Aim: While health interventions are often shown to have short-term effects, long-term effects are rarely evidenced. Habit formation has been proposed to offer a potential mechanism for long-term health behaviour maintenance. To date, there is a paucity of research to understand the beliefs, representations, and conceptions and misconceptions that laypeople hold in relation to forming habits. Therefore, we aim to identify the beliefs regarding habit formation by laypeople.

Design: The current investigation used one-on-one interviews and focus groups in a population of Australian adults. This design was chosen to maximise the representative of the sample and to ensure flexibility for the participants.

Method: Participants were recruited using a variety of means (e.g., social media, university email broadcasts, first-year psychology student subject pool). Interviews took approximately 30 minutes to complete and were analysed using thematic analysis.

Results: A number of themes emerged through analysis of the data. Participants were able to identify a range of processes to form habits which were more evidence-based (e.g., goal setting, forming consistent cues, and self-monitoring) and as well as processes that were more non-evidence-based (e.g., “force yourself”). Participants also held a range of beliefs about how to recognise when a habit has been formed including, for example, via a timeframe (e.g., “28 days”) or a process (e.g., “when I don’t have to think about doing it anymore”).

Conclusions: The findings of this research provide valuable information regarding the beliefs that laypeople hold and processes they follow when forming habits. It appears that laypeople hold a range of scientific and non-scientific representations of habit formation. This knowledge provides insight that may inform the development of future conceptualisations of habit as a construct as well as interventions which aim to promote long-term behavioural maintenance by allowing clinicians and researchers to pre-emptively challenge misunderstandings of health habit formation.

Background. The current boom in implicit attitude research presents a promising avenue for the improvement of behavioural prediction models. In adults, implicit attitudes have been subject to several meta-analyses. In children, however, no such synthesis exists. This may be considered a limitation due to the potential moderating effects of age and development on attitudes.

Aims. We present a meta-analytic review of studies measuring implicit and explicit attitudes in child and adolescent samples and test the predictive validity of both forms of attitude on behavioural outcomes.

Method: Following data base searches, papers which included an implicit measure correlated with a compatible explicit attitude or behaviour were included, and effect sizes were extracted as pearsons r. Two-stage meta-analytic structural equation modelling was used to create a covariance matrix which was then fitted to a structural model in which implicit and explicit attitudes were simultaneously regressed on behaviour. Meta-regression was used to assess moderator effects such as differences in behaviour types and measurement issues. Random and fixed effects meta-analysis was also conducted for comparability.

Results: Meta-structural equation modelling revealed that both implicit and explicit attitudes independently predicted behaviour, although the effect size for explicit attitudes was larger. Moderator analyses revealed that the size of the effects of implicit and explicit attitudes on behaviour was dependent on the type of behaviour with implicit measures being superior at predicting social behaviours as compared to diet and health-based behaviours in a meta-regression model. We found no moderator effects for age.

Conclusions: These results indicate, while both implicit and explicit attitudes have a place in the prediction of behaviour, the exact relationship between these constructs is highly variable and context dependent. Moderators include the type of behaviour and the method used, however, the pool of available studies hindered detailed analysis. These findings provide further basis for the development of dual process models and may be used to increase confidence in the use of implicit attitudes in younger samples.

Aim: It is important to understand psychological factors that may help individuals to deal with dietary lapses in an adaptive way to help them stay on track in their weight loss strivings. Thus, the aim of the study was to examine the within-person associations between self-compassion following a lapse, and outcomes relevant to weight loss strivings. We also examined the mediating effects of positive and negative affect. We expected participants would report greater daily intentions and higher self-efficacy to continue weight loss efforts, and less negative reactions to a lapse, when they reported higher than average daily self-compassion. Second, we expected positive and negative affect to mediate the aforementioned associations.

Design: Ecological Momentary Assessment using a signal-contingent methodology.

Method: Participants (n = 70) were female (M age = 34.31 [± 14.14]; M BMI = 32.15 [± 6.51]). They responded to brief surveys twice daily for 2 weeks to messages sent to their mobile phones. Participants were asked to think about any dietary lapses they had experienced since the last message. Surveys included brief scales assessing lapse-related self-compassion, intentions and self-efficacy to continue weight loss efforts, negative reactions to the lapse, and positive and negative affect. MPlus was used to estimate multilevel regression models, adopting the full information maximum likelihood estimator.

Results: Hypothesis 1: Self-compassion following lapses predicted in the expected direction intentions (B=.18; 95% CI= .08 to .26) and self-efficacy (B=.34; 95% CI= .18 to .49) to continue weight loss efforts, as well as negative reactions to lapses (B= -51; 95% CI = -39 to- .63). Hypothesis 2: Self-compassion had an indirect effect on negative reactions via positive and negative affect, and on intentions and self-efficacy via positive affect only.

Conclusion: Self-compassion may be a useful internal resource when faced with dietary lapses in order to promote dietary perseverance, and its effects might be mediated via improved affective states. The relatively low number of daily signals is a limitation.

Aim: Fitspiration (fitness + inspiration) is a social media trend designed to motivate people towards healthy eating and exercise behaviours by portraying images of fit, thin, and toned people. Research (e.g., Robinson et al., 2017; Tiggemann & Zaccardo, 2015) has shown that exposure to fitspiration has a negative impact upon the mood and body image of young women. The present study aimed to experimentally examine whether exposure to fitspiration images had the same negative impact on mothers, a population of women who may be vulnerable to experiencing body image and mood concerns, using social comparison theory as the framework.

Design: A between-subjects experimental design was used to examine the impact of different types of imagery (mother-targeted fitspiration, general fitspiration, travel control) on mothers’ state mood and body dissatisfaction. State social comparison was examined as a mediator and trait social comparison as a moderator.

Method: Participants were 173 mothers (Mage = 33.17) of young children who were recruited online via forums and social media. They were randomly assigned to one of the three image conditions and completed pre/post measures of state mood and body dissatisfaction, as well as measures of state and trait social comparison. Planned comparisons were used to examine the impact of fitspiration images relative to control images, and whether exposure to mother-specific fitspiration images was more detrimental than exposure to general fitspiration images. Mediation and moderation were tested using PROCESS.

Results: Among mothers, exposure to both types of fitspiration images led to increased negative mood, but not greater body dissatisfaction, relative to travel images. Participants engaged in state appearance comparison with both types of fitspiration imagery, and state appearance comparison fully mediated the effect of image type on negative mood. Furthermore, mother-specific trait appearance comparison was found to moderate the relationship between viewing fitspiration images and negative mood.

Conclusion: Overall, the results suggest that fitspiration images, targeted specifically at mothers or in general, are equally detrimental to mothers’ mood. Appearance comparisons play an important role at both a state and trait level, and this is particularly the case for trait comparisons specific to other mothers.

Aim: Eating disorders, and problems associated with negative attitudes to one’s body and a distorted body image, are major health issues in contemporary society. In line with sociocultural and objectification theories of body image disturbance, researchers have begun to identify the relationships between social media / social networking sites (SNS) and body image concerns among young adult women. However, the extant research is limited in several respects: (1) it typically examines single, rather than multiple, aspects of appearance-related SNS use, and therefore does not enable assessment of whether all, or only some, of these variables predict body image concerns, (2) it seldom examines mediating pathways between SNS-use and body image-related outcomes, (3) it mostly uses female-only samples, and (4) it seldom investigates the role of protective factors, such as body appreciation and self-compassion, in ameliorating body image concerns.

Design: To address these issues, a cross-sectional study of emerging adults was conducted in late 2018.

Method: Female (n = 338) and male (n = 300) undergraduates, aged 17-25, from an Australian university completed online questionnaires that included validated multi-item measures of the study variables. The main hypothesis tested was that appearance-related SNS use is associated with body dissatisfaction and drive for thinness (for women), and drive for muscularity (for men), via three mediating variables: appearance comparisons, internalization of appearance ideals, and social appearance anxiety. Also examined was the prediction that the relationships between the mediators and body image concerns are moderated by self-compassion and body appreciation. Structural equation modelling and moderated mediation analyses were used to test models that incorporated these direct, indirect, and moderator pathways.

Results: This presentation will report the study findings. The results of this study will elucidate the mechanisms through which the use of SNSs may influence body image concerns.

Conclusion: Given that young adults (ages 18–29 years) are the highest users of SNSs, it is important to examine ways to reduce any negative effects of image-based social media. The study will also enable an assessment of the likely efficacy of interventions aimed at increasing self-compassion and body appreciation, within gender-specific workshops and/or online preventative programs, to reduce body image concerns.

Aim: High sugar-sweetened beverage (SSB) consumption and low fruit and vegetable (FV) intake have been found to be associated with a range of health issues in children. Habit has been found to play a significant role in health behaviour change; however, previous research has tended to focus on goal-directed habits with little research focusing on the effect of counter-intentional habits. We aimed to determine the role of counter-intentional habits in children’s decisions to restrict their SSB consumption and eat the recommended serves of FV intake.

Design: The current investigation used a prospective design with two-time points, one week apart.

Method: Participants comprised 198 children aged between 11 and 14 years, recruited from one public and one private school in Queensland, Australia. The T1 survey assessed intention to restrict SSB consumption, intention to eat the recommended serves of FV, and counter-intentional habits (i.e. the habit of consuming SSB’s and the habit to avoid eating the recommended serves of FV). The T2 survey collected measures of the target nutrition behaviours (i.e. to restrict SSB consumption and to eat the recommended serves of FV) over the preceding 7 days.

Results: Findings indicated that intention predicted both nutrition behaviours while only the counter-intentional habit to restrict SSB (i.e., the habit of drinking SSB) directly predicted behaviour. Contrary to expectations, neither the counter-intentional habit to restrict SSB or to eat the recommended serves of FV moderated the intention-behaviour relationship.

Conclusions: Current findings highlight the importance of understanding the role of conscious and automatic processes in nutrition behaviours of children. For the restriction of SSB, both automatic and conscious processes appear to play a role, while only conscious processes appear to be significant in FV intake. Furthermore, findings highlight the role of understanding counter-intentional as opposed to goal-directed habits in the restriction of SSB.

Aim: Overweight, obesity and physical inactivity are leading risk factors for all-cause mortality and comorbidities, such as cardiovascular disease, hypertension, cancer, and type 2 diabetes globally. Overweight and obese adults experience diminished health-related quality of life (HRQOL) and increased depressive symptoms compared to their normal weight counterparts. The lack of successful public health campaigns in reducing BMI over the past three decades suggests new and innovative ways of managing health, as opposed to losing weight, are needed. The aim was to investigate if small behavioural changes in physical activity (none versus insufficient) across BMI groups would reveal meaningful and statistically significant health benefits for HRQOL and depression symptoms.

Design: This cross-sectional secondary data study analysed a subset of data from the USA 2015 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System telephone survey.

Method: 4,442 participants (65% female; ≥ 18 years) with complete and valid responses were included. A two-way MANOVA was conducted with independent variables (IV): BMI (normal weight BMI ≥ 18.50 and < 25.00 kg/m2; overweight BMI ≥ 25.00 and < 30.00 kg/m2; obese BMI ≥ 30.00 kg/m2) and physical activity (insufficiently active < 150 mins/week; physically inactive); dependent variables (DV): HRQOL-4 general health (GH), poor physical health (PH), poor mental health (MH), activity limitation (AL) and PHQ-8 (depression symptoms).

Results: Physical activity differences between BMI groups across all DVs revealed meaningful and statistically significant differences where insufficiently active groups reported gains in GH (‘very good’ vs ‘good’), roughly 6.5 days PH and 3 days MH, and PHQ-8 (‘none-to-minimal depression’ vs ‘mild depression’) as compared to physically inactive groups with small to medium effect sizes, n2p= .01 to .07. Normal weight and overweight groups reported one less unhealthy PH day compared to obese participants, with findings across all BMI groups as ‘good’ for GH and ‘mild depression’ for PHQ-8. Conclusion: Shifting the focus of health messaging from losing weight to improving health may prove more acceptable and feasible for overweight and obese people, by encouraging the commencement of even modest levels of activity with a view to gradually increase over time. More research is needed to investigate this emerging area of health behaviour change with a new and innovative focus.

Aim: To identify best practice approaches for healthcare professionals (including psychologists) working with transgender and non-binary people in regards to fertility preservation.

Design: This study adopted a qualitative method that sought to solicit views about fertility preservation for transgender and non-binary people, both amongst transgender and non-binary people and the healthcare professionals who work with them.

Method: This paper draws on two data sets. 1.) A questionnaire about fertility preservation was completed by 409 transgender and non-binary Australians, 295 of whom responded to open-ended questions about their views of, and experiences with, healthcare professionals. 2.) Interviews were undertaken with 10 healthcare professionals about their role in fertility preservation, with a focus on their current service provision to transgender and non-binary people and their views on best practice.

Results: The analysis provides a comparison of the responses from transgender and non-binary people and healthcare professionals focusing on the role that professionals should play in fertility preservation decision-making. While healthcare professionals may be sources of knowledge and support, they may also be involved in gatekeeping practices and may directly or indirectly encourage or discourage people to undertake fertility preservation.

Conclusion: The paper concludes with best practice guidelines for service provision, with a focus on implications for health psychologists. Ultimately healthcare professionals should be knowledgeable about providing inclusive care, and provide enough information for transgender and non-binary people to make informed decisions about fertility preservation. External factors, including financial, transition-related, and time costs, and the importance of covering these in healthcare exchanges are also highlighted.

Aim: To investigate the views of users of a purpose built psychiatric mother-baby unit (MBU), with a focus on design for health.

Design: This qualitative study explores the use of purpose built design for health by drawing on a case study of an Australian purpose built MBU. One of the key changes in mental health design has been the move from asylums to the design of mental health care facilities that attempt to simulate a domestic environment. This shift aims to serve those who occupy them (including clients and staff) by providing a less obviously institutional space. However, experiences of users of such spaces is currently limited.

Method: This paper draws on interviews with staff and clients of an MBU, exploring their views on the ways in which the purpose built space impacts on wellbeing. 15 staff from the multidisciplinary team were interviewed, including nurses, psychologists, psychiatrists, a social worker, an infant parent therapist, a clinical services coordinator, and a registrar. 10 clients (mothers) were also interviewed.

Results: The findings highlight the significance of multiple design-related factors that can impact on both staff and client wellbeing, including noise levels, privacy/security, light, size of spaces, gardens, and feelings of homeliness.

Conclusion: The paper concludes with a discussion of the need to consider the impact of design on wellbeing for both clients of facilities and the staff who work in them. The paper also considers the significance of user consultation process for the design of such units, and offers suggestions for how these processes may be improved in the future.