Our group's most accessed new papers from 2018!

Looking back to previous year’s achievements, we are happy to find many colleagues have found our studies useful to read!

Here’s a selection of papers that have attracted a lot of interest so far:

1.

Knittle et al. How can interventions increase motivation for physical activity? A systematic review and meta-analysis ​​​​

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  • Why is this important? Previous research has shown that combining self-monitoring and goal setting leads to changes in physical activity. It turns out that this combination increases motivation as well
  • What did this study add? Interventions which have participants set activity goals, keep track of their activity, or practice being physically active lead to the greatest increases in motivation (See press release)

2. Heino et al. Bayesian evaluation of behavior change interventions: A brief introduction and a practical example

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  • Why is this important? Frequentist inference, as conventionally practiced in social sciences, is widely misused, misunderstood, and reliant on long-run behaviour of statistical methods. It has been recently questioned as the exclusive foundation for evaluating evidence in social scientific settings.
  • What did this study add? In behaviour change interventions, which can be highly context-bound (making “direct replication” difficult) and relatively small, it is especially important to gauge the probability associated with the presence of effect, instead of making dichotomous decisions based on statistical significance alone. This study uses the Let’s Move It feasibility study data, to introduce Bayesian inference in researchers’ toolbox of statistical methods.

3. Vornanen et al. “I would like to discuss it further with an expert”: a focus group study of Finnish adults’ perspectives on genetic secondary findings

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  • Why is this important? Whole genome sequencing may reveal secondary findings indicating health risks that were not initially expected. The types of support people need after receiving secondary findings need to be better understood.
  • What did this study add?Despite positive attitude towards receiving secondary findings, people were worried about whether relevant counselling and preventive treatment would be available for individuals and families. Preventive treatment paths need to be planned when reporting secondary findings.

4. Beattie et al. Applying Behavioral Theory to Increase Mindfulness Practice Among Adolescents: an Exploratory Intervention Study Using a Within-Trial RCT Design

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  • Why is this important? Mindfulness practice may help in promoting mental health, but little is known about what predicts uptake of practice.
  • What did this study add? This was the first study ever to draw on behaviour change theory and evidence to build a booster intervention targeting mindfulness practice behaviour, evaluated in a within-trial RCT design.

5. Haukkala et al. Survey on public knowledge and attitudes concerning genomics

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  • Why is this important? When integrating new practices of genetics into healthcare, public attitudes towards genetic testing need to be taken into account.
  • What did this study add? Finnish survey respondents had good basic knowledge of genetics. They were interested in various types of genetic risk information, but felt that they know too little about genetic testing.