The current PhD thesis aimed to cross-culturally investigate the effectiveness of gain- and loss-framed physical activity messages among the university students in Turkey and the UK. This study sought to test the impact of the physical activity messages focusing on stress-related effects on physical activity intentions, attitudes and behaviours of the target group. The messages were developed based on the findings of a series of preliminary studies targeting to determine the characteristics and needs of the target groups, and identify the barriers to engage in physical activity. Two quasi-experimental studies were conducted with 309 university students from the two countries (200 participants from Turkey and 109 participants from the UK) to test the effects of framed messages on intentions and attitudes towards physical activity, and physical activity behaviour change in two weeks after message exposure. Results showed that immediate effects of both gain- and loss-framed messages on physical activity intentions and attitudes were significant in Turkey and the UK. However, these effects could not be maintained in the two weeks following the message exposure. Moreover, the loss-framed message led to a message reactance in the UK, and physical activity intensity of the participants in the loss-framed group were significantly decreased compared to their baseline physical activity levels. The present study was the first message framing study comparing Turkey and the UK in terms of the impact of gain- and loss-framed framed physical activity messages. Therefore, this study contributes to the literature through providing evidence on the effects of message framing interventions which are developed and implemented in different cultures. Recommendations for future message framing research include measuring physical activity behaviour through objective methods, and examining the impact of the tailored messages through using different dissemination methods in larger samples.

Postpartum depression is an illness that is frequently unreported and undetected for a variety of reasons and may be potentially devastating for the mother affected as well as her family. Routine screening of postpartum women enables health practitioners to detect symptoms of PPD early and provides an opportunity for early intervention which may improve the outcome and increase the mother’s chances of an earlier recovery. It is therefore important that reliable and convenient screening tools are available to health practitioners who have contact with postpartum women. The primary objective of this research was to make an Afrikaans version of an existing screening scale available – the Postpartum Depression Screening Scale (PDSS), designed specifically to encompass the multifaceted phenomenon of PPD. In accordance with this objective, the validity and reliability of the PDSS and its Afrikaans version was investigated in English- and Afrikaans-speaking South African mothers. A further objective of this study was to compare the performance of the PDSS with the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) and the Quick Inventory of Depressive Symptomatology (QIDS-SR16). Various factors have been reported to be associated with the development of PPD. The final objective of this study was to explore the relationship between known risk factors for PPD and high scores on the PDSS amongst women in South African. A total of 365 South African mothers, between 4 and 16 weeks postpartum participated in this study. English-speaking mothers (n = 187) completed the PDSS, EPDS, QIDS, and a demographic and psychosocial questionnaire, while Afrikaans speaking mothers (n = 178) completed the respective Afrikaans versions of these questionnaires. A multiple translation method – Brislin’s back-translation method and the committee approach – was used to translate the PDSS and the QIDS into Afrikaans. An item response theory (IRT), Rasch analysis, was used to examine dimensionality, item difficulty, differential item functioning, and category functioning of the PDSS and the Afrikaans PDSS. Results reveal excellent person reliability estimates for the Afrikaans PDSS as well as for the PDSS in a South African sample. Both language versions performed reasonably well and the majority of items in the PDSS dimensions and the Afrikaans PDSS dimensions demonstrated fit statistics that supported the underlying constructs of each dimension. Some items were identified as problematic, namely Item 2, Item 25, Item 28, and Item 30. The item person construct maps show reasonably good spread of items. There were, however, persons that scored higher than the items could measure and an overrepresentation of items at the mean level. The Likert response categories proved to be effective for all the Afrikaans PDSS items and almost all the PDSS items. Results indicate that 49.7% of mothers screened positive for major PPD using the PDSS. A further 17.3% of mothers obtained scores indicating the presence of significant symptoms of PPD. Statistically significant correlations were obtained between total scores on the PDSS, the EPDS, and the QIDS-SR16. Stepwise multiple regression analysis identified 11 variables that were significantly associated with a high PDSS total score. These were a history of psychiatric illness, postpartum blues, feeling negative or ambivalent about expecting this baby, fearful of childbirth, infant temperament, antenatal depression in recent pregnancy, lack of support from the baby’s father, concern about health related issues regarding the infant, lack of support from friends, difficulty conceiving, and life stress. / Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2012. / Psychology / unrestricted

Human mate choice is far from random. Assortative mating can be either positive (homogamy), when people prefer and choose partners with self-similar characteristics, or negative (heterogamy, complementarity), when people prefer self-dissimilar partners. Over one hundred years of research, it has been shown that people generally couple based on the principle of homogamy. This thesis seeks to address the following two goals. First, it critically reviews the current state of knowledge in positive assortative mating (in particular, empirical support, factors affecting homogamy, mechanisms of homogamy, relationship and genetic impact of homogamy, and methodological pitfalls of research). This section includes theoretical papers deal with further mechanisms of assortative mating (homogamy, imprinting-like effect, heterogamy, complementarity). Second, the thesis provides further test of assortative mating in 'ideal partners' (preferences) and actual partners, in the context of sex, sexual orientation (heterosexual and non-heterosexual), and population (Brazil and Czech Republic). Results of these studies show that the principle of homogamy is valid irrespective of sex and population. However, they find a stronger tendency for homogamy in actual partners among heterosexuals than in homosexuals, although...

Mgr. Václav Hrnčíř Mobility of individuals and populations in the prehistoric period. Confrontation of archaeological, ethnological and natural scientific methods. Abstract of dissertation thesis This thesis focuses on the use of natural scientific methods and cross-cultural research to study the mobility of individuals and populations in the prehistoric period and confronts these methods with the results of traditional archaeological approaches. In the first part, the advantages and limits of multiple-tooth strontium isotope analysis are critically assessed. Analysis of published strontium data of more than 1,000 individuals across the world reveals a high degree of variability in childhood mobility patterns between different regions and periods. In the second part, the association between post-marital residence and dwelling size is tested using phylogenetic comparative analysis methods and a global sample of 86 pre-industrial societies. The results confirm that large dwellings are associated with matrilocality (whereas smaller with patrilocality) and suggest that average dwelling size can be used as a material proxy for inferring post-marital residence rules in prehistoric societies. The last part of the thesis combines various types of evidence (archaeological, strontium and ethnographic) to determine...

A scoping study of early childhood research in Spanish and Portuguese-speaking countries for improved well-being worldwide through collaboration and knowledge transfer / ABSTRACT BACKGROUND: Research evidence strongly supports the influence of quality nutrition, cognitive stimulation and nurturing care on the extent that a child reaches full development. Reaching developmental milestones results in positive outcomes for individual health and well-being as well as communal stability and prosperity. Interventions to improve early childhood development are not a recent concept; however, the interaction of one early childhood development outcome on others form a complex, often interdependent, relationship. The complexity of a child's development also includes the child's family, home environment, community and national context. The complex and dynamic setting for implementing early childhood interventions requires more than efficiency or knowledge. It requires patience, cultural competency and a compassion to engage and support a child's family, society and nation. Interventions that are effective in multiple cultures or can be scaled up to a regional or global level are rare and usually focus on one aspect of early childhood development (ECD), like protein intake to prevent stunting. Context does matter, and ECD research is dispersed over vastly different political systems and often focused on specific people groups or subcultures. The scope and intensity of ECD research in the world has not been described and is often unknown to English-speaking researchers who are not personally connected by relationship or literacy to other languages and cultures. PURPOSE: The purpose of this scoping study is to answer the research question: "What is being researched related to early childhood development interventions with children six years old and younger in Spanish and Portuguese-speaking countries?” A scoping study of published, peer-reviewed literature on interventions in early childhood development in English, Spanish and Portuguese was performed to understand the concepts in research on early childhood development (ECD). The thesis presents interventions in early childhood development and their usage in Mexico, Central and South America in particular and also in Europe and Africa because of the Spanish and Portuguese languages spoken there. The thesis highlights risk factors, assessment tools and interventions from peer-reviewed research providing a scope of ECD interventions for this world area. SEARCH METHODS
: Databases searched were related to global health, health sciences, nursing and allied health, psychology and education. They were Global Health, Embase, Medline with PubMed e-ahead of print, PsycInfo, CINAHL, ERIC, LILACS and IBECS. The search strategy and data collection was guided by the research question to be thorough and methodical. Exclusion criteria were utilized to screen more than seven hundred articles to retrieve eighty-six articles that included the correct populations, relevant countries, ECD interventions and early childhood outcomes. FINDINGS: Macro and micro-context risk factors in early childhood development were highlighted across the literature. They were lower maternal education, informal maternal employment, larger household size, lower wealth index and rural residence. Findings related to child or home-centered interventions revealed varied but some positive outcomes in national programmes in Mexico, Brazil, Ecuador, Nicaragua, Colombia and Portugal. The research across all countries in literature found positive impact on early childhood development from age-dependent nutrition, higher socio-economic status and education in mothers, stimulating parent-child interactions and nurturing home environment. CONCLUSIONS: 
While a scoping study of ECD provides an overview of the work happening and of the relevant key concepts, the eighty-six included studies can hardly be considered representative of all childhood development interventions being implemented or researched. Some state or national governments and non-government organizations implement early childhood interventions without publishing in a peer-reviewed journal. Many more interventions are not evaluated or monitored. Increased collaboration and networking between researchers and countries is needed. Necessary partnerships between educators, researchers and policy-makers based on national strengths across the globe can facilitate better sharing of knowledge and assessment of appropriate interventions for a population's needs. Further monitoring, evaluation and publishing of interventions in this region of the world is required. M.Sc. Thesis - Brandon James Chapman; McMaster University - Global Health / Thesis / Master of Science (MS) / Development during the earliest years of life includes physical, mental and social development. This thesis is a study on the research for early childhood development in Spanish and Portuguese-speaking countries and describes what is happening with a global health perspective. The thesis discusses how research can impact knowledge and what is done to support and improve development for children, their families and their country.