Smoking often starts in early adolescence and addiction can occur rapidly. For effective smoking prevention there is a need to identify at risk groups of preadolescent children and whether gender-specific intervention components are necessary. This study aimed to examine associations between mother, father, sibling and friend smoking and cognitive vulnerability to smoking among preadolescent children living in deprived neighbourhoods. Cross-sectional data was collected from 9–10 year old children (n =1143; 50.7% girls; 85.6% White British) from 43 primary schools in Merseyside, England. Children completed a questionnaire that assessed their smoking-related behaviour, intentions, attitudes, and refusal self-efficacy, as well as parent, sibling and friend smoking. Data for boys and girls were analysed separately using multilevel linear and logistic regression models, adjusting for individual cognitions and school and deprivation level. Compared to girls, boys had lower non-smoking intentions (P = 0.02), refusal self-efficacy (P = 0.04) and were less likely to agree that smoking is ‘definitely’ bad for health (P < 0.01). Friend smoking was negatively associated with non-smoking intentions in girls (P < 0.01) and boys (P < 0.01), and with refusal self-efficacy in girls (P < 0.01). Sibling smoking was negatively associated with non-smoking intentions in girls (P < 0.01) but a positive association was found in boys (P = 0.02). Boys who had a smoking friend were less likely to ‘definitely’ believe that the smoke from other people’s cigarettes is harmful (OR 0.57, 95% CI: 0.35 to 0.91, P = 0.02). Further, boys with a smoking friend (OR 0.38, 95% CI: 0.21 to 0.69, P < 0.01) or a smoking sibling (OR 0.45, 95% CI: 0.21 to 0.98) were less likely to ‘definitely’ believe that smoking is bad for health. This study indicates that sibling and friend smoking may represent important influences on 9–10 year old children’s cognitive vulnerability toward smoking. Whilst some differential findings by gender were observed, these may not be sufficient to warrant separate prevention interventions. However, further research is needed.

This study aimed to: (1) compare acceleration output between ActiGraph (AG) hip and wrist monitors and GENEActiv (GA) wrist monitors; (2) identify raw acceleration sedentary and stationary thresholds for the two brands and placements; and (3) validate the thresholds during a free-living period. Twenty-seven from 9- to 10-year-old children wore AG accelerometers on the right hip, dominant- and non-dominant wrists, GA accelerometers on both wrists, and an activPAL on the thigh, while completing seven sedentary and light-intensity physical activities, followed by 10 minutes of school recess. In a subsequent study, 21 children wore AG and GA wrist monitors and activPAL for two days of free-living. The main effects of activity and brand and a significant activity × brand × placement interaction were observed (all p < 0.0001). Output from the AG hip was lower than the AG wrist monitors (both p < 0.0001). Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves established AG sedentary thresholds of 32.6 mg for the hip, 55.6 mg and 48.1 mg for dominant and non-dominant wrists respectively. GA wrist thresholds were 56.5 mg (dominant) and 51.6 mg (non-dominant). Similar thresholds were observed for stationary behaviours. The AG non-dominant threshold came closest to achieving equivalency with activPAL during free-living.

New students arrive at university with pre-determined perceptions around how alcohol can be used as a tool to overcome anxieties and secure new friendships, which in turn influences students’ drink...

Background: Involving peer volunteers in intervention delivery can provide social support and improve adherence. Whilst such interventions have the potential to reduce physical activity (PA) intervention costs, little is known about the process of delivering them in practice. This qualitative study explored the facilitators and challenges of delivering a peer-support PA intervention for older adults, with a view to making recommendations for the delivery of future interventions. Methods: Data were collected via (7) semi-structured interviews and a focus group with stakeholders involved in a peer-support PA intervention for older adults in a large city in the North-West of England. Participants included local authority staff (n = 3), peer volunteers (n = 2) and service users (n = 7). Audio data were transcribed verbatim and thematically coded to identify perceived facilitators and challenges. Results: Facilitators to delivery included social interaction, community referral pathways, suitable facilities, peer volunteers and high-quality instructors. Challenges surrounded inconsistent practice, staff capacity, safety and accountability, and awareness raising. Conclusions: Peer volunteers can provide an additional support mechanism alongside qualified instructors for increasing social interaction within PA interventions. For optimal intervention delivery, consideration needs to be given to equipment and space, safety and accountability and consistency of practice.

Accurately documenting the occupational biographies of older people can be challenging given their lengthy duration and the complexity of contemporary employment. This paper shows how a traditionally quantitative occupational history calendar (OHC) instrument can be adapted for use in a mixed methods research design, to gather in-depth information about long working lives. The OHCs were embedded within semi-structured interviews and recorded lifetime work histories of between 33 and 53 years for 56 participants. Sequence analysis of the calendar data was undertaken in parallel to thematic analysis of interview transcripts. This included in-depth exploration of the factors motivating occupational changes and transitions and their impact in older age. Mixing methods allowed us to collate data over relatively long periods of time and enabled an examination of the complex interplay between work, family and personal circumstances that shapes employment histories. Selected research findings are used to demonstrate how this tool can effectively facilitate the exploration of long working lives.

A variety of new non‐professional roles, such as health trainers and community food workers, have evolved from recent UK public health policy developments. These roles predominantly operate in communities characterised by extreme social deprivation. Their remit is to offer local people support to help change lifestyle ‘choices’, for example, healthy eating or drinking responsibly. However, encouraging people to change health‐related behaviour often ignores the underlying social determinants of health related behaviour. Health trainers and community food workers have been identified as being able to bridge the gap between the health professional and lay person, because of their ability to identify with local people. The challenges faced by these non‐professionals, working at the coal‐face of communities, and in a new and evolving role, are as yet poorly understood and this paper details the mechanism of reflective learning adopted by these practitioners in order to explore the professional practices involved. Emergent issues faced by these new practitioners include: understanding the boundaries between the trainer role and other health services; and the issues raised by the community, for example, presenting with non‐health reasons such as financial crisis, which the trainers were often unprepared to deal with, rather than ‘lack of health skills’ (e.g. cooking skills). This paper explores how reflective learning processes can deconstruct the experiences of this ‘new level of the health workforce’ who have on the one hand the sensibility and sensitivity to develop relationships with individuals and households in poorer communities, yet are ill equipped to deal with the wider structural factors often determining behaviour.