In this study we investigated materialism among future educators and its relationship with stress and a number of health behaviors. Participants were 228 students (Mean= 20.64 years of age, S.D= 2.571) of the Department of Education Sciences in Early Childhood of the University of Thrace, Greece.The instrument consisted of a short form of the Material Values Scale with three subscales, pertaining to the following three domains: possession-defined success, acquisition centrality and acquisition as the pursuit of happiness. Measurements also included the Perceived Stress Scale and questions on several health behaviors. The findings suggested that materialism values were held by 40% of the participants whereas the component of materialism as happiness pursuit particularly was related to higher levels of stress. Finally, the younger the future educators were the more materialistic values they held. Suggestions for further research are discussed and, considering that children use their educators as models, health promoting interventions that take into account materialism effects are suggested.
Sexuality education is one of the most disputable health education programs as far as its inclusion in Early Childhood Education is concerned. This study was conducted in order to investigate early childhood future educators' attitudes and considerations about introducing sexuality education to their future pupils. We used a qualitative research method: semi-structured interviews for two groups of students in the Department of Educational Studies in Early Childhood, University of Northern Greece. The results revealed that the students who had chosen and successfully completed a course about early childhood sexuality education were the ones who indicated the subject as one of the basic ones to be taught in the kindergarten. Furthermore, they expressed their considerations about Greek bibliography's lag in this field. Finally, they exhibited more readiness to introduce sexuality education to their future pupils than the rest of the students did. Students who had not attended a relative course referred to developmentally inappropriate subject areas, showing their inability or even riskiness to introduce sexuality to their pupils. The results suggested the students' need for relevant theoretical as well as practical education.
BackgroundGreece has the highest smoking rates (in the 15-nation bloc) in Europe. The purpose of this study was to investigate Greek smokers' intention and appraisal of capability to quit employing the theoretical frameworks of Decisional Balance (DB) and Cognitive Dissonance (CD).MethodsA cross-sectional study including 401 Greek habitual smokers (205 men and 195 women), falling into four groups according to their intention and self-appraised capability to quit smoking was carried out. Participants completed a questionnaire recording their attitude towards smoking, intention and self appraised capability to quit smoking, socio-demographic information, as well as a DB and a CD scale.ResultsThe most numerous group of smokers (38%) consisted of those who neither intended nor felt capable to quit and these smokers perceived more benefits of smoking than negatives. DB changed gradually according to smokers' "readiness" to quit: the more ready they felt to quit the less the pros of smoking outnumbered the cons. Regarding relief of CD, smokers who intended but did not feel capable to quit employed more "excuses" compared to those who felt capable. Additionally smokers with a past history of unsuccessful quit attempts employed fewer "excuses" even though they were more frequently found among those who intended but did not feel capable to quit.ConclusionFindings provide support for the DB theory. On the other hand, "excuses" do not appear to be extensively employed to reduce the conflict between smoking and concern for health. There is much heterogeneity regarding smokers' intention and appraised capability to quit, reflecting theoretical and methodological problems with the distinction among stages of change. Harm reduction programs and interventions designed to increase the implementation of smoking cessation should take into account the detrimental effect of past unsuccessful quit attempts.
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