Development of mental rotation: A speed-accuracy study

Pairs of letters and numbers were shown to 11-, 14-, and 19-year-olds. One stimulus in a pair was presented upright. The second, which was either identical to the first or a mirror image of it, was rotated 0 to 150° from the vertical. Individuals judged if the stimuli in a pair would be identical or mirror images if presented at the same orientation. They did so under instructions that emphasized accurate responses, fast responses, or fast and accurate responses. Typically, responses were (1) most accurate and slowest when accuracy was emphasized, and (2) least accurate but fastest when speed was emphasized. The data from the three instructional conditions were used to derive measures of response times in which accuracy of response was equated for the three age groups. At 95% accuracy 14- and 19-year-olds mentally rotated stimuli at the same rate, which was faster than 11-year-olds' rate. At 100% accuracy, 19-year-olds mentally rotated stimuli more rapidly than both 11- and 14-year-olds, who did not differ from one another.     

Validation de la version française d’une échelle abrégée de coping religieux : Brief-RCOPE

The involvement of religious beliefs and practices in the way of coping with stressful events is coined by the term of religious coping. It is commonly distinguished the positive from the negative patterns of religious coping (i.e., a secure and a less secure relationship with God respectively) as assessed by the Brief RCOPE. The interest for the religious coping patterns lies in their predictive value for the quality of the adjustment to stress. After controlling for the effects of sociodemographic variables, and nonreligious coping measures, the positive pattern is a significant predictor of well-being while the negative pattern promotes a poorer physical and mental health. This study was designed to validate the French version of the Brief RCOPE.

Cycling: A benefit for health or just a means of transport? Case study Brno (Czech Republic) and its surroundings

Reducing pollution and preventing heavy traffic in cities together with recent transport policies are encouraging people to use more sustainable modes of transport, such as walking, cycling or public transport, in preference to private cars. The study was aimed at analysing general conditions for bicycle utilization, and their application to the outskirts of the largest Moravian town, Brno, and discussing the possible future of bicycling in this region, including its relation to health. What motivating factors could influence people’s decision to use bicycles as a means of transport? A survey was conducted at the third-largest university in Brno, where the respondents were approached. According to the obtained results, more than half of the respondents used bicycles mostly for leisure purposes. Nevertheless, almost one-third mentioned bicycling for transport purposes. Thus, there is a potential for cycling to become a significant part of transport and thus contribute to human health and a healthy city environment; however, the region should considerably adjust its infrastructure to encourage cyclists to visit Brno and its surroundings.     

Prevalence and associated factors with body image dissatisfaction among adults in southern Brazil: A population-based study

We investigated the prevalence of body image dissatisfaction (BID) and associated factors in Florianopolis, Brazil. BID was analyzed in a sample (N = 1720) of adults through the Figure Rating Scale. The independent variables were sociodemographic factors, health behaviors, and morbidities. A multinomial logistic regression analysis was used. More men (14.2%) than women (6.1%) presented BID by being lighter than ideal (LI). Conversely, more women (66.6%) than men (46.3%) showed BID by being heavier than ideal (HI). BID by being HI was higher among older women, those with high BMI and those with a partner. In men, lower BMI and the presence of common mental disorders were associated with BID due to being LI. Advanced ages, alcohol abuse, physical inactivity, and obesity were associated with BID due to being HI. We must consider different public health interventions for men and women to reduce BID in Brazilian adults.     

How are physical literacy interventions conceptualized? – A systematic review on intervention design and content

The concept of physical literacy (PL) has gained increasing attention over the last decade and posits that individuals value and take responsibility for engagement in physical activities for life through (a) motivation/confidence, (b) physical competence, and (c) knowledge/understanding. There is a mounting number of articles that have recently transformed the conceptual ideas of PL into interventions. The goal of this pre-registered (PROSPERO CRD42020188926) systematic review was to analyze and summarize PL interventions in terms of design and content. A total of 18 databases were searched drawing on the 2020 preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses (PRISMA) guidelines. Inclusion criteria were English language, publication by November 2020, and interventions based on or inspired by PL. Articles that met these criteria were analyzed in relation to basic delivery characteristics, theoretical foundations, study objectives, intervention content, and potential links between the PL domains (a-c) and content. The multiphase screening process with two independent raters yielded 44 eligible interventions across 46 articles. The analyses of the review demonstrated that the majority of interventions were conducted on children or adolescents and in countries with higher economic development. While 77.3% of the interventions adopted a holistic understanding of PL, only 38.6% formulated study goals or intervention content to cover all the core PL domains. Importantly, only 25.0% of the interventions showed substantial links between PL domains and intervention content and can thus be classified as theory-based. Taken together, most interventions targeted aspects of physical competence (84.1%), whereas knowledge/understanding (59.1%) and motivation/confidence (47.7%) were often neglected. Therefore, future interventions should commit to systematically address all domains of PL simultaneously. PL interventions exposed weaknesses in reporting delivery characteristics and content. Finally, a model is suggested which assumes that practical PL efforts may better harmonize with PL theory and conception if they cultivated a tight interlocking with the three core domains of PL at all stages of the intervention process.     

Are trait self-control and self-control resources mediators of relations between executive functions and health behaviors?

This study investigated associations between executive functions (i.e., inhibition, working memory, cognitive flexibility) and individual differences in self-control and health behaviors. We examined whether executive functions predict physical activity, sedentary activity, and healthy and unhealthy diets, and whether trait self-control and self-control resources mediate these associations. Three hundred and eighty-five participants completed a questionnaire assessing trait self-control and self-control resources, physical activity, sedentary activity, and healthy and unhealthy diets. They also performed three randomly ordered cognitive tasks, a stop-signal task (i.e., inhibition), a letter memory task (i.e., updating), and a number-letter task (i.e., switching). Structural equation modeling revealed that self-control resources predicted positively physical activity (R² = 0.08), negatively sedentary activity (R² = 0.03) and positively healthy diet (R² = 10). Moreover, trait self-control predicted positively healthy diet (R² = 0.10) and negatively unhealthy diet (R² = 0.19). Moreover, analyses revealed that switching significantly predicted self-control resources, and highlighted three totally mediated relations between this executive function and physical activity, sedentary activity and healthy diet. However, no evidence was found supporting associations between inhibition and updating, and health behaviors, or relations mediated by self-control for these executive functions. The findings suggest the importance of trait self-control and self-control resources for health behavior adoption and pave the way for studies exploring the role of the executive functions in an affective context. Open materials [https://osf.io/hpsjw/].     

三维干预促进小学生心理健康的研究

为了探索有效的小学生心理健康教育模式,以昆明市两所普通小学分别作为实验组和对照组进行了为期两年的实验研究,对影响小学生心理健康的主要因素:教师、家长和学生自身三个子系统进行了多侧面的三维干预。结果表明:(1)实验组学生比对照组学生的总体一般焦虑水平下降;(2)学习适应性提高;(3)问题行为症候群的学生人数和问题行为比干预前明显减少。验证了教师、家长、学生三维干预结合模式对促进小学生心理健康的有效性。     

Racial-Ethnic Differences in Genetic Amniocentesis Uptake

The objective of this study was to determine the role of health beliefs in genetic amniocentesis acceptance in a diverse racial-ethnic population. Participants completed a previously-validated questionnaire consisting of three sections: (1) demographics, (2) amniocentesis knowledge, and (3) health beliefs, which assessed perceived susceptibility, seriousness of potential impact, benefits of testing, and barriers to testing. The results showed that Hispanic women were less likely to accept amniocentesis (51.5% vs. Caucasian 82.8%, African American 82.9%, Asian 82.8%). Education level was the only demographic factor higher among acceptors. Women who accepted amniocentesis had higher perceived seriousness, susceptibility, and benefits HBM scores and higher knowledge scores than women who declined. HBM scores and knowledge predicted the amniocentesis decision correctly 91.5% of the time. Individual health beliefs and knowledge play a greater role in genetic amniocentesis acceptance than do demographic factors such as race-ethnicity.