[Truncated abstract] The main purpose of this research was to conduct a series of studies with the aim of contributing information about methods for measuring and analyzing physical environmental attributes of neighbourhoods and the influence of these attributes on specific types of physical activity behaviour. Furthermore, this research examined the moderating affect of the objective physical environment on the relationship between cognitions and physical activity behaviours and the mediating role of the cognitions on the associations between the objective physical environment and physical activity. The research included secondary analyses of data collected as part of the Studies of Environmental and Individual Determinants of Physical Activity (SEID1 and SEID2: Corti 1998; Pikora 2003) and the Physical Activity in Localities and Community Environments study (PLACE: Leslie et al. 2005a; Leslie et al. 2005b). Demographic, cognitive, social and behavioural data from the baseline and follow-up surveys from SEID1 (Corti 1998), and objectively measured built environmental data from SEID2 (Pikora 2003) were analyzed. ... A stronger association between frequency of past trying and recreational walking was also found for respondents residing in neighbourhoods with more recreational destinations (β = 0.11), compared with fewer destinations (β = 0.00). These findings show some evidence that the built environment can affect exercise-related cognitions, which in turn influence physical activity. Findings of this and other research (Owen et al. 2000; Humpel et al. 2002; Saelens et al. 2003b; Foster & Hillsdon 2004; McCormack et al. 2004; Owen et al. 2004; Badland & Schofield 2005; Duncan et al. 2005; Heath et al. 2006) support the need to create supportive environments that encourage both recreational and transport-related physical activity. Providing more opportunities and a greater variety of destinations close to home could encourage physical activity participation, and may even assist some individuals to achieve sufficient levels to accrue health benefits. However, additional research is necessary to understand how both the perceived and objectively measured built environment influences physical activity and to provide evidence of temporal causality between environments, cognitions, and physical activity behaviour.

Introduktion: Suicid är ett folkhälsoproblem som ser olika ut på olika platser runt om i Sverige, vissa kommuner såsom Grums kommun har under en tid drabbats mycket och speciellt bland ungdomar. Ett samarbete i Grums har startats där deltagarna består av aktörer som arbetar med ungdomars hälsa i någon form. Syftet är att förbättra samarbetet och förbättra förutsättningarna för Grums ungdomar att leva ett liv med god hälsa. Syftet med studien är att kartlägga det suicidpreventiva arbetet som aktörerna gör i sina respektive verksamheter och utifrån en socialekologisk modell sätts dessa i relation till olika nivåer i samhället där verksamheten befinner sig i relation till ungdomarna. För att arbetet ska ge resultat måste de metoder och arbetssätt som används grundas i den evidensbaserade forskningen. Metod: En workshop hölls i Grums där aktörernas diverse roller fastslogs för en bättre förståelse över det stöd som erbjuds ungdomarna och hur målgruppen faktiskt upplever sin situation i Grums utifrån aktörernas erfarenheter. Telefonintervjuer av 3 aktörer om deras arbetssätt gentemot målgruppen i Grums kompletterade workshopen. Materialet analyserades utifrån en socialekologisk modell. En systematisk litteraturöversikt gjorde grundjobbet med att finna de metoder och arbetssätt som har visat sig ha evidens. Resultat: De olika aktörernas roller i det suicidpreventiva och hälsofrämjande arbetet med Grums ungdomar klargörs. Vidare påvisas hur de olika verksamheternas arbete i vissa fall sker flexibelt utanför de satta ramarna för den specifika aktören. Mycket av arbetet sker överlappande genom olika kategorier och faser i ungdomarnas liv. Risk- och skyddsfaktorer inom olika områden identifierades. Av de totalt 25 studierna som sållades fram blev det 9 som uppfyllde kriterierna. Slutsats: Det är inte enbart viktigt för de olika aktörerna att förstå inte sin egen verksamhet utan även vad andra aktörer gör och har för resurser. Även för målgruppen är det viktigt att veta vad som görs och hur det arbetas. Då individer slutligen själva väljer att söka och använda det stöd som finns är det viktigt att sänka de trösklar som finns. Det finns en rad olika evidensbaserade sätt att arbeta med suicidprevention utifrån Grums kommuns förutsättningar. / Introduction: Suicide is a public health problem with different characteristics in different places in Sweden, some municipalities like Grums have had some difficulties amongst their youth. Grums has started a cooperation with the organizations that works with the target groups health in some way with the aim to improve the collaboration between the organizations and also improve the conditions for teens. The purpose of the study is to map the participants work with suicide prevention and put them in relation to different levels in society and the target group in a socio-ecological model. For the work to give positive results the methods must be evidence-based. Method: A workshop in Grums was held where the different participants work was established and mapped to create a better mutual understanding over the services provided to the teens. Interviews over the phone with 3 of the participants about their work with teens In Grums was used to complement the workshop. The material was analyzed with a socio-ecological model. A systematic review did the groundwork in finding the evidence-based methods presented. Results: The role of the different organizations in the work with suicide prevention among teens in Grums is mapped. It shows that the work of the different organizations in some cases is flexible and extends outside of the borders of the specific organization. A lot of the work is overlapping through different categories and phases in a teens life. Risk factors and protective factors where identified. Of the 25 studies that where found it was merely 9 that fulfilled the criteria. Conclusion: It is not only important for the different organizations to understand not only their own operation but also the other work made by others and the resources they have but it is also important for the target group to know what is being done and how. Because individuals choose to seek help and to use the support that’s eligible it is important to lower the threshold to do so. There are some different evidence-based ways to work with suicide prevention with the conditions in Grums municipality.

Cette thèse de Doctorat examine le réseau trophique estuarien lié aux herbiers à zostères, Zostera noltii et quantifie le rôle trophique des consommateurs de la macrofaune benthique, dans deux zones intertidales de l’estuaire du Mondego, à différentes périodes de 1993 à 2008. Elle s’intéresse spécifiquement (i) à l’incorporation de l’azote issu des activités humaines, en considérant l’assimilation d’azote comme un indicateur de l’eutrophication et (ii) au rôle des zostères dans le réseau trophique benthique. Six modèles ont été développés afin d’analyser les effets, (i) d’un enrichissement en nutriments, (ii) des mesures de mitigation, et (iii) d’une inondation centennale, sur les propriétés du réseau trophique benthique estuarien. La présence de Z. noltii change peu la structure du réseau trophique planctonique, soutenu en partie par la matière organique particulaire et supporte principalement des poissons comme prédateurs. Les autres consommateurs montrent une grande variabilité de signature isotopique, ce qui suggère qu’ils peuvent changer de régime alimentaire en fonction des changements de l’environnement. En revanche, les δ13C et δ15N des producteurs et consommateurs de l’estuaire du Mondego montrent très peu de variation saisonnière, malgré une saisonnalité météorologique marquée, ainsi qu’une forte variation saisonnière des paramètres de la colonne d’eau (apports en sels nutritifs et concentration en chlorophylle a). Les modèles à l’état stable montrent enfin que la structure trophique de la communauté benthique de l’estuaire du Mondego est affectée différemment par chacun des évènements particuliers étudiés. / This dissertation examines the estuarine food web related to the eelgrass Zostera noltii and quantifies the ecological trophic role of benthic macrofauna consumers, in intertidal areas of the Mondego estuary, covering different time periods from 1993 to 2008. It specifically focuses (i) on the incorporation of the nitrogen derived from human activities, considering the N uptake as an eutrophication index, and (ii) on the role of the eelgrass in the benthic food web. In addition, six mass-balanced models were developed to assess the effects of (i) a period of nutrient enrichment, (ii) the implementation of mitigation measures, and (iii) a centenary flood, on the benthic estuarine food web properties.

Syfte Syftet med studien var dels att kartlägga stillasittandet hos högskoleanställda lärare under arbetsdagen. Vidare syftade studien till att undersöka faktorer som bidrog till att vara stillasittande. Metod I studien användes en blandad metodansats. Datainsamling genomfördes via 4 enskilda intervjuer samt en enkät med 49 lärare på Högskolan Dalarna. Resultat Medelvärdet för deltagarnas tid i stillasittande per arbetsdag var 6,62 (±1,97) timmar och antal avbrott i stillasittandet var i genomsnitt 1,6 (±0,89) per timme. Det fanns ingen statistiskt signifikant skillnad i stillasittande tid ( p= 0,22) eller antal avbrott i stillasittandet (p= 0,21) under arbetsdagen mellan kvinnor och män. Relationsvärdet (r= -0,34) indikerade att det fanns ett svagt samband som visade att deltagare som var mer stillasittande också gjorde färre avbrott i sitt stillasittande. Den främsta anledning som angavs till att sitta ner var att stillasittandet förbättrade koncentrationsförmågan vid arbetsuppgifter som krävde mycket fokus. Andra framträdande faktorer som påverkade ett intagande av stillasittande var tidspress och hög arbetsbelastning. Individen själv uppgavs vara det största hindret för att minska sitt eget stillasittande, där det invanda beteendet att sitta vid vissa arbetsmoment hade stor påverkan. Deltagarnas kunskap kring stillasittandets konsekvenser var bristfällig och det var inte heller ett samtalsämne som diskuterades i större utsträckning på arbetsplatsen. Slutsatser Högskoleanställda lärare är en riskgrupp för stillasittandets negativa hälsoeffekter. Engagemang och ökad kunskap på individ-, interpersonell- och organisationsnivå krävs för att uppnå förändringar i det stillasittande beteendet. / Purpose The purpose of the study was to map the sedentary behavior of college-faculty teachers during the working day. Furthermore, the study aimed at investigating factors that contributed to being sedentary. Method The study used a mixed method approach. Data collection was conducted through 4 individual interviews and a questionnaire with 49 teachers at Högskolan Dalarna. Results The average of the participants' sedentary time per working day was 6,62 (±1.97) hours. The number of interruptions from being sedentary was in average 1,6 (±0.89) per hour. There was no statistically significant difference in sedentary time (p= 0,22) or number of interruptions (p= 0,21) during the working day between men and women. Relationship value (r= -0,34) indicated that there was a weak relationship that showed that participants who were more sedentary also made fewer interruptions in their sitting time. The main reason for being sedentary was that sitting improved the ability to concentrate on tasks requiring a lot of focus. Other prominent factors that affected the intake of sedentary behavior were time pressure and high workload. The individual himself was said to be the biggest obstacle to reducing his own sedentary behavior, where the habitual behavior of sitting when doing certain tasks in the workplace had a major impact. Participants' knowledge of sedentary behavior and consequences was inadequate, and it was not a discussion topic that was discussed in greater detail at the workplace. Conclusions Higher education teachers are a risk group for negative health effects caused by sedentary behavior. Engagement and increased knowledge at individual, interpersonal and organizational levels are required to achieve changes in sedentary behavior.

Active school transport (AST; e.g. the use of non-motorized modes such as walking and cycling to travel to/from school) is an inexpensive, accessible and environmentally-friendly source of physical activity (PA). This dissertation addresses two overarching objectives: 1) to measure the relationships of AST with PA and health-related outcomes; and 2) to examine the correlates of AST immediately before and after the transition from primary to secondary school (the “school transition”). First, a systematic review revealed increasing evidence showing that AST is associated with greater daily PA levels, and that cycling to/from school is associated with higher cardiovascular fitness. Cycling for transportation (not only for school trips) was also associated with lower values for total cholesterol and total cholesterol/HDL cholesterol ratio in the nationally-representative 2007-2009 Canadian Health Measures Survey. Moreover, the present dissertation provides preliminary evidence suggesting that AST may help attenuate the decline in PA across the school transition. However, the relationship between AST and body composition indicators remains unclear. With respect to the correlates of AST, distance was the strongest barrier to AST at both time points, but several road safety concerns, and the perception of having too much stuff to carry were also associated with engagement in motorized travel. At follow-up, AST was more common in children whose parents owned less than 2 cars. In contrast, children were more likely to engage in AST if their parents reported that they chose to live in their current neighbourhood so that their children could walk or bike to school. The associations of neighbourhood walkability (as measured with the Walk Score® application) with AST and PA were generally stronger after the school transition. While AST may improve health among children and youth, an ecological approach targeting multiple levels of influence will likely be needed to alleviate current barriers to AST.

Divorce is a potentially destructive reality in society. According to the bio-ecological model of Bronfenbrenner, the development of the child takes place within two micro family systems when a family is reconstituted following divorce: the primary micro family system, where the child resides permanently with his/her biological parent who has parental rights and responsibilities, as well as the secondary micro family system of the other biological parent who also has parental rights and responsibilities, where the child visits periodically. Challenges that the child faces in the context of the reconstituted family thus include shared membership of the two micro family systems and the complexity of the mesosystem. Resilience can be defined as a process of the inborn ability to achieve positive outcomes and to adjust successfully despite challenges and adverse living conditions. The purpose of the study was twofold: firstly, to achieve understanding of the way in which middle-adolescents of divorced parents, in moving between the two micro family systems of their reconstituted families, utilise their resilience to develop optimally in spite of a probably dysfunctional relationship between their biological parents at the mesosystemic level and secondly, to contribute to the fields of knowledge on resilience and bio-ecological theory in order to enhance educational psychology praxis with regard to the adaptation of adolescents of divorced parents in reconstituted families. The study was qualitative, and conducted in the interpretive paradigm. A multiple case study with a purposeful sampling of four participants was used. Unstructured narrative conversations were conducted, which included a resilience-based therapeutic intervention to facilitate sensitisation regarding personal strengths and assets in accordance with the assetbased approach. The format of the data description and analysis was defined by the narrative way of working. The participants’ utilisation of resilience qualities was evaluated in accordance with a definition of resilience which had been newly constructed by means of a synthesis of the bio-ecological model, positive psychology and the focuses of the first three waves of resilience research. The findings of the study indicated that the way in which middle-adolescents utilise their resilience depends on a therapeutic process (a personal, controlled process) as well as the nature of the mesosystem in their developmental context (a factor that can only be controlled by the divorced biological parents). In respect of a therapeutic process, the utilisation of the middle-adolescents’ resilience depends on their emotional security to make conscious choices to mobilise their resilience and consequently change their behaviour in order to cope effectively with difficult family circumstances in both their micro-family systems. In respect of the nature of the mesosystem, the utilisation of the middle-adolescents’ resilience depends on the effectiveness of the relationship between their divorced biological parents at the mesosystemic level. The utilisation of resilience per se is apparently dependent on some consistent systemic foundation in the developmental context of the child, which is, in the case of divorce, the mesosystem. / Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2011. / Educational Psychology / unrestricted

Vi har valt att titta på den fysiska aktivitet som räknas till den friskvård som arbetsplatsen erbjuder. Det handlar om att hjälpa sina medarbetare till en god personlig hälsa, samtidigt som arbetsgivaren själv vinner på hälsosamma medarbetare. Studiens hälsopedagogiska idé innebar att belysa vad som möjliggör till fysisk aktivitet och hur arbetsplatsen kan bidra till personlig utveckling gällande den fysiska hälsan. Syftet med studien var att belysa hur medarbetare och arbetsgivare beskriver aspekter som påverkar möjligheten till att utföra fysisk aktivitet i arbetsgivarens regi. För att analysera och tolka studien har vi använt oss av en teori och ett perspektiv, Bronfenbrenners utvecklingsekologiska modell och ett salutogent perspektiv. Studien utgick från en kvalitativ ansats där enskilda intervjuer använts som datainsamlingsmetod. Urvalet bestod av åtta respondenter varav fyra var arbetsgivare och fyra var medarbetare. Studien kunde av resultatet konstatera att det är viktigt för arbetsgivaren att involvera medarbetarna i det utbud som erbjuds för att så många som möjligt ska nyttja friskvården på företaget. Det är även viktigt för arbetsgivaren att ta tillvara på den sociala tillhörigheten som uttalats vara en stor motiverande faktor och bibehålla denne som en positiv aspekt i medarbetarnas vardag. / In this study, we have chosen to look at the physical activity that counts as the wellness that the workplace offers. It is about helping your employees to good personal health, at the same time as the employer itself benefits from healthy employees. The study's health pedagogical idea meant to shed light on what enables physical activity and how the workplace can contribute to personal development regarding physical health. The purpose of the study was to shed light on how employees and employers describe aspects that affect the possibility of performing physical activity under the auspices of the employer. To analyze and interpret the study, we have used a theory and a perspective, Bronfenbrenner's developmental ecological model and a salutogenic perspective. The study was based on a qualitative approach where individual interviews were used as a data collection method. The sample consisted of eight respondents, four of whom were employers and four were employees. The study was able to establish from the results that it is important for the employer to involve the employees in the range offered so that as many as possible will use the wellness at the company. It is also important for the employer to take advantage of the social affiliation that has been stated to be a major motivating factor and maintain it as a positive aspect in the employees' everyday lives.

Övervikt och fetma är ett växande problem i samhället. Med hjälp av fysiskaktivitet kan man arbeta för att förhindra detta. Förskolan är en viktig del iarbetet, eftersom en stor del av alla barn mellan 1-5 år är inskrivna i förskolanoch spenderar mycket av sin vakna tid där. Forskning visar att det råder delademeningar om hur upplevelsen av att bo och växa upp på landsbygden ser ut.Syftet med den här studien är att utifrån ett utvecklingsekologiskt perspektivstudera hur verksamma förskollärare på landsbygden beskriver hur arbetet medfysisk aktivitet formas. Kvalitativa intervjuer med förskollärare verksamma pålandsbygden har genomförts för att försöka svara på syftet och frågeställningen. Resultatet i studien presenterar utifrån de olika nivåerna i den utvecklingsekologiska modellen informanternas svar. Dessa visar att för att kunnaskapa förståelse för hur olika instanser i samhället samverkar för barnet sombefinner sig i mitten av modellen. Slutsatsen av studien visar att utifrån Bronfenbrenners modell formas platsen, barnens närmiljö, genom olika nivåer isamhället. De nivåer som presenterats i studien visar på hur viktig interaktionen mellan dessa är för att förstå och kunna skapa förutsättningar för barn iförskolan att utvecklas inom fysisk aktivitet. / Overweight and obesity are a growing problem in society. With the help ofphysical activity, one can work to prevent this. Preschool is an important partof the work, as a large proportion of all children between 1-5 years old areenrolled in preschool and spend much of their waking time there. Researchshows that there are divided opinions about what the experience of living andgrowing up in rural areas looks like. The purpose of this study is to studyfrom a developmental ecological perspective how active preschool teachersin rural areas describe how work with physical activity is formed. Qualitativeinterviews with preschool teachers working in rural areas have been conducted to try to answer the purpose and the question. The results of the studypresent the respondents' responses based on the different levels of the developmental ecological model. These show that in order to create an understanding of how different instances in society interact for the child who is in themiddle of the model. The conclusion of this study shows that based on Bronfenbrenner's model the place, the children's local environment, is formedthrough different levels of society. The different levels presented in this studyshows how important the interaction between these are. By understandingand being able to create the conditions for children in preschool to develop inphysical activity.

No description available.

Sustainable and equitable fisheries are central for addressing the challenges of the UN Sustainable Development Goal 14: Life Below Water. International trade, once presented by Walrasian economists as a panacea for fisheries development, has not markedly decreased poverty and has been related to the overexploitation of marine species. In this light the consequences of a continued expansion of seafood trade are highly uncertain and problematic. Two competing theoretical hypotheses predict either overexploitation or recovery of marine species when connected to international trade, respectively. The empirical literature finds trade relationships and connections of local fisheries to a large-volume market critical factors for social-ecological outcomes. Here, I combine these insights to show that multi-level links, between fishers & different markets (market manuscript) and marine species & trade relationships (squid manuscript), are critical to explain diverging social-ecological outcomes. In the market manuscript we model the transition from local, to multi-level (both local and global), to global markets in a two species fishery. We find this transition is non-linear, leading to fluctuations in species abundance as a result of abrupt switches between target species. Critical fluctuations of species abundance driven by new market connections are a result of large shifts in prices for one species and high asymmetries in expected income between the two species. The squid manuscript provides empirical and modeling evidence that cyclical changes in the ocean can drive social-ecological systems outcomes through changing interactions at multiple levels. The interactions between squid population and fishers and squid distribution and trading structures determines benefit distributions in the fishery. The lack of consideration of multi-level interactions related to trade in models for fisheries management is likely associated with a lack of processes for integrating the empirical and theoretical insights of two disciplines at the core of fisheries science. Social-ecological system scholars study more often empirical and fishery economics the theoretical aspects of interactions between trade and fisheries. One process suggested in this thesis to bridge insights from both disciplines in fishery models is the careful study of the important interactions in the empirical case. Comparison of these interactions with observed empirical interactions in other systems informs the model conceptualization that is then embedded in a theoretical framework. This leads to the development of models of intermediate complexity  that integrate insights on regular structures and patterns observed in real social-ecological systems. The squid manuscript exemplifies this integration. We integrate observed multi-level links in a standard fishery model between the squid population fishers and traders, and thus better represent the empirical system.  A continuous dialogue between empirics and theorycan help build models of intermediate complexity. To capture the complex elements of these social-ecological systems, in this young field of study, next to a continuous dialogue priority observed empirical dynamics can help question theoretical assumptions. This study seeks to contribute to the development of fisheries management models more suitable to face contemporary challenges of fisheries management by focusing on how multi-level interactions between fisheries and trade shape sustainable and equitable outcomes.