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Mary Hassandra

Other affiliations: University of Jyväskylä
Bio: Mary Hassandra is an academic researcher from University of Thessaly. The author has contributed to research in topics: Randomized controlled trial & Physical education. The author has an hindex of 10, co-authored 27 publications receiving 272 citations. Previous affiliations of Mary Hassandra include University of Jyväskylä.

Papers
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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the authors evaluated the effectiveness of an intervention program aimed to develop fair play behaviours in a school Olympic education program and found that the intervention had immediate and sustained effects on students.
Abstract: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of an intervention program aimed to develop fair play behaviours in a school Olympic Education program. One hundred and twenty six, 5th-grade students from 4 elementary schools participated in this study, 66 of which were in the experimental group and 60 in the control group. The results revealed significant improvement in the reported fair play behaviours, classroom support and autonomy, orientation toward play and intrinsic motivation of the intervention group. Follow-up assessment revealed that the effects were maintained two months after the end of the program. Overall, it appears that the fair play intervention had immediate and sustained effects on students. The results suggest that programs based on sound theoretical principles can be effective in promoting students’ sociomoral development.

46 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The results of this study suggests that the determinants of smoking vary between early and late adolescence.
Abstract: Differences were examined in Theory of Planned Behaviour determinants of students’ intention to smoke including parents’ attitudes towards smoking and parents’ current cigarette use among Greek students of different school grade levels. Students (N = 763) aged 10–18 years reported their attitudes towards smoking, subjective norms, perceived behavioural control, self-identity and intention to smoke while their parents (N = 525) reported their attitudes towards smoking and their current cigarette use. All the TPB variables increased from lower to higher school grade level. Multi-sample path analyses showed that parent's attitudes towards smoking positively predicted students’ intention to smoke only for elementary school children. Parents’ current cigarette use did not contribute significantly. Students’ attitudes, perceived behavioural control and self-identity predicted systematically intention to smoke in contrast to the subjective norm that did not contribute at all. Perceived behavioural control contri...

40 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
24 Mar 2021
TL;DR: The VRADA system as mentioned in this paper allows older people with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) to simultaneously practice physical and cognitive skills on a dual task, and the study showed that participants showed a significant preference for the VR condition, while the perceived adverse effects were minimal.
Abstract: Background: Therapeutic virtual reality (VR) has emerged as an effective treatment modality for cognitive and physical training in people with mild cognitive impairment (MCI). However, to replace existing nonpharmaceutical treatment training protocols, VR platforms need significant improvement if they are to appeal to older people with symptoms of cognitive decline and meet their specific needs. Objective: This study aims to design and test the acceptability, usability, and tolerability of an immersive VR platform that allows older people with MCI symptoms to simultaneously practice physical and cognitive skills on a dual task. Methods: On the basis of interviews with 20 older people with MCI symptoms (15 females; mean age 76.25, SD 5.03 years) and inputs from their health care providers (formative study VR1), an interdisciplinary group of experts developed a VR system called VRADA (VR Exercise App for Dementia and Alzheimer’s Patients). Using an identical training protocol, the VRADA system was first tested with a group of 30 university students (16 females; mean age 20.86, SD 1.17 years) and then with 27 older people (19 females; mean age 73.22, SD 9.26 years) who had been diagnosed with MCI (feasibility studies VR2a and VR2b). Those in the latter group attended two Hellenic Association Day Care Centers for Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Disorders. Participants in both groups were asked to perform a dual task training protocol that combined physical and cognitive exercises in two different training conditions. In condition A, participants performed a cycling task in a lab environment while being asked by the researcher to perform oral math calculations (single-digit additions and subtractions). In condition B, participants performed a cycling task in the virtual environment while performing calculations that appeared within the VR app. Participants in both groups were assessed in the same way; this included questionnaires and semistructured interviews immediately after the experiment to capture perceptions of acceptability, usability, and tolerability, and to determine which of the two training conditions each participant preferred. Results: Participants in both groups showed a significant preference for the VR condition (students: mean 0.66, SD 0.41, t29=8.74, P<.001; patients with MCI: mean 0.72, SD 0.51, t26=7.36, P<.001), as well as high acceptance scores for intended future use, attitude toward VR training, and enjoyment. System usability scale scores (82.66 for the students and 77.96 for the older group) were well above the acceptability threshold (75/100). The perceived adverse effects were minimal, indicating a satisfactory tolerability. Conclusions: The findings suggest that VRADA is an acceptable, usable, and tolerable system for physical and cognitive training of older people with MCI and university students. Randomized controlled trial studies are needed to assess the efficacy of VRADA as a tool to promote physical and cognitive health in patients with MCI.

29 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: It is hypothesize that school students receiving the teacher-delivered intervention to promote autonomous motivation toward physical activity will exhibit greater participation in physical activities outside of school, relative to students receiving a control intervention.
Abstract: Given the documented decline in levels of physical activity in early adolescence, promoting physical activity in young people is a priority for health promotion. School physical education (PE) is an important existing network in which participation in physical activity beyond school can be promoted to the captive young people. The objective of current article is to present the protocol for a PE teacher-delivered theory-based trial to promote secondary school students’ participation in physical activity out-of-school contexts. The intervention will be guided by the trans-contextual model explaining the processes by which PE teachers’ support for autonomous motivation in the classroom promotes students’ motivation to engage in out-of-school physical activity. We hypothesize that school students receiving the teacher-delivered intervention to promote autonomous motivation toward physical activity will exhibit greater participation in physical activities outside of school, relative to students receiving a control intervention. The trial will adopt a waitlist-control design with cluster-randomization by school. PE teachers assigned to the intervention condition will receive a two-week, 12-h training program comprising basic information on how to promote out-of-school physical activity and theory-based training on strategies to promote students’ autonomous motivation toward physical activity. Teachers assigned to the waitlist control condition will receive an alternative training on how to monitor physical functional capacity in children with special needs. PE teachers (n = 29) from eleven schools will apply the intervention program to students (n = 502) in PE classes for one month. Physical activity participation, the primary outcome variable, and psychological mediators from the trans-contextual model will be measured at pre-trial, post-trial, and at one-, three- and six-months post-trial. We will also assess teachers’ autonomy-supportive techniques and behaviours by observation. The study will make a unique contribution to the literature by testing a theory-based intervention delivered by PE teachers to promote school students’ participation in out-of-school physical activity. Information will be useful for educators, community stakeholders and policy makers interested in developing programs to promote students’ out-of-school physical activity. ISRCTN39374060 . Registered 19.7.2018.

29 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Findings support the idea that PA promotion interventions produce positive changes in PA behavior for a variety of disability conditions, and risk of bias assessment calls for prudence.

23 citations


Cited by
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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Ajzen et al. as discussed by the authors discussed the nature of intentions and the limits of predictive validity, rationality, affect and emotions; past behaviour and habit; the prototype/willingness model; and the role of such background factors as the big five personality traits and social comparison tendency.
Abstract: The seven articles in this issue, and the accompanying meta-analysis in Health Psychology Review [McEachan, R.R.C., Conner, M., Taylor, N., & Lawton, R.J. (2011). Prospective prediction of health-related behaviors with the theory of planned behavior: A meta-analysis. Health Psychology Review, 5, 97–144], illustrate the wide application of the theory of planned behaviour [Ajzen, I. (1991). The theory of planned behavior. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 50, 179–211] in the health domain. In this editorial, Ajzen reflects on some of the issues raised by the different authors. Among the topics addressed are the nature of intentions and the limits of predictive validity; rationality, affect and emotions; past behaviour and habit; the prototype/willingness model; and the role of such background factors as the big five personality traits and social comparison tendency.

2,902 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, applied linear regression models are used for linear regression in the context of quality control in quality control systems, and the results show that linear regression is effective in many applications.
Abstract: (1991). Applied Linear Regression Models. Journal of Quality Technology: Vol. 23, No. 1, pp. 76-77.

1,811 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
28 Mar 1959-BMJ

858 citations