The primary purpose of this study was to compare the relative effectiveness of two group counseling methods, a self-directed behavior change group and an experiential growth group, for increasing inner-directedness as measured by Shostrom's Personal Orientation Inventory, in college students who were differentiated, on the basis of a pre-treatment measure of inner-directedness, into internals and externals. A second goal was to compare the overall outcome of each method with a no-treatment control group. Pretest-posttest gain scores on the "I" scale of the Personal Orientation Inventory were obtained for a sample of 72 college students. The data collected were used to test five specific hypotheses which were developed from theoretical considerations. For internal subjects, the order of effectiveness of the treatment conditions was as follows (from most to least): Experiential growth group, self-directed behavior group, and a no-treatment control group. In comparison, the two treatment methods produced statistically similar results. This finding indicates that internals may become more inner-directed as a result of exposure to a variety of group-counseling approaches. For external subjects, the order of effectiveness of the treatment conditions was as follows (from most to least): Self-directed behavior group, experiential growth group, and no-treatment control group. In comparison, the two treatment methods produced significantly different results. This finding indicates that externals are more responsive to a cognitive-oriented, structured approach, than to an affective-oriented, less structured, member-centered approach. Group gain score means on a measure of inner-directedness were significantly higher for treated subjects than for control subjects. This finding suggests that group counseling is an effective method for increasing inner-direction in college students.

Obesity and eating disorders are major public health problems in the U.S. Prevention of these problems in childhood and adolescence is crucial to avoid medical complications and costs associated with these conditions. A growing body of research supports designing and implementing interventions to prevent obesity and eating disorders simultaneously by targeting common risk factors such as poor body image. This study explored the use of a body image education unit as a preventive measure for obesity and eating disorders. Ninth-grade students attending health class in a public school in Northern Utah (n = 117) were assigned to either an intervention or control group. At the end of a 3-week nutrition unit, the intervention group received a 3-day intervention designed to promote body image. Participants were surveyed at baseline, immediately following the nutrition unit and intervention, and at a 2-month follow-up. At post-test and follow-up, participants in the intervention group and the control group both self-reported improved body image and dietary practices. Modest improvements were seen in both the intervention and control groups. The intervention group did not have any advantage over the control group. It is recommended that future interventions be of greater intensity and longer duration in order to assess use of body image education to improve body image and dietary constructs. Interventions will have the greatest effect sizes if they target high risk individuals. Universal interventions targeting entire schools and communities are also recommended to help change environmental risk factors and reduce risk in those who may be at high risk but would not be included in a high risk grouping for a targeted intervention.

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) / According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, less than half of all adults in the US meet basic physical activity guidelines. Physical activity can help not just improve physical and mental health but also reduce the risk of heart disease and some cancers. Researchers and companies have tried to investigate the use of modern technologies to motivate people to increase and maintain physical activities. However, in spite of these efforts, there are criticisms. Those include low dietary effectiveness of the tools, lack of sustainable effects in the long-term, and proof of effectiveness only shown in laboratory settings. To overcome these limitations, first, the author developed a framework of overarching motivation theories and HCI factors and contextualized it within the running domain. Second, the author has developed a mobile application called HamkeRun within this framework, using the concepts of information visualization, gamification, and social grouping to increase a user’s motivation to run more frequently. Third, the HamkeRun application was empirically tested through a two-month-long longitudinal experiment and follow-up interviews. The results showed that the single runner type showed significant increases in the levels of their external motivation (motivational effect of the HamkeRun application), internal motivation and satisfaction, while the team runner type showed significant increases only in internal motivation. In addition, motivational effects were also different depending on the runners’ behavior change stage. Runners at the maintenance stage showed significant increases in external motivation, internal motivation, satisfaction, and total number of running activities performed during the study. Although action stage runners showed significant increase in internal motivation, female runners at the action stage showed significant decrease in their external motivation. Gamification greatly influenced increases of external motivation, internal motivation and total number of actual activities. Although both male and female runners showed increased internal motivation, significant increase in external motivation was only found in male runners. The dissertation closes with a series of design guidelines for application developers and designers which may help develop motivational tools in other health-related domains.

京都大学 / 0048 / 新制・課程博士 / 博士(工学) / 甲第20686号 / 工博第4383号 / 新制||工||1681(附属図書館) / 京都大学大学院工学研究科都市社会工学専攻 / (主査)教授 藤井 聡, 准教授 山田 忠史, 准教授 SCHMOECKER Jan-Dirk / 学位規則第4条第1項該当 / Doctor of Philosophy (Engineering) / Kyoto University / DFAM

京都大学 / 0048 / 新制・課程博士 / 博士(工学) / 甲第21086号 / 工博第4450号 / 新制||工||1692(附属図書館) / 京都大学大学院工学研究科都市社会工学専攻 / (主査)教授 藤井 聡, 准教授 SCHMOECKER Jan-Dirk, 教授 宇野 伸宏 / 学位規則第4条第1項該当 / Doctor of Philosophy (Engineering) / Kyoto University / DFAM

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Syfte: Att studera hur tidigare kariesaktiva patienter har ändrat sina vanor med resultatet minskad kariesaktivitet. Frågeställningen var: ”Hur lyckas tidigare kariesaktiva patienter ändra sina vanor?”. Material och metod: Studien genomfördes på Tandvårdshögskolan i Malmö med ett slutgiltigt urval som bestod av sex informanter varav fyra var patienter på Tandvårdshögskolan och två på Folktandvården i Malmö. Inklusionskriterierna var tidigare kariesaktiva med nu avstannad kariessjukdom, fyllda 18 år och som talade flytande svenska. För datainsamlingen genomfördes kvalitativa semistrukturerade intervjuer med efterföljande dataanalys med kvalitativ innehållsanalys.     Resultat: Den ena kategorin som identifierades var: Den varierande drivkraften som omfattade subkategorierna den positiva drivkraften och den negativa drivkraften. Den andra kategorin var: Det externa stödets vara eller icke vara omfattande externt positivt inflytande och en önskan om externt stöd (under sårbara tider).  Slutsats: Informanterna lyckades med en beteendeförändring som initierades av stöd, i form av information, eller drivkrafter, i form av funktion, estetik eller rädsla. När informanterna kände sig lyssnade på, involverade, motiverade och handlingskraftiga kunde de förstå hur de skulle kunna förändras från att vara kariesaktiva till kariesinaktiva. / Aim: To study how previously caries-active patients have changed their habits with the result reduced caries activity. The research question was, "How does previous caries-active patients manage to change their habits?" Material and method: The study was conducted at The Faculty of Odontology at Malmö University with a final sample of six informants, of whom four were patients at the faculty and two at the Public Dental Health Service in Malmö. The inclusion criteria were previously caries-active with now arrested caries disease, 18 years and above and fluent in Swedish. For data collection, qualitative semi-structured interviews were conducted with subsequent data analysis using qualitative content analysis. Results: One category that was identified was: The varied driving force which included the subcategories the positive driving force and the negative driving force. The second category was: The presence or absence of external support including external positive influence and a desire for external support (during vulnerable times). Conclusion: The study showed that the informants managed a behavioral change which was initiated by support, in the form of information, or by driving force, in the form of function, aesthetics or fear. When the informants felt listened to, involved, motivated and driven, they could understand how they could change from being caries-active to caries-inactive.

This study has evaluated how Tanzania Food and Nutrition Centre (TFNC), a government institution overseeing nutrition, uses social media to enhance the nutrition literacy of caregivers and parents of children under the age of five years. The study contributes to knowledge on how Tanzania’s resource-constrained health sector’s nutrition communication can benefit from social media by answering the following research questions: Which social media platforms and features does TFNC use to share nutrition knowledge pertaining to children under the age of five years? What kinds of nutrition knowledge pertaining to children under the age of five years does TFNC share on social media? How is nutrition knowledge pertaining to children under the age of five years posted on TFNC social media pages packaged? And, how frequently is nutrition knowledge pertaining to children under the age of five years repeated on TFNC social media pages? These questions have been answered from a social-behavioral change communication perspective that has combined the Media Ecology Theory and the Theory of Planned Behavior. This quantitative study has gathered data on TFNC’s social media activities (posts containing nutrition knowledge pertaining to children under the age of five years) between May 2020 to April 2023. The posts were manually extracted from the center’s pages into Microsoft Excel for coding before exportation to SPSS version 20 for analysis. The study has found that TFNC actively uses Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube to share nutrition knowledge on its pages and video format is the most used. The shared educative nutrition knowledge during the observed period, the use of social media features in sharing the knowledge, and the frequency of repeating nutrition messages are limited. Overall, the center’s nutrition social media-based knowledge-sharing needs improving to optimally contribute to nutrition literacy pertaining to children under the age of five years.

One of the main causes of premature mortality is decreased physical activity. The purpose of the study is to investigate, based on self-determination theory, the motives for choosing active transportation in the form of an electric bike instead of passive transportation such as bus or car among participants in the Elcyklist project. A qualitative research method was used, and 17 semi-structured interviews were conducted based on a motivational perspective. The results showed that the motive for electric biking was the experience of independence, challenge, community, and inspiration, which represented a sense of well-being. Additionally, enjoyment, environmentally, economically, and health were motives for electric biking that represented benefits in everyday life. Participants' choice to use electric bikes satisfied their basic needs for autonomy, competence, and relatedness. Furthermore, the study showed that the participants were motivated to use the electric bike mainly by self-determined motivation. The main conclusion is the importance to address and promote self-determined motivation to support and maintain motivation healthy behaviors and lifestyles. The study showed that the opportunity to borrow an e-bike as offered in the Electric Biking project can be a good way to promote self-determined motivation for active transportation as well as health-promoting behaviors.

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