Associations between safety from crime, cycling, and obesity in a Dutch elderly population: results from the Longitudinal Aging Study Amsterdam

Using environmental nudges to reduce academic cheating in young children

Previous research on nudges conducted with adults suggests that the accessibility of behavioral options can influence people's decisions. The present study examined whether accessibility can be used to reduce academic cheating among young children. We gave children a challenging math test in the presence of an answer key they were instructed not to peek at, and manipulated the accessibility of the answer key by placing various familiar objects on top of it. In Study 1, we used an opaque sheet of paper as a two-dimensional occluder, and found that it significantly reduced cheating compared to a transparent plastic sheet. In Study 2, we used a three-dimensional occluder in the form of a tissue box to make the answer key appear even less accessible, and found it was significantly more effective in reducing cheating than the opaque paper. In Study 3, we used two symbolic representations of the tissue box: a realistic color photo and a line drawing. Both representations were effective in reducing cheating, but the realistic photo was more effective than the drawing. These findings demonstrate that manipulating accessibility can be an effective strategy to nudge children away from cheating in an academic context. They further suggest that different types of everyday objects and their symbolic representations can differentially impact children's moral behavior.

Motivational and implicit processes contribute to incidental physical activity

OBJECTIVES

Physical activity can prevent health risks and even a slight increase in physical activity benefits health. This study investigated potential contributing factors to incidental physical activity.

DESIGN

A two-part correlational study examined whether motivational properties (autonomous and controlled motivation) in interaction with implicit processes (implicit attitudes, attentional, and approach-avoid biases) contribute to incidental physical activity.

METHODS

Participants (N = 103) recorded a 7-day step count to measure incidental physical activity. Implicit attitudes, attentional, and approach-avoid biases were measured using the SC-IAT, dot probe, and manikin tasks, respectively. Autonomous and controlled motivation were measured using the Perceived Locus of Causality Questionnaire.

RESULTS

Implicit attitudes and autonomous and controlled motivation were independently associated with incidental physical activity. Both autonomous and controlled motivation (when controlling for the other motivation-type) in interaction with approach bias contributed to incidental physical activity levels; motivation was positively associated with step count in participants with high avoid bias scores. Motivation did not interact with attentional bias to contribute to levels of incidental physical activity when controlling for motivation-type.

CONCLUSIONS

Findings showed that elements from self-determination theory and dual process models relate to incidental physical activity behaviour. Specifically, autonomous motivation and certain implicit processes contributed to incidental physical activity engagement. This study provides an important first step towards understanding the psychological mechanisms that contribute to incidental physical activity. Statement of contribution What is already known on this subject? Motivation and implicit processes individually contribute to incidental physical activity behaviour. Autonomous motivation, rather than controlled motivation, primarily contributes to physical activity behaviour. What does this study add? Motivational and implicit processes together contribute to predicting levels of incidental physical activity. Both autonomous and controlled motivation contribute to levels of incidental physical activity. Certain implicit processes also play a role in incidental physical activity engagement.

Associations of Neighborhood Crime and Safety and With Changes in Body Mass Index and Waist Circumference: The Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis

Using data from the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (MESA), we evaluated associations of neighborhood crime and safety with changes in adiposity (body mass index (BMI) and waist circumference). MESA is a longitudinal study of cardiovascular disease among adults aged 45-84 years at baseline in 2000-2002, from 6 US sites, with follow-up for MESA participants until 2012. Data for this study were limited to Chicago, Illinois, participants in the MESA Neighborhood Ancillary Study, for whom police-recorded crime data were available, and who had complete baseline data (n = 673). We estimated associations of individual-level safety, aggregated neighborhood-level safety, and police-recorded crime with baseline levels and trajectories of BMI and waist circumference over time using linear mixed modeling with random effects. We also estimated how changes in these factors related to changes in BMI and waist circumference using econometric fixed-effects models. At baseline, greater individual-level safety was associated with more adiposity. Increasing individual- and neighborhood-level safety over time were associated with decreasing BMI over the 10-year period, with a more pronounced effect observed in women for individual-level safety and men for neighborhood-level safety. Police-recorded crime was not associated with adiposity. Neighborhood-level safety likely influences adiposity change and subsequent cardiovascular risk in multiethnic populations.

Neighborhood Environment is Associated with Overweight and Obesity, Particularly in Older Residents: Results from Cross-Sectional Study in Dutch Municipality

We explored whether overweight and obesity were associated with the physical and social environment at neighborhood level. Data from Maastricht municipality survey (The Netherlands) were used (n = 9771 adults). Multinomial regression models were computed (outcome being normal weight, overweight, or obese). We found inconsistent associations between neighborhood social and physical environment characteristics and overweight and obesity in the total sample. The effects were more consistent and stronger for older residents (>65) and obesity as an outcome. Better scores on traffic nuisance, green space, social cohesion, nuisance, and safety were associated with lower odds of obesity among elderly (OR ranged between 0.71 [95% CI 0.44 to 0.93] to 0.85 [95% CI 0.74 to 0.96] for each point of improvement in neighborhood social and physical environment (scale 0-10)). We showed that there are neighborhood-level factors that are associated with obesity, particularly in elderly residents. These could be targeted in preventive strategies outside health care settings.

Distance to parks and non-residential destinations influences physical activity of older people, but crime doesn't: a cross-sectional study in a southern European city

BACKGROUND

Physical activity (PA) has numerous health benefits, but older adults live mostly sedentary lifestyles. The physical and social neighborhood environment may encourage/dissuade PA. In particular, neighborhood crime may lead to feeling unsafe and affect older adults' willingness to be physically active. Yet, research on this topic is still inconclusive. Older population, probably the age group most influenced by the neighborhood environment, has been understudied, especially in Southern Europe. In this study, we aimed to analyze the association between leisure-time physical activity (LTPA) in older adults and objective crime, alongside other neighborhood characteristics.

METHODS

We obtained data from a population-based cohort from Porto (2005-2008) to assess LTPA. Only adults aged 65 years or more were included (n = 532). A Geographic Information System was used to measure neighborhood characteristics. Neighborhood crime was expressed as crime rates by category (incivilities, criminal offenses with and without violence and traffic crime). Neighborhood characteristics such as socioeconomic deprivation, land gradient, street density, transportation network, distance to parks, non-residential destinations and sport spaces were also included. Generalized Additive Models were fitted to estimate the association between neighborhood characteristics and the participation (being active vs. inactive) and frequency (min/day) of LTPA.

RESULTS

Forty-six percent of the men and 61 % of the women did not engage in any kind of LTPA. Among the active participants, men spent on average 50.5 (35.2 Standard Deviation, SD) min/day in LTPA, whereas the average among women was 36.9 (35.1 SD) min/day (p < 0.001). Neighborhood crime was unrelated to the participation in, or frequency of, LTPA. On the other hand, two neighborhood characteristics - distance to the nearest park (β = -0.0262, p = 0.029) and to the nearest non-residential destination (β = -0.0735, p = 0.019) - were associated with time spent on LTPA, but only among active older women. No neighborhood characteristic was related to participation in LTPA.

CONCLUSIONS

From a public health point of view, the provision of parks and non-residential destinations (shops, schools, cultural and worship places) might contribute to elevate PA levels of already active older women. On the other hand, in this setting, crime was not a big issue.

Physical activity-friendly neighbourhood among older adults from a medium size urban setting in Southern Europe

OBJECTIVE

In this cross-sectional study, we examined the relationship between socio-environmental characteristics of neighborhood of residence and the frequency of leisure-time physical activity (LTPA) among older adults from Porto (Portugal).

METHOD

Data from EpiPorto - a prospective adult cohort study from Porto (Portugal) - were used. Only adults aged ≥ 65 at baseline (1999-2003) were included (n=580). We used a Geographic Information System to objectively measure the neighborhood characteristics and Generalized Additive Models to estimate their effect on participation in LTPA (none vs. some reported) and frequency of LTPA (min/day).

RESULTS

62% of the participants reported no LTPA. Active elderly spent on average 38 (women) and 67 (men) minutes per day exercising. Neighborhood characteristics were unrelated to whether older people exercised or not. However, among active individuals, distance to the nearest destination (β=-0.154, p=0.016), in women, and distance to the nearest park, in men (-0.030, 0.050), were predictors of LTPA frequency.

CONCLUSION

There was almost no association between neighborhood characteristics and whether older adults engaged in LTPA or not, but among those that did engage, neighborhood characteristics were associated with increased frequency of LTPA. The promotion of well distributed destinations and parks might improve physical activity levels among the elderly.