The use of motivational interviews by nurses to promote health behaviors in adolescents: A scoping review protocol

Abstract The developmental changes during adolescence may affect subsequent risk for diseases and health-related behaviors. Motivational Interview (MI) may be taken as an essential tool in the provision of nursing care to adolescents, being itself a workspace with possible therapeutic effects. At this context, it is important to examine and map the use of MI by nurses in their clinical practice with adolescents to promote health behaviors. Objetives A scoping review has been currently undertaking to find out what is the current extent of the use of nurse-led MI; which adolescent populations were included; in which contexts nurses use MI; which MI techniques/strategies have been used and what outcomes on health behaviors promotion have been reported. The first task was to develop a search strategy to identify relevant studies for this review. It is described here the experience in constructing a search strategy for this review. Methodology This scoping review will be informed by JBI methodology. An initial search of MEDLINE and CINAHL was undertaken. An analysis of the text words contained in the title and abstract, and of the index terms used to describe the searched articles were retrieved and these were then used to construct a search strategy for use in Medline and Cinahl. Results Analysis of the text words and the index terms generated 19 keywords: It was identified 5 synonyms for "Adolescents", 12 for "MI" and 2 for "nurse". A new research formula was designed using the text words identified. Adolescen*[Title/Abstract]) OR Younger*[Title/Abstract]) OR Youth*[Title/Abstract]) OR Teen*[Title/Abstract]) OR Adolescent[MeSH Terms])) AND (((((((((((("Motivational interview"[Title/Abstract]) OR "Motivational intervention"[Title/Abstract]) OR "Motivational interviews"[Title/Abstract]) OR "Motivational interventions"[Title/Abstract]) OR "motivational interviewing"[Title/Abstract]) OR "motivational counseling"[Title/Abstract]) OR "motivational support"[Title/Abstract]) OR "Motivational enhancement"[Title/Abstract]) OR "Brief intervention"[Title/Abstract]) OR "Brief interventions"[Title/Abstract]) OR Motivational Interviewing[MeSH Terms]) OR Directive Counseling[MeSH Terms])) AND ((nurs*[Text Word]) OR Nurses[MeSH Terms]). Limiters - Language: English, Portuguese, Spanish. In MEDLINE this research formula generated 125 results. Other 16 databases referenced at the protocol will be searched to identify additional studies. Articles identified from the final search will be assessed for relevance to the review, based on information provided in the title and abstract. The full article will be retrieved for all studies that meet the inclusion criteria of the review. Conclusions It was presented here the initial results of this search. Next steps of this study will be to develop and refine the search strategy for use in other databases. It is expected that findings from this Scoping Review provide needed information to nurses related to the use of MI to promote health behaviors in adolescents and inform opportunities for future development in nursing practice.

Mental health and suicidal behaviors in adolescents from a Portuguese island

Background: Adolescent suicidal behaviors are a public health priority. Objectives: Suicidal behavior is an understudied field in the Azores, and the few existing research studies with Portuguese adolescents only include young people from Mainland Portugal. This study aims at analyzing the adolescent student population from this island region so as to describe the current situation and plan community intervention projects in this area to meet the identified needs. Methodology: This is a non-experimental, quantitative and descriptive-correlational study with the purpose of describing phenomena and finding associations between variables. Results: The results showed that 17.9% of the 484 sampled adolescents reported self-harm behaviors, with 12.7% reporting self-cutting and 5.2% medication overdose or ingestion of toxic substances. Around 15.5% of the adolescents reported suicidal ideation. Additionally, they showed high levels of depressive symptoms (19.9%), ranging from moderate (12%) to severe (7.9%). Conclusion: Adolescents had more self-harm behaviors, more severe depressive symptoms, a lower self-concept and fewer coping strategies than similar populations in mainland Portugal.

CIVIL WAR SETTLEMENTS AND COMBATANTS’ BEHAVIORS: STRATEGY, PERCEPTION, AND REPUTATION

Three projects in my dissertation focus on the termination of internal conflicts based on three critical factors: a combatant’s bargaining strategy, perceptions of relative capabilities, and reputation for toughness. My dissertation aims to provide the relevant theoretical framework to understand war termination beyond the simple two-party bargaining context. The first project focuses on the government’s strategic use of peace agreements. The first project suggests that peace can also be designed strategically to create a better bargain in the near future by changing the current power balance, and thus the timing and nature of peace is not solely a function of overcoming current barriers to successful bargaining. As long as the government has no overwhelming capability to defeat all rebel groups simultaneously, it needs to keep multiple rebel groups as divided as possible. This strategic partial peace helps to deter multiple rebel groups from collaborating in the battlefield and increases the chances of victory against non-signatories. The second project deals with combatants’ perceptions of relative capabilities. While bargaining theories of war suggest that war ends when combatants share a similar perception about their relative capabilities, combatants’ perceptions about relative capabilities are not often homogeneous. While focusing on information problems, this paper examines when a rebel group underestimates the government’s supremacy in relative capabilities and how this heterogeneous perception about the power gap influences negotiated settlements. The third project deals with the tension between different types of reputations in the context of civil wars: 1) a reputation for resolve and 2) a reputation for keeping human rights standards. In the context of civil wars, the use of indiscriminate violence by the government is costly, and as such, it signals the government’s toughness (or resolve) to rebel groups. I argue that the rebels are more likely to accept the government’s offer when the government recently engaged in indiscriminate violence against civilians during the conflict. This effect, however, is conditional on the government’s international human rights reputation; suggesting that rebel groups interpret this violence as a signal particularly when the government does not have a penchant for attacking civilians in general.

Goal detection using laser range finder for goalkeeper and striker from CAMBADA team

For a robot be autonomous and mobile, it requires being attached with a set of sensors that helps it to have a better perception of the surrounding world, to manage to localize itself and the surrounding objects. CAMBADA is the robotic soccer team of the IRIS research group, from IEETA, University of Aveiro, that competes in the Middle-Size League of RoboCup. In competition, in order to win, the main objective of the game it's to score more goals than the conceded, so not conceding goals, and score as much as possible it's desirable, thus, this thesis focus on adapt an agent with a better localization capacity in defensive and offensive moments. It was introduced a laser range finder to the CAMBADA robots, making them capable of detecting their own and the opponent goal, and to detect the opponents in specific game situations. With the new information and adapting the Goalie and Penalty behaviors, the CAMBADA goalkeeper is now able to detect and track its own goal and the CAMBADA striker has a better performance in a penalty situation. The developed work was incorporated within the competition software of the robots, which allows the presentation, in this thesis, of the experimental results obtained with physical robots on the laboratory field.

Self-perceived weight status, dieting and unhealthy weight-control behaviors among Spanish male adolescents

Introduction: Self-perceived weight status among adolescents has been associated with weight-control behaviors. However, this relationship varies across weight status. Objectives: The aim of this study was to examine the effect of self-perceived weight status on dieting and unhealthy weight-control behaviors among Spanish male adolescents, across weight status. Method: Participants were 597 Spanish male adolescents (M = 13.94 years old, SD = 0.60). Body weight and height were measured in situ. Self-perceived weight status, dieting, and unhealthy weight-control behaviors were evaluated. Results: The adolescents were inaccurate on estimating their weight status. Those who were overweight or obese, or who perceived themselves to be so, were more likely to report dieting and unhealthy weight-control behaviors. Discussion: There is a need to promote healthier eating behaviors among adolescents, and to take into account the fact that self-perceived weight status may hinder the adoption of such behaviors.

Drosophila Adaptation to Viral Infection through Defensive Symbiont Evolution

Microbial symbionts can modulate host interactions with biotic and abiotic factors. Such interactions may affect the evolutionary trajectories of both host and symbiont. Wolbachia protects Drosophila melanogaster against several viral infections and the strength of the protection varies between variants of this endosymbiont. Since Wolbachia is maternally transmitted, its fitness depends on the fitness of its host. Therefore, Wolbachia populations may be under selection when Drosophila is subjected to viral infection. Here we show that in D. melanogaster populations selected for increased survival upon infection with Drosophila C virus there is a strong selection coefficient for specific Wolbachia variants, leading to their fixation. Flies carrying these selected Wolbachia variants have higher survival and fertility upon viral infection when compared to flies with the other variants. These findings demonstrate how the interaction of a host with pathogens shapes the genetic composition of symbiont populations. Furthermore, host adaptation can result from the evolution of its symbionts, with host and symbiont functioning as a single evolutionary unit.

Defensive realism and the Concert of Europe

Why do great powers expand? Offensive realist John Mearsheimer claims that states wage an eternal struggle for power, and that those strong enough to seek regional hegemony nearly always do. Mearsheimer's evidence, however, displays a selection bias. Examining four crises between 1814 and 1840, I show that the balance of power restrained Russia, Prussia and France. Yet all three also exercised self-restraint; Russia, in particular, passed up chances to bid for hegemony in 1815 and to topple Ottoman Turkey in 1829. Defensive realism gives a better account of the Concert of Europe, because it combines structural realism with non-realist theories of state preferences.

A communication partner training program: Assessing conversational behaviors and attitudes towards communication in Persons with Aphasia and their Communication Partners

This study examined the conversational behaviors of eleven dyads consisting of a person with aphasia (PWA) and their familiar communication partner (CP), and investigated changes in behaviors as a result of attending a communication partner-training program CPT). Attitudes about communication were examined and related to conversational behaviors observed pre- and post- training. Results indicated that CPs and PWA used significantly more facilitating behaviors than barrier behaviors, although most dyads experienced some barriers. A comparison of pre-and post-CPT conversations revealed a significant interaction between time and type of behavior, with the increase in the number of facilitators approaching significance. Overall, persons with aphasia and their conversational partners expressed positive attitudes about communication. There were no significant correlations between scores on attitude surveys and behaviors pre or post-training. This study demonstrated that these dyads employed facilitative conversational behaviors even before CPT, and that facilitative behaviors can increase after a one-day training workshop.

Perceptions and risky behaviors associated with Leptospirosis in an endemic area in a village of Ubon Ratchathani Province, Thailand.

Background: Leptospirosis, a disease caused by Leptospira species, a spirochaete bacterium that can develop in an appropriate environment and/or grow in human and/or animal hosts, is a serious problem for the Ministry of Public Health, Thailand. Objective: To investigate people’s perceptions and behavioral risks regarding leptospirosis infection. Methods: The cross-sectional descriptive study collected data in May, 2013. Data on individuals’ perceptions and risky behaviors concerning leptospirosis were collected from 104 completed questionnaires. Results: Regarding perceptions of leptospirosis, we found them to be at a high level (97.1%) and risky behaviors regarding leptospirosis were reported at a moderate level (74.0%). The study found no correlation between perceptions and risky behaviors regarding leptospirosis (r 0.186, p-value 0.059). Conclusion: This study suggest that people in these areas have good knowledge about leptospirosis. However, some people have risky behavior associated with leptospirosis. Thus, a behavioral change campaign should be promoted to encourage people awareness of the dangers of such behavior.

Cybersex in portuguese chatrooms: A study of sexual behaviors related to online sex

The present article is about a particular form of sexual activity on the Internet: cybersex in chatrooms-in Portuguese by Portuguese people. This study aims to identify the reasons for engaging in cybersex on chats and the behavioral domains that characterize this activity. To carry out the study, we developed a self-report questionnaire that we made available on a website. The sample was collected online (n = 400) through the Portuguese Internet Relay Chat. Factor analyses revealed seven domain structures: (a) social skills, (b) preference for cybersex, (c) filter for a later date, (d) sex by phone, (e) fantasies, (f) using masks, and (g) impact on real relationships. We found a huge variety of sexual attitudes and behaviors connected to cybersex in chatrooms and the existence of two major trends: (a) people that use these chats as a starting place for offline relationships (online anonymity prevents the fear of rejection and social sanctions in real life), and (b) people who want and prefer online sex without any interest in further real contacts.

Determinization of timed Petri nets behaviors

International audience

Relatório de estágio profissionalizante : equipa profissional do Estoril-Praia, Departamento de Análise de Jogo

A importância da observação e análise de jogo no futebol tem crescido substancialmente nos últimos anos. As diferentes disposições tácticas e padrões comportamentais de jogo que se tem verificado, a exigência competitiva a que assistimos actualmente tem levado os clubes a investirem na formação e contratação de profissionais nesta área, potenciando, desta forma, a performance e sucesso das equipas. Este documento procura caracterizar e descrever um ano de estágio inserido no departamento de análise de jogo na equipa profissional sénior do Estoril-Praia Futebol, SAD. Os principais objectivos deste processo foram: (1) contribuir para o desenvolvimento do departamento de análise de jogo, criando um documento em software Excel que permitisse maior organização e rigor na análise e tratamento da informação, (2) organizar os dados para que estes pudessem ser facilmente interpretados por equipa técnica e jogadores. Para além do trabalho realizado ao longo de toda a época na área da análise de jogo, este documento contêm ainda dois estudos realizados com a equipa sénior do Estoril-Praia, Futebol SAD: (1) estudo de grupo que aborda o nível de coesão da equipa e (2) um estudo de investigação que procura avaliar os comportamentos da equipa quando está organizada ou em recuperação defensiva.