University of Victoria

About: University of Victoria is a education organization based out in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Galaxy. The organization has 14994 authors who have published 41051 publications receiving 1447972 citations. The organization is also known as: Victoria College.

Assessing need for social support in parents of children with autism and Down syndrome.

Abstract: Parents of children with autism frequently turn to the service delivery system to access supports designed to help adapt to the challenges of having a child with a life-long impairment. Although studies have suggested various supports and coping strategies that are effective for adapting, few studies have examined parents’ own perceptions of needs, and whether parents felt their needs were being met. In the present study the Family Needs Questionnaire (FNQ; Waaland et al., 1993) was modified to address needs for children with developmental disorders. A sample of fifty-six parents of children with autism and a comparison group of thirty-two parents of children with Down syndrome completed the FNQ. The groups did not differ significantly on the number of important needs reported nor the number of important needs being met. However, the two groups differed in the types of supports they most frequently endorsed as Important or Unmet.

Experimental evidence for the intention–behavior relationship in the physical activity domain: A meta-analysis.

Abstract: OBJECTIVE Most contemporary theories of physical activity include an intention construct as the proximal determinant of behavior. Support of this premise has been found through correlational research. The purpose of this paper was to appraise the experimental evidence for the intention-behavior relationship through meta-analysis. METHODS Studies were eligible if they included: (1) random assignment of participants to intervention/no intervention groups; (2) an intervention that produced a significant difference in intention between groups; and (3) a measure of behavior was taken after the intention measure. Literature searches were concluded in December 2010 among five key search engines. RESULTS This search yielded a total of 1,033 potentially relevant records; of these, 11 passed the eligibility criteria. Random effects meta-analysis procedures with correction for sampling bias were employed in the analysis. The sample-weighted average effect size derived from these studies was d+ = .45 (95% CI .30 to .60) for intention, yet d+ = .15 (95% CI .06 to .23) for behavior. CONCLUSIONS These results demonstrate a weak relationship between intention and behavior that may be below meaningful/practical value. We suggest that prior evidence was probably biased by the limits of correlation coefficients in passive designs. It is recommended that contemporary research apply models featuring intention-behavior mediators or action control variables in order to account for this intention-behavior gap.

Twenty-five winters of unexpected Eurasian cooling unlikely due to Arctic sea-ice loss

Abstract: Winter cooling over Eurasia has been suggested to be linked to Arctic sea-ice loss. Climate model simulations reveal no evidence for such a link and instead suggest that a persistent atmospheric circulation pattern is responsible.