This paper aims to provide an in-depth understanding of the attractiveness of e-cigarettes for several different groups. For this purpose, perceptions of and reasons for e-cigarette use were systematically reviewed as reported by e-cigarette users, cigarette smokers, dual users, and non-users, among both adults and youth. MEDLINE^® and Scopus were used to search for relevant articles, and references of included studies were also investigated. Two reviewers screened all titles and abstracts independently, blinded to authors and journal titles (Cohen’s Kappa = 0.83), resulting in 72 eligible articles. Risk perceptions, perceived benefits, and reasons for e-cigarette use were categorized in themes and sub-themes. Risk perceptions included harmfulness in general, and specific health risks. Perceived benefits included improved taste and smell, and safety for bystanders. Reasons for use included (health) benefits, curiosity, smoking cessation, and friends using e-cigarettes. The findings highlight that there is a variety of perceptions and reasons mentioned by adult and youth e-cigarette users, cigarette smokers, dual users, and non-users. As such, this overview provides valuable information for scientists, public health professionals, behavior change experts, and regulators to improve future research, risk communication, and possibilities to effectively regulate e-cigarettes.

The I-Change Model for explaining motivational and behavioral change postulates that an awareness phase precedes the motivation phase of a person, and that effects of pre-motivational factors on behavior are partially mediated by motivational factors. This study tests this assumption with regard to physical activity. Observational longitudinal survey study (baseline, three months, six months) amongst Dutch adults (N = 2434). Structural equation modelling was used to investigate whether the influence of (1) knowledge, (2) cognizance, (3) cues, and (4) risk perception separately on intention and physical activity were mediated by motivational factors (i.e. attitudes, self-efficacy and social influence). Subsequently, a comprehensive model including all pre-motivational factors was estimated to test the same assumption for all pre-motivational factors simultaneously. The results indicate that the associations of cognizance, risk perception and cues with behavior were fully mediated by motivational factors when tested separately. When tested simultaneously only the effect of cognizance remained. Cognizance was most strongly associated with positive attitudes β = .13, p < .01, self-efficacy β = .13, p < .01, and intention β = .14, p < .01. No direct link with behavior was found. The results suggest that pre-motivational factors are important to form a motivation; however, they do not directly influence behavior. The inclusion of factors such as risk perception and cognizance would help to get a better understanding of motivation formation and behavior.

Smoking, high alcohol consumption, unhealthy eating habits and physical inactivity often lead to (chronic) diseases, such as cardiovascular diseases and cancer. Tailored online interventions have been proven to be effective in changing health behaviours. The aim of this study is to test and compare the effectiveness of two different tailoring strategies for changing lifestyle compared to a control group using a multiple health behaviour web-based approach.

Skin cancer, which is increasing exceedingly worldwide, is substantially preventable by reducing unprotected exposure to ultraviolet radiation (UVR). Several comprehensive interventions targeting sun protection behaviors among children and adolescents in various outdoor settings have been developed; however, there is a lack of insight on stand-alone effectiveness of environmental elements. To compose future skin cancer prevention interventions optimally, identification of effective environmental components is necessary. Hence, an extensive systematic literature search was conducted, using four scientific databases and one academic search engine. Seven relevant studies were evaluated based on stand-alone effects of various types of environmental sun safety interventions on socio-cognitive determinants, sun protection behaviors, UVR exposure, and incidence of sunburns and nevi. Free provision of sunscreen was most often the environmental component of interest, however showing inconsistent results in terms of effectiveness. Evidence regarding shade provision on shade-seeking behavior was most apparent. Even though more research is necessary to consolidate the findings, this review accentuates the promising role of environmental components in skin cancer prevention interventions and provides directions for future multi-component sun safety interventions targeted at children and adolescents in various outdoor settings.

This study assessed the role of habits and previous behavior in predicting fruit consumption as well as their additional predictive contribution besides socio-demographic and motivational factors. In the literature, habits are proposed as a stable construct that needs to be controlled for in longitudinal analyses that predict behavior. The aim of this study is to provide empirical evidence for the inclusion of either previous behavior or habits.