Behaviour changes including apathy, disinhibition, irritability or social skills difficulties are commonly reported in individuals following an acquired brain injury (ABI) or presence of a neurodegenerative condition. In addition, there is evidence that these behaviour changes are related to increased caregiver burden and early nursing home and hospital admissions. Yet, very little is known about possible factors relating to behaviour change in ABI or neurodegeneration. Social cognition difficulties have been proposed as possible predictors of behaviour change in ABI or neurodegeneration. However, the evidence for the existence of a link between behaviour and social cognition remains weak. The aims of the current thesis were twofold; firstly, it aimed to systematically examine the current evidence on the link between social cognition and behaviour change in ABI or neurodegeneration. Secondly, the thesis aimed to assess the relationship between social cognition and behaviour change in the context of relationship quality in a sample of 27 individuals with a diagnosis of Dementia of the Alzheimer Type (DAT) or mixed DAT and vascular dementia and their co-residing partners. A review of the current literature showed a discrepancy in the evidence for an association between behaviour change and social cognition between ABI and neurodegenerative participant samples. The link between social cognition and behaviour changes in ABI, although suggested, was not found in the three included studies. However, this was not the case for neurogenerative samples. Although most of the included studies focused on a particular condition, frontotemporal dementia (FTD), evidence for this link was also present in one study focusing on DAT. Following from this review, the present thesis examined the existence of this association further in individuals with DAT/ mixed dementia. The study used partners’ reports on behaviour and relationship quality and examined their associations with individuals with DAT/mixed dementia’s performance on a social cognition task. Although the DAT/mixed dementia group showed an impaired performance on a social cognition task compared to their partners, there were no significant relationships between reported behaviour changes, relationship quality and social cognition performance in individuals with DAT/mixed dementia. These findings suggest that despite previous literature indicating a link between behaviour change and social cognition in DAT or mixed dementia, this relationship is yet to be fully established in this population and further research is needed to inform current practice and models of behaviour change in neurodegeneration. The present findings are also discussed with regards to implications for clinical practice and adaptations in psychotherapy for people with DAT or mixed dementia and their partners.

Background: While the physical and mental health benefits of regular participation in physical activity (PA) are well-known, accelerometer data indicates up to 68% of adult Canadians are not meeting PA guidelines. Thus promoting PA is a priority. Clearly, regular exercise is an important means to acquire PA for many of the population. Much of the exercise promotion research in this area is conducted under the guide of a social cognitive framework, and does not take into consideration reflexive, sub-conscious processes of behaviour change such as identity. Exercise identity has been linked to increased frequency, duration, and intensity of PA participation. However, there is limited work exploring the antecedents of developing an exercise identity, or ways in which an intervention could target antecedent themes in order to aid in the development of an exercise identity. Objective: The purpose of this research was two-fold. Firstly, in Study 1, I explored the lived PA experience and how experiences in youth relate to exercise identity in adulthood. Secondly, in Study 2, I explored the feasibility of an identity-based intervention, using theory and emergent themes from Study 1 to guide my intervention targets. iv Methods: In Study 1 and Study 2, I recruited male and female participants from the undergraduate population at the University of Victoria. I used mixed methods throughout. Study 1 – I conducted semi-structured interviews to collect data on participants’ PA experiences, using a pragmatic qualitative framework to guide my research process. I was interested in both past and present experiences which may have contributed to the development of participants’ current exercise identities. I used thematic analysis and open coding to determine core themes. Study 2 – I conducted a six week, randomized feasibility trial in order to explore the feasibility of an intervention designed to increase a person’s exercise identity. Participants were randomly assigned to a standard social cognitive intervention group (education materials, goal-setting skills) or an augmented identity formation group (receiving the same information as the standard group in addition to educational and applied strategies for increasing identity). At the conclusion of the study, I conducted exit interviews with members of both groups to get more detailed information about the acceptability and enjoyment of the interventions. Results: Study 1 – I recruited 10 participants with varying exercise identity strengths (4 high, 3 medium, 3 low). Five themes emerged as related to the development of an exercise identity, including skill, enjoyment, variety, extracurricular activity participation, and sport ownership. Passion also emerged as a theme in high and medium identifiers, but not low identifiers. Study 2 – I recruited 20 participants and randomized them to either the standard or augmented intervention group with a 1:1 ratio. The recruitment rate was 26%, retention was 90%, and the mean satisfaction score for the standard intervention group was 2.69 (SD = 0.62), and the augmented intervention group was 2.83 (SD = 0.40). Both the augmented intervention and v standard intervention groups increased their PA levels (η2 = 0.25), and exercise identity levels (η2 = 0.43), however interaction effect sizes were small (η2 ~ 0.02), indicating no greater change in the augmented intervention group compared to standard intervention group. Discussion: Study 1 – The emergent themes both reflect existing literature (social cognitive models, self-definition model, and multi-process action control) in terms of relationship to PA and antecedents to identity development. Recommended future intervention targets include emphasizing enjoyment, focusing on feelings of skill/competence, and increased exposure to a variety of PAs. Additionally, passion as an indicator for an exercise identity may be a goal of future identity-based research. Study 2 – Both control and intervention group participants ranked the study highly in terms of feasibility and acceptability. Intervention group participants felt more connected to the researcher and engaged more with materials, indicating satisfaction with the content covered over and above that of the control group. Both intervention and control groups saw increases in PA levels and exercise identity scores, however the effect sizes for between group differences were low. Based on strong feasibility ratings, a full-scale randomized controlled trial is recommended. / Graduate

Five experiments were conducted to investigate psychological determinants of food preference in five to seven year-old children. The research was informed by: (i) the general literature on human food preference, and (ii) behaviour analytic theory and research, particularly that on rule-governance. Experiment 1, using a between groups design, examined the impact of in vivo peer behaviour on novel food consumption. Children exposed to "positive" peers avidly consuming a target food tended to prefer that food. Conversely, children who observed "negative" peers, rejecting the food, consumed little: it was also shown that these negative effects could be largely overridden by subsequent exposure to positive peers. Experiments 2 to 5 utilised multiple baseline designs to evaluate the effectiveness of a series of multi-component interventions designed to promote consumption of previously refused fruits and vegetables. To maximise ecological validity and long-term maintenance of behaviour change these experiments were conducted in subjects' homes in the context of the evening meal. During Experiment 2 an intervention incorporating video modelling, contingent rewards, and instructions effectively promoted consumption of three named foods. However, little generalisation to the consumption of other foods was evident. In Experiment 3 a similar intervention targeted broader food categories (vegetables and fruit) and this was effective in promoting consumption of up to 12 foods. Maintenance interventions utilising token rewards were effective in promoting long term consumption. During Experiment 4, written instructions and contingent rewards, without video modelling, were relatively effective in promoting fruit, but not vegetable consumption. During Experiment 5, instructions and video modelling, without contingent rewards had a negligible effect on the consumption of either food category. The results demonstrated that, contrary to the widely held belief within the human food preference literature, interventions utilising contingent rewards can be very effective in modifying food preferences. In discussing the results consideration was given to: (i) the role of rulegovernance in ensuring effective reward use; (ii) maintenance and generalisation of behaviour change; and (iii) the outcome measure most appropriate for food preference research.

Objectives: Obesity-related illnesses are a major public health concern. Although doctors are expected to discuss obesity and health-related behaviour change with patients, they report being unprepared by medical education to do this effectively. Healthcare settings provide an opportunity to help patients tackle unhealthy behaviours and make the necessary changes to improve their health and longevity. This programme of research aims to investigate and improve current obesity management education for medical students. It also aims to identify whether the existing evidence-base on behaviour change techniques has been used to inform educational interventions in this area. Five separate studies were conducted in order to investigate obesity management education for medical students, identify challenges and solutions to its integration within medical schools, and then design and test a novel educational intervention in this area. Methods: Two systematic reviews were conducted to investigate relevant educational interventions about obesity management in terms of a) their efficacy and b) their educational content. A qualitative study using semi-structured interviews with medical educators (n = 27) was conducted to explore key challenges to integrating this education into medical schools in Ireland and the UK. The final two studies involved designing and validating a communication tool based upon behaviour change techniques, and subsequently evaluating this within an educational intervention in a before-and-after feasibility study (n = 34 medical students). Results: Findings from the systematic reviews illustrated that educational interventions addressing obesity management for medical students are rare. Robust empirical evaluations are scarce, and on the whole authors report using little behaviour change theory or evidence to inform their interventions. Barriers to integrating obesity management education into medical schools may relate to the diverse and opportunistic manner in which it is currently delivered within medical schools; varied support for its inclusion, and varied medical student engagement in the topic. Taking into account these issues, findings of the feasibility study suggest that it is possible to deliver theory- and evidence-based obesity management education to medical students. This educational intervention was delivered consistently by clinical tutors, it was acceptable and valued by students, and results suggest that participants would go on to discuss obesity management with patients and use desired communication skills within such interactions.Conclusions: The available evidence-base on obesity management educational interventions for medical students is poor. However, it is possible to design and deliver this education within an existing undergraduate medical programme. Further research is required to investigate the efficacy and effectiveness of such an intervention in practice.

No / To provide an insight into the process of patients receiving Health Checks and to determine the extent to which patients were supported to reduce the risks of developing cardiovascular disease through behaviour change. Semi-structured qualitative interviews were undertaken with 45 patients about their initial experiences of undertaking a Health Check. They were followed up 1 year later to assess whether the behavioural changes reported after the Health Check had been maintained. Patients expressed a need for individualized support in order to stay motivated and to adopt long-term diet and lifestyle changes. Those involved in the delivery of the programme need to adopt a consistent approach in terms of explaining the purpose of the Health Check, communicating risk and consider the challenges and the barriers that influence behaviour change. / National Institute for Health Research' Research for Patient Benefit Programme. Grant Number: PB-PG-0609-19169. University of York

Yes / Evidence suggests that children struggle to acquire age-appropriate fundamental movement skills (FMS), despite their importance for facilitating physical activity. This has led to calls for routine school-based screening of children’s FMS. However, there is limited research exploring schools’ capacity to conduct such assessments. This study investigated what factors might affect the adoption and implementation of FMS assessments in primary schools. School staff (n=853) completed an online questionnaire developed using the Capability, Opportunity, Motivation and Behaviour (COM-B) model. A majority reported that knowledge of pupils’ FMS ability would be beneficial (65.3%), and 71.8% would assess FMS if support was provided. Barriers included: Capability – few possessed knowledge of FMS (15%); Opportunity – teachers reported 30-60 minutes as acceptable for assessing a class, a substantially shorter period than current assessments require; Motivation – 57.2% stated FMS assessments would increase workload stress. Solutions to these issues are discussed using the COM-B theoretical framework.

Yes / Evidence suggests that children struggle to acquire age-appropriate fundamental movement skills (FMS), despite their importance for facilitating physical activity. This has led to calls for routine school-based screening of children’s FMS. However, there is limited research exploring schools’ capacity to conduct such assessments. This study investigated what factors might affect the adoption and implementation of FMS assessments in primary schools. School staff (n = 853) completed an online questionnaire developed using the Capability, Opportunity, Motivation and Behavior (COM-B) model. A majority reported that knowledge of pupils’ FMS ability would be beneficial (65.3%), and 71.8% would assess FMS if support was provided. Barriers included: Capability–few possessed knowledge of FMS (15%); Opportunity–teachers reported 30–60 minutes as acceptable for assessing a class, a substantially shorter period than current assessments require; Motivation–57.2% stated FMS assessments would increase workload stress. Solutions to these issues are discussed using the COM-B theoretical framework. / Economic and Social Research Council White Rose Doctoral Training Partnership Pathway Award [ES/P000745/1], ActEarly: a City Collaboratory approach to early promotion of good health and wellbeing funded by the Medical Research Council [MR/S037527/], National Institute for Health Research Yorkshire and Humber ARC [NIHR20016]

Klimatet har på senare tid blivit en av de mest omdiskuterade och viktigaste frågorna i samhället. Om Parisavtalets mål om att hålla den globala temperaturökningen under 2 grader skall lyckas, måste utsläppen av växthusgaser att minska. Det finns ett flertal sätt till att minska växthusgasutsläppen, och ett av sättet är med hjälp av ett minskat matsvinn från hushåll, vilket bland annat är något FN uppmärksammat bland sina 17 hållbarhetsmålet satta till år 2030. I dagsläget slängs en ohållbar mängd mat, och en av anledningarna är av bortglömde matlådor vars innehåll har behövt slängas på grund av att bäst före-datumet passerats. Den här studien kommer att undersöka om det går, med en framtagen intervention designad med utgångspunk i beteendeförädringsramverket The Behaviour Change Wheel, att uppmuntra till ett beteende för ett minskat matsvinn. Interventionen kommer att innefatta ett inläsningssystem för matlådor, vars syfte är att hjälpa dess användare att hålla koll på sina matlådor. Sex deltagare blev rekryterade till studien utifrån en enkät, och fick under en tvåveckorsperiod testa på att använda inläsningssystemet. Resultatet skulle indikera på att inläsningssystemet fungerade som tänkt för vissa av deltagarna, men att den för andra deltagare inte gjorde det. Detta berodde emellertid inte på systemet i sig, utan istället till vilken grad deltagaren hade använt matlådor. / The climate debate has recently become one of the most discussed and important topics. If the Paris Agreement's goal of keeping the increase in global temperature below 2 degrees, the reduction of greenhouse gas emission is vital. There are several ways to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and one of the ways is throughout a reduced food waste. This is also a topic that the UN has taken notice of among its 17 sustainable development goals set by 2030. At present, an unsustainable amount of food is thrown away, and one of the reasons is because of forgotten food boxes whose content has had to be thrown away because the expiration date has passed. This study will investigate if it is possible, with an intervention designed based on The Behavior Change Wheel framework, to encourages a behavior for a reduced food waste. The intervention will consist of a scanning system for food boxes, whose purpose is to help its user to keep track of their food boxes. Six participants were recruited to the study based on a questionnaire and got to test the scanning system for a two-week period. The result would indicate that the system worked as intended for some of the participants, but not for some others. This was not due to the system itself, but instead to what extent the participant had used food boxes.

Yes / Automated tools to speed up the process of evidence synthesis are increasingly apparent within health behaviour research, however, frameworks to evaluate the development and implementation of such tools are not routinely used. This commentary explores the potential of the Non-adoption, Abandonment, Scale-up, Spread and Sustainability framework (NASSS; Greenhalgh et al., 2017) for supporting automated evidence synthesis in health behaviour change by applying it to the ongoing Human Behaviour-Change Project, which aims to revolutionise evidence synthesis within behaviour change intervention research. To increase the relevance of NASSS for health behaviour change, we recommend i) terminology changes (‘condition’ to ‘behaviour’ and ‘patient’ to ‘end user’) and ii) a that it is used prospectively so that complexities can be addressed iteratively. We draw three conclusions about i) the need to specify the organisations that will use the technology, ii) identifying what to do if interdependencies fail and iii) even though we have focused on automated evidence synthesis, NASSS would arguably be beneficial for technology developments in health behaviour change more generally, particularly for invention development (e.g. for a behaviour change app).

Based on a previous empirical study of the effect of a residential demand response program in Sala, Sweden, thisproject investigated the economic consequences of consumer behaviour change after a demand-based time ofuse distribution tariff was employed. The economic consequences of consumers were proven to bedisadvantageous in terms of unit electricity price. Consumers could achieve more electricity bill saving throughstabilising their electricity consumption during peak hours, and this way bring least compromising of theircomfort level.In order to estimate the price elasticity of the studies demand response program, a new method of estimationprice elasticity was proposed. With this method, the intensity of demand response of the demand responseprogram was estimated in terms of price elasticity. Regression analysis was also applied to find out the priceincentives of consumer behaviour change. And the results indicated that the rise in electricity supply chargehardly contributes to load reduction, while the demand-based tariff constituted an advantageous solution on loaddemand management. However stronger demand response still