthy lifestyles among adolescents based on social and emotional learning, positive psychology, and health education approaches. Methods: This protocol describes a school-based intervention, #EntreViagenseAprendizagens, that will be implemented in several schools in Portugal. The program is aimed at 8th and 9th grade students (14–16 years old) and comprises 20 weekly sessions. One of the sessions is aimed at the students’ parents/guardians. The intervention content targets social and emotional skills, health literacy (physical and mental health), healthy lifestyles, character strengths, and well-being. An experimental design will be used in the intervention evaluation. Eighth grade classes will be randomly assigned to the intervention group or the control group. All students complete the same assessment protocol at baseline, post-intervention, and 9-month follow-up. The impact assessment protocol includes measures related to well-being, health literacy, health-related knowledge, attitudes and behaviors, relationships with others, social and emotional skills, and sociodemographic data. Process evaluation includes evaluation forms at the end of each session and at the end of the program and focus groups with students, parents, and teachers at the end of the program. Discussion: This school-based intervention may play an important role in promoting students’ well-being and in preventing unhealthy lifestyles and socio-emotional maladjustment, by focusing on the development of social and emotional skills and health literacy among adolescents, empowering them to face the changing future and grow up healthy. Furthermore, this project aims to provide relevant scientific findings that can contribute to the development of better health-promoting schools.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Physical activity promotion tools in the Portuguese primary health care : an implementation research

© 2020 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).Background: This paper aims to discuss how physical activity (PA) brief assessment, brief counseling, and self-monitoring tools were designed and implemented in the Portuguese National Health Service (NHS), and to report on their current use by health professionals and citizens. Methods: Three digital tools to facilitate PA promotion in primary health care (PHC) were developed: 1) a PA brief assessment tool was incorporated in the electronic health record platform “SClínico Cuidados de Saúde Primários“; 2) a brief counseling tool was developed in the software “PEM—Prescrição Eletrónica Médica” (electronic medical prescription); and 3) a “Physical Activity Card” was incorporated in an official NHS smartphone app called “MySNS Carteira”. Results: From September 2017 to June 2019, 119,386 Portuguese patients had their PA assessed in PHC. Between December 2017 and June 2019, a total of 7957 patients received brief intervention for PA by a medical doctor. Regarding the app “MySNS Carteira”, 93,320 users activated the “Physical Activity Card”, between February 2018 and December 2018. Conclusions: These tools represent key actions to promote PA among Portuguese citizens using PHC as a priority setting. Further initiatives will follow, including proper assessment of their clinical impact and training programs for health care professionals on PA promotion.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

2º relatório - vacinação para a COVID-19: intenção e seus preditores. Estudo na população portuguesa, em diferentes etapas do ciclo de vida

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