Search

IntroductionDrowning due to driving into floodwater accounts for a significant proportion of all deaths by drowning. Despite awareness campaigns such as 'If it's flooded, forget it', people continue to drive into floodwater. This causes loss of life, risk to rescuers and damage to vehicles. The aim of this study was to develop and evaluate an online e-health intervention to promote safe driving behaviour during flood events.Methods and analysisThe study will use a 2×3 randomised controlled trial in which participants are randomised into one of two conditions: (1) education about the risks of driving into floodwater or (2) education about the risks of driving into floodwater plus a theory-based behaviour change intervention using planning and imagery exercises. The effect of the intervention on the primary outcome, intention to drive through floodwater and the secondary outcomes will be assessed using a series of mixed-model analysis of covariances.Ethics and disseminationThe study has been approved by the Griffith University Human Research Ethics Committee. Participants will review a study information sheet and provide informed consent prior to commencing participation. Results will be disseminated through peer-reviewed publications, industry reports, media releases and at academic conferences. Deidentified data will be made publicly available following publication of the results.Trial registration numberACTRN12618001212246.

IntroductionTeachers’ sense of self-efficacy has been identified by research as a key factor in the successful implementation of inclusive education. This article reports on disabling factors in South Africa that are reportedly influencing inclusive Full-Service school (FSS) teachers’ sense of self-efficacy to implement inclusive education successfully.MethodologyA qualitative study, using semi-structured individual and group interviews as well as collages, was employed.ResultsThe findings revealed that the disabling factors included internal and external factors. Internal factors comprised a lack of knowledge and skills, including a lack of self-confidence, FSS teachers seeing themselves as a barrier, and physical and psychological problems. External factors were also identified. They are ineffective implementation of inclusive education, inadequate training, incompetent education department officials and managers, a lack of support from the education department, curriculum constraints, as well as disabling factors within the school system. Negative media perceptions were also mentioned.ConclusionIt was concluded that it is important for the basic and higher education departments of education to be aware of the identified disabling factors and purposefully attempt to improve the external factors, while ensuring that FSS teachers’ capabilities are developed and sustained in in-service and pre-service teacher education. This could contribute to developing and improving their sense of self-efficacy.

Objective We aimed to develop an integrated theoretical model of the determinants of condom use in young people from sub‐Saharan African (SSA) nations. Model development was informed by research predicting condom use in SSA nations adopting individual‐level social‐cognitive and socio‐ecological theories, and guided by McMillan and Conner's (2007) framework of social‐cognitive predictors of health. Method We conducted a scoping review of research on social‐cognitive and socio‐ecological predictors of condom use in young people in SSA. The integrated model was developed based on the constructs from the review and guided by McMillan and Conner's framework to classify the constructs and isolate the processes by which the constructs impact condom use. Results Included studies (N = 45) utilised constructs from seven individual‐level social‐cognitive theories and included multiple socio‐ecological variables as predictors of condom use. The integrated model included dispositions to act as a proximal determinant of condom use which mediated the effect of four categories of social‐cognitive constructs on condom use: attitudes, control perceptions, norms, and self‐representations. Socio‐ecological factors were classified into four categories: relational, individual differences, societal/structural, and community and peer influences. Each had direct and indirect effects on condom use in the model, reflecting the non‐conscious and conscious pathways to action, respectively. Conclusion We expect our integrated model to provide an evidence‐ and theory‐based guide to future research examining the antecedents of condom use in young people in SSA. We also anticipate it will assist in developing targets for interventions that will be effective in promoting condom use in this population.

Objective: We tested an integrated social-cognitive model derived from multiple theories of the determinants of young peoples' condom use in Sub-Saharan Africa. The model comprised seven social-cognitive antecedents of condom use: Attitudes, norms, control, risk perceptions, barriers, intentions, and previous condom use. Method: We conducted a systematic search of studies including effects between at least one model construct and intended or actual condom use in young people from sub-Saharan African countries. Fifty-five studies comprising 72 independent data sets were included and subjected to random-effects meta-analysis. Demographic and methodological variables were coded as moderators. Hypotheses of the integrated model were tested using meta-analytic structural equation modeling. Results: The meta-analysis revealed significant nontrivial sample-weighted correlations among most model constructs. Moderator analyses revealed differences in six correlations for studies that included a formative research component relative to studies that did not. There was little evidence of systematic moderation of relations among model constructs by other candidate moderators. Meta-analytic structural equation models revealed significant direct effects of attitudes, norms, and control on condom use intentions, and of intention, control, and barriers on condom use. Including past condom use increased explained variance in condom use intentions and behavior but did not attenuate model effects. There were also significant indirect effects of attitudes, norms, and control on condom use through intentions. Conclusions: Findings provide preliminary evidence to support the integrated condom use model in sub-Saharan African youth. The model provides guidance on potential targets for improving the effectiveness of condom promotion interventions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective We aimed to develop an integrated theoretical model of the determinants of condom use in young people from sub-Saharan African ( SSA) nations. Model development was informed by research predicting condom use in SSA nations adopting individual-level social-cognitive and socio-ecological theories, and guided by McMillan and Conner's (2007) framework of social-cognitive predictors of health. Method We conducted a scoping review of research on social-cognitive and socio-ecological predictors of condom use in young people in SSA. The integrated model was developed based on the constructs from the review and guided by McMillan and Conner's framework to classify the constructs and isolate the processes by which the constructs impact condom use. Results Included studies ( N = 45) utilised constructs from seven individual-level social-cognitive theories and included multiple socio-ecological variables as predictors of condom use. The integrated model included dispositions to act as a proximal determinant of condom use which mediated the effect of four categories of social-cognitive constructs on condom use: attitudes, control perceptions, norms, and self-representations. Socio-ecological factors were classified into four categories: relational, individual differences, societal/structural, and community and peer influences. Each had direct and indirect effects on condom use in the model, reflecting the non-conscious and conscious pathways to action, respectively. Conclusion We expect our integrated model to provide an evidence- and theory-based guide to future research examining the antecedents of condom use in young people in SSA. We also anticipate it will assist in developing targets for interventions that will be effective in promoting condom use in this population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A growing literature investigates associations between neighborhood social environments and coronary heart disease (CHD). After reviewing the literature, we present a theoretical model of the mechanisms through which geographic life environments may influence CHD, focusing particularly on the social-interactional environment. We suggest that, in addition to the common notions of social cohesion or fragmentation and social disorder, eco-epidemiologists should consider neighborhood identities and stigmatization processes. We posit that neighborhood social interactions affect the wide set of affective, cognitive, and relational experiences individuals have in their neighborhoods, which in turn influence the psycho-cognitive antecedents of behavior and in the end shape health behavior. Finally, we discuss key methodological challenges relevant to the advent of a new generation of neighborhood studies, including the operational definition of neighborhoods, nonresidential environments, ecometric measurement, model specification strategies, mediational models, selection processes and notions of empirical/structural confounding, and the relevance of observational versus interventional studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Chronic disease interventions for women have been understudied in the workplace domain. Understanding the role of cognitions in individual behaviour can help motivate change and suggest directions for achieving improvements in health. The purpose of this study was to identify psychosocial constructs and social-cognitive theories [e.g. Transtheoretical model (TTM), Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB), Protection Motivation Theory (PMT) and Social Cognitive Theory (SCT)] that are most salient for explaining physical activity behaviour among employed women (n = 1183). Demographic information, and social-cognitive measures related to physical activity, intention and behaviours (e.g. stage of change, energy expenditure) were assessed. A series of multiple regression analyses predicting intention, energy expenditure and stage of change were conducted separately for: (1) women with young children (n = 302), and (2) women without young children (n = 881) for each of the respective social-cognitive theories. Although taken as a whole the results were relatively similar between the two sub-groups of women for each of the socio-cognitive theories examined in this study, differences were observed in the relative contributions of the theoretical constructs between the two sub-groups. Results also indicate that self-efficacy and intention were the strongest predictors of behaviour among both women with and without young children. The explained variances (R2) for the theories examined in this study for different sub-groups ranged from 16 to 60%, generally reflecting what has been reported in other studies within the physical activity domain. The results of this study could be useful in guiding future research and in designing physical activity intervention programs for these specific population groups. Integrating approaches of individual lifestyle change while addressing issues related to creating supportive environments for women in various life stages is a suggested strategy for future work in this area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]