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Background/Aims: Understanding predictors, moderators and mediators of child externalising behaviour problems could lead to improvements in engagement and outcomes for children and their families. Parental cognitions, including self-efficacy and attributions, have been proposed as mediators in the relationship between parenting and child behaviour problems. Although mediation is increasingly recognised as an effective way of examining relationships between variables, only a small proportion of studies that identify potential mediators actually conduct a mediation analysis. This thesis consists of two studies: a systematic review (Journal Article 1) and an empirical study (Journal Article 2). The systematic review investigated the ways in which mediation analysis has been used to examine the role of parental cognitions in studies of child behavioural problems, and to assess the methodological quality of these studies. The empirical study investigated the role of parental cognitions and characteristics in relation to pre-school child externalising behaviour problems. Methods: In Journal Article 1, a systematic search of three electronic databases, a quality assessment of included studies, and a subsequent narrative synthesis were conducted. In Journal Article 2, 125 parents of children aged 3-6 years old attending a community-based parent management training programme, across three local authorities, completed a battery of self-report questionnaires before and after the intervention. Correlational and mediation analyses were conducted to investigate relationships between child behaviour and parental attachment style, metacognition, dysfunctional attributions and parental stress. We also tested the possibility that parents' reported levels of stress and child behaviour problems, and their demographic variables, played a role in whether they completed the intervention. Results: In Journal Article 1, after screening, 14 studies were reviewed using an adapted quality criteria tool. The most commonly studied parental cognition was parental self-efficacy, with a small number of studies investigating parental attributions. A variety of approaches to mediation analysis had been used and caution should be exercised when interpreting the results of many of the reviewed studies. Despite a growing recognition of the limitations of some traditional methods (e.g. causal steps approach), research into mediators of child externalising behaviour could be improved by a wider adoption of more appropriate tools, in line appropriate theoretical frameworks. In Journal Article 2, as hypothesised, the results indicated significant relationships between parents' attachment insecurity and baseline levels of parental stress, parental attributions and child behaviour problems. Support was found for the hypothesis that parental attributions mediated the relationship between attachment insecurity and child externalising behaviour problems. We did not find significant that any demographic variables other than parent age predicted whether parents completed the programme. Conclusions: Taken together, the two studies provide evidence of a complex relationship between parental factors, particularly parental cognitions, and externalising child behaviour problems. The systematic review found some evidence that parental cognitions mediate how aspects of parenting (e.g. behaviour and affect) and child externalising behaviour problems are associated, and the empirical study also showed that parental attributions are important in relation to child behaviour problems. Of particular interest was the finding that they mediate the relationship between child behaviour problems and attachment insecurity. However, to advance the field both theoretically and clinically, future studies should endeavour to ensure adequate sample size and power, using optimal study designs, in conjunction with strong theoretical grounding. Exploring cognitive mediators beyond self-efficacy, such as parental attributions, will allow us to further develop our understanding of the relationship between child behaviour and parenting.

No mundo atual, é crescente a convicção de que a educação precisa ser reformulada de forma a priorizar, não somente o aprendizado acadêmico, mas também o desenvolvimento das competências socioemocionais. Tais competências são tão necessárias quanto as cognitivas para a promoção do bem estar individual e o progresso social: podem ampliar a capacidade de relacionamento interpessoal, a inteligência emocional e promover o atingimento de objetivos, entre outros, constituindo uma ferramenta importante a ser considerada pelos governos com vistas à diminuição das lacunas entre resultados educacionais, econômicos e sociais. O presente trabalho busca contribuir para a evolução do conhecimento científico sobre as competências não cognitivas e das práticas educacionais que contribuem para sua formação por meio da análise do contexto escolar da religiosidade, cuja influência positiva sobre o desenvolvimento juvenil tem atraído a atenção crescente de pesquisadores (YONKER et al., 2012). O estudo é dividido em duas partes: a primeira investiga as associações entre a religiosidade na escola e o desenvolvimento socioemocional, sobretudo de acordo com a vulnerabilidade de alunos em termos socioeconômicos e familiares, e a segunda verifica se os atributos socioemocionais exercem papel de mediação nos efeitos deste contexto escolar sobre o desempenho acadêmico. Foram utilizados dados de uma pesquisa com 23.133 alunos da rede pública do Rio de Janeiro, da Prova Brasil, Censo Escolar e SAERJINHO. Mediante estimações de mínimos quadrados ordinários, foram encontrados efeitos positivos da religiosidade, sobretudo sobre o lócus de controle interno, abertura a experiências, autoconfiança e reflexão. Alunos com baixa escolaridade materna apresentam maiores benefícios: aumentos na conscienciosidade, extroversão e autoestima, além dos demais atributos citados. Por outro lado, análises realizadas por meio do Sobel Test e Bootstraping apontam para uma mediação exercida por parte de algumas habilidades sobre as notas de português e matemática, concretamente a abertura a experiências, lócus de controle, autoconfiança, autoestima e curiosidade. / There is a growing conviction today that education must be reformulated to prioritize not only academic learning but also the development of socioemotional skills. These competencies are as necessary as cognitive skills to promote individual well-being and social progress: they can intensify the ability to develop interpersonal relationships and emotional intelligence, and help people achieve their goals. These skills therefore represent a powerful tool to be considered by governments aiming to reduce the divide between educational, economic and social results. This study seeks to contribute to the advancement of scientific knowledge on non-cognitive skills and to educational practices that contribute to their development, based on an analysis of the school context of religiosity, whose positive influence on youth development has attracted increasing attention of researchers (YONKER et al., 2012). The study is divided into two parts: the first investigates the associations between religiosity in school and socioemotional development, above all from the standpoint of the vulnerability of students in socioeconomic and family terms, while the second part examines whether socioemotional attributes play a mediating role in the effects of this school context on academic performance. Data from a survey involving 23,133 students of the public school system in Rio de Janeiro were used, taken from the Prova Brasil, Censo Escolar and SAERJINHO. Based on ordinary least squares estimates, religiosity was found to have positive effects, particularly on the internal locus of control, openness to experience, selfconfidence and reflection. Students with low maternal education presented greater benefits: increases in conscientiousness, extroversion and self-esteem, in addition to the other cited attributes. On the other hand, Sobel Test and Bootstrapping analyses point to mediation exercised by some skills on academic grades in Portuguese and mathematics, namely openness to experience, locus of control, self-confidence, self-esteem and curiosity.

Cette thèse visait à contribuer aux connaissances sur les différenciations sociales des comportements de santé en France et à une meilleure compréhension des mécanismes sous-jacents à ces différenciations. Nous nous sommes plus particulièrement intéressés au rôle de certains facteurs sociocognitifs (perceptions, croyances…) inspirés de théories issues de la sociologie du risque et de la déviance. En utilisant les données des enquêtes Baromètre cancer 2010 et Baromètre santé 2016, nos travaux ont porté sur des comportements relatifs à la prévention primaire de certains cancers (consommation d’alcool et protection solaire) et des maladies infectieuses (vaccinations infantiles). Un faible statut socio-économique était associé à une relativisation accrue du risque de cancer lié à la consommation d’alcool et à des connaissances et croyances vis-à-vis du risque solaire plus éloignées du « savoir expert ». Ces derniers facteurs expliquaient en partie la moindre utilisation des moyens de protection solaire chez les personnes ayant un faible statut socio-économique. Dans le domaine de la vaccination, nous avons constaté une prévalence plus élevée de l’hésitation vaccinale chez les parents ayant un niveau de diplôme supérieur ou égal au baccalauréat. Cette association s’expliquait en partie par le fait que les parents diplômés avaient un moindre niveau de confiance dans les autorités et la médecine conventionnelle et un degré d’implication dans les décisions de santé accru. Ces résultats fournissent des pistes pour conduire des actions de promotion de la santé tenant compte du contexte social dans lequel sont inscrits les comportements des individus, plus efficaces et équitables. / This thesis aimed to contribute to current scientific knowledge about the social differentiation of health behaviours in France and to a better understanding of the mechanisms underlying this differentiation. We focused on the role of specific sociocognitive factors (perceptions and beliefs) based on theories derived from the sociology of risk and the sociology of deviance. This work used data from the 2010 Baromètre cancer survey and the 2016 Baromètre santé survey to examine health behaviours related to primary prevention of some cancers (alcohol consumption and sun protection) and infectious diseases (childhood vaccinations). People of low socioeconomic status were more prone to relativize the alcohol-related risks of cancer and to have substantially less knowledge about sun health and more “false beliefs” about sun protection than people of high socioeconomic status. This knowledge and these false beliefs were significant mediators of the positive association between socioeconomic status and sun-protection behaviours. In the field of vaccination, we found a higher prevalence of vaccine hesitancy among parents who had at least passed the “bac”. This association was partly explained by their lower level of trust in health authorities and mainstream medicine than among the least educated group and by their greater commitment to making “good” health-related decisions. From a public health perspective, these results furnish avenues for designing health promotion interventions that take into account the social context in which people’s health behaviours are embedded to improve both effectiveness and equity.

Early life factors play important roles in disease susceptibility in later life. However, the relationship between dietary factors in early life on childhood growth, especially linear growth, remains unclear. This research aimed to improve our understanding of the associations between dietary factors in early life (i.e., infant feeding practices and age of introduction of solid foods) and childhood growth, especially using ulnar length as a surrogate measure of length/height, in a cross-sectional study of 1634 mother-child dyads across eight study centers in the National Children's Study Formative Research in Anthropometry in the United States from 2011-2012 (Chapter 1). Chapter 2 described the data acquisition and preprocessing procedures used in this research and provide practical guidelines of data quality control. In Chapter 3, predictive models for exclusive breastfeeding (XBR) initiation and duration was developed. Discriminant analysis revealed maternal sociodemographic factors had greater discriminating abilities to predict XBR initiation and XBR for 6 months, compared to child birth characteristics and maternal perinatal factors. Chapter 4 demonstrated that ulnar length can serve as an accurate and reliable surrogate measure of recumbent length in healthy infants/children aged 0-1.9 years and of height in healthy children aged 2-5.9 years, respectively. Bland-Altman plots and mixed-effects linear regression analyses showed that the three simple and portable tools (i.e., caliper, ruler, and grid) used to measure ulnar length could be used interchangeably in terms of prediction accuracy. Chapter 5 focused on assessing the interplay among gestational weight gain (GWG), birthweight, infant feeding practices, and childhood anthropometrics. Longer duration of breastfeeding reduced the positive associations of GWG and birthweight with weight-for-age z-scores, weight-for-height/length z-scores, and body mass index-for age z-scores in non-Hispanic Whites. These findings underscore the importance of promoting breastfeeding among women with excessive GWG to mitigate childhood obesity. Longer breastfeeding and a later age at introduction of solid foods had positive effects on ulnar length, a linear growth parameter of upper extremity, in Hispanics. Future prospective research aiming to investigate the underlying mechanisms that drive ethnic variation in these associations between early life dietary factors and childhood growth is warranted (Chapter 6). / text

Affirmative action policies have been a popular topic in U.S. media since their inception in the Civil Rights Act 1964. Previous studies note that race, gender, and political identity are known influencers of support for affirmative action policies; however, this dissertation analyzes the mediating effects of perceived experiences of discrimination in the workplace on a person's level of support for the preferential hiring and promotion of Black Americans based on the intersection of the race, gender, and political identity. Through social dominance theory (SDT), this dissertation highlights the motivations people may have in support or opposition of affirmative action, especially for Black Americans. Due to the historical lineage of African Americans in the U.S., stereotypes about Black people's work ethic have continued to be mostly negative-which inform hiring, promotion, and admission procedures today. Using the General Social Survey (GSS) to conduct regression and mediation analysis, this dissertation found significant support for mediation of perceived experiences to increase support for affirmative action among white females, and Black people regardless of gender or political identity. While race and gender discrimination were thought to be the most influencing forms of discrimination experienced, age discrimination showed to transcend racial, gender, and political barriers. Accordingly, appealing to experiences of age discrimination may be a helpful approach to closing the implementation gap of those who voice support for equality yet constantly vote in support of inequality.

The upward trend in the prevalence of childhood mental disorders observed in the UK over the previous two decades, together with UK’s poor performance in recent international comparisons of child well-being, has brought childhood social and emotional well-being (SEW) to the forefront of policy. Key to tackling this issue is to understand what causes SEW in childhood, what interventions are successful in improving it, and what are its late-life consequences. This thesis furthers the literature in each of these areas. Firstly, we examine whether foetal (or in-utero) exposure to influenza hampers the development of childhood SEW. To do so, we examine the use of an instrumental variables approach, whereby the severity of the 1957 Asian Flu epidemic in the local authority of birth is used as an instrument for whether mothers self-report contracting influenza during pregnancy. We establish that exposure has little effect on childhood SEW, but that it results in a 60% increase in the risk of being stillborn, suggesting an increasing focus on influenza vaccination during pregnancy is needed. Secondly, we investigate the long-term effectiveness of school-based interventions to improve SEW. In order to overcome the absence of long follow-up in trial datasets, we develop a new modelling approach which involves the matching of trial participants to individuals in birth cohort datasets. An application of this method found that a Promoting Alternative Thinking Strategies (PATHS) intervention implemented in Greater Manchester schools led to a statistically significant improvement in childhood SEW, and had a positive, although statistically insignificant, effect on health across the life-course. Finally, we address the paucity of studies examining the effects of childhood SEW on late-life health and labour market outcomes. To do so, we develop a method for generating predictions of the effects of childhood characteristics beyond the currently available follow-up periods in birth cohort datasets, adapting an existing mediation analysis framework. Applying this method, we establish that a one-standard deviation improvement in childhood SEW leads to an increase of up to 0.18 accumulated quality-adjusted-life-years in late-life, and an increase in pre-tax labour income in late-life of up to £23,850. Both of these effects are primarily driven by large positive effects of childhood SEW on educational attainment, employment, income and health in mid-life. Childhood SEW is a predictor of important outcomes throughout the lifecourse. More research is needed to identify its causes and interventions to successfully improve it.

No mundo atual, é crescente a convicção de que a educação precisa ser reformulada de forma a priorizar, não somente o aprendizado acadêmico, mas também o desenvolvimento das competências socioemocionais. Tais competências são tão necessárias quanto as cognitivas para a promoção do bem estar individual e o progresso social: podem ampliar a capacidade de relacionamento interpessoal, a inteligência emocional e promover o atingimento de objetivos, entre outros, constituindo uma ferramenta importante a ser considerada pelos governos com vistas à diminuição das lacunas entre resultados educacionais, econômicos e sociais. O presente trabalho busca contribuir para a evolução do conhecimento científico sobre as competências não cognitivas e das práticas educacionais que contribuem para sua formação por meio da análise do contexto escolar da religiosidade, cuja influência positiva sobre o desenvolvimento juvenil tem atraído a atenção crescente de pesquisadores (YONKER et al., 2012). O estudo é dividido em duas partes: a primeira investiga as associações entre a religiosidade na escola e o desenvolvimento socioemocional, sobretudo de acordo com a vulnerabilidade de alunos em termos socioeconômicos e familiares, e a segunda verifica se os atributos socioemocionais exercem papel de mediação nos efeitos deste contexto escolar sobre o desempenho acadêmico. Foram utilizados dados de uma pesquisa com 23.133 alunos da rede pública do Rio de Janeiro, da Prova Brasil, Censo Escolar e SAERJINHO. Mediante estimações de mínimos quadrados ordinários, foram encontrados efeitos positivos da religiosidade, sobretudo sobre o lócus de controle interno, abertura a experiências, autoconfiança e reflexão. Alunos com baixa escolaridade materna apresentam maiores benefícios: aumentos na conscienciosidade, extroversão e autoestima, além dos demais atributos citados. Por outro lado, análises realizadas por meio do Sobel Test e Bootstraping apontam para uma mediação exercida por parte de algumas habilidades sobre as notas de português e matemática, concretamente a abertura a experiências, lócus de controle, autoconfiança, autoestima e curiosidade. / There is a growing conviction today that education must be reformulated to prioritize not only academic learning but also the development of socioemotional skills. These competencies are as necessary as cognitive skills to promote individual well-being and social progress: they can intensify the ability to develop interpersonal relationships and emotional intelligence, and help people achieve their goals. These skills therefore represent a powerful tool to be considered by governments aiming to reduce the divide between educational, economic and social results. This study seeks to contribute to the advancement of scientific knowledge on non-cognitive skills and to educational practices that contribute to their development, based on an analysis of the school context of religiosity, whose positive influence on youth development has attracted increasing attention of researchers (YONKER et al., 2012). The study is divided into two parts: the first investigates the associations between religiosity in school and socioemotional development, above all from the standpoint of the vulnerability of students in socioeconomic and family terms, while the second part examines whether socioemotional attributes play a mediating role in the effects of this school context on academic performance. Data from a survey involving 23,133 students of the public school system in Rio de Janeiro were used, taken from the Prova Brasil, Censo Escolar and SAERJINHO. Based on ordinary least squares estimates, religiosity was found to have positive effects, particularly on the internal locus of control, openness to experience, selfconfidence and reflection. Students with low maternal education presented greater benefits: increases in conscientiousness, extroversion and self-esteem, in addition to the other cited attributes. On the other hand, Sobel Test and Bootstrapping analyses point to mediation exercised by some skills on academic grades in Portuguese and mathematics, namely openness to experience, locus of control, self-confidence, self-esteem and curiosity.

Syftet med föreliggande studie var att genom medieringsanalyser pröva delar av Birrer, Morgan och Röthlin’s (2012) modell, detta genom att vid tre mättillfällen undersöka samband mellan dispositionell mindfulness, emotionsreglering, ältande samt coping. Som underlag för studien användes en enkät som sammanlagt 168 deltagare, varav 107 män och 61 kvinnor besvarade. Medelåldern på deltagarna var 17,73 år (SD=2,16). Resultatet av medieringsanalyserna visade att dispositionell mindfulness hade en signifikant indirekt effekt på coping genom emotionsreglering. Däremot visade resultatet ingen signifikant indirekt effekt mellan dispositionell mindfulness och coping genom mindre ältande. Utifrån föreliggande studiens resultat kan det föreslås att Birrer et al.’s (2012) modell inte är fullständigt funktionell. Föreliggande studie föreslår att emotionsreglering är en medierande variabel i sambandet mellan dispositionell mindfulness och coping bland idrottare. Idrottare med en hög nivå av dispositionell mindfulness kan genom emotionsreglering ha en bättre copingförmåga. Dispositionell mindfulness skapar därmed goda förutsättningar för idrottaren att kunna hantera stress i en idrottskontext. / The purpose of this study was to test parts of the model by Birrer, Morgan and Röthlin (2012) at three separate occasions, and through mediation analyses examine the relationship between trait mindfulness, emotion regulation, rumination and coping. As the basis of the study a survey was used in which 168 participants, 107 men and 61 women, answered. The average age of the participants was 17,73 years (SD=2,16). The result of the mediation analyses showed that trait mindfulness had a significant indirect effect on coping via emotion regulation. However the result did not show a significant indirect effect between trait mindfulness and coping via less rumination. From the result of this study it is suggested that Birrer et al.‘s (2012) model is not entirely functional. This study suggests that emotion regulation is a mediating variable in the relationship between trait mindfulness and coping within athletes. Athletes that have a high level of trait mindfulness can through emotion regulation also have a better coping ability. Trait mindfulness therefore creates good opportunities for the athlete to be able to handle stress in a sport context.

Research suggests that there are now two distinct approaches to Emotional Intelligence (EI): ability and trait. To date, however, the literature indicates that the construct remains poorly defined and not always adequately measured. Focusing on trait EI, the current thesis identifies a number of research questions that centre on what it is that defines EI in relation to existing definitions and other constructs, namely, happiness, self-esteem, mood and personality. Moreover, a programme of empirical study investigates whether a training intervention can enhance levels of EI and thus contribute to the emerging applied field of enquiry. This has been achieved through the employment of a series of studies. The initial study used the Repertory Grid Technique (RGT) and Principal Component Analysis (PCA) to generate a definition of EI, which directed this thesis towards alignment with the trait approach. The second study aimed to identify correlations and explore possible predictor variables through the application of Pearson’s r and Hierarchical Regression analysis. Moreover, a Mediation and Moderation analysis investigated whether EI has a mediating or moderating role when combined with other predictors. Two further experimental studies examined whether EI could be experimentally enhanced through a programme of relaxation and positive thinking when compared with a control group engaged in a non-demanding reading task. The results of the first study produced a definition of EI that included descriptions of work-related qualities with the second study yielding results of high correlations between EI, happiness and self-esteem, which were also identified as predictor variables. EI was found to act as a mediator and moderator. Analysis of Variance generated results for the first experimental study that showed overall non-significant interactions. To investigate beyond these findings, the second programme showed that the training programme induced positive changes. It was concluded that, overall, the results contribute to a definition beyond existing definitions of EI, demonstrating EI’s strong associations particularly with happiness, self-esteem and, its mediating and moderating role with other predictors. Primarily, the results from the second experimental study demonstrate the potential of EI in the applied field, including education, work and health.