Smoking, unhealthy nutrition, alcohol consumption, and physical inactivity (SNAP behaviours) are major risk factors for multimorbidity but are often studied in isolation. Using longitudinal data, Suhag et al. identified clusters of older adults (aged ≥50) with common SNAP behaviour patterns and distinct sociodemographic profiles and multimorbidity prevalence; whether and how these patterns generalise across adulthood remains unclear. To conceptually replicate Suhag et al. across a wider age range using an independent panel study. We used data from Waves 7–13 of the UK Household Longitudinal Study, analysing adults (aged ≥16) participating across all seven waves (n=18,008). Repeated-measures latent class analysis identified clusters of adults with common SNAP behaviours at Waves 7, 9, 11 and 13. Multinomial and binomial logistic regression examined how clusters were associated with sociodemographic characteristics and disease status (six disease groups plus multimorbidity), respectively. Seven clusters were identified: Overall Low-risk (20% of the sample), Insufficiently active (18%), Poor diet and Insufficiently active (23%), Hazardous and Harmful drinkers (11%), Hazardous drinkers, Insufficiently active and Poor diet (14%), Smokers and Drinkers (5%), and Smokers (9%). Behavioural profiles within clusters were largely stable over time. Associations between clusters and disease outcomes were counterintuitive. The cluster labelled Overall Low-risk on the basis of SNAP behaviours had the highest prevalence of multimorbidity, whereas the Hazardous drinkers, Insufficiently active and Poor diet cluster showed lower prevalence across most conditions. These clusters also differed in sociodemographic composition: the Overall Low-risk cluster comprised mainly older women with lower education and income, while the Hazardous drinkers, Insufficiently active and Poor diet cluster was more likely to comprise individuals in the highest education and income groups. Cluster-analytic techniques can be used to identify population subgroups with distinct behavioural and disease profiles, underscoring the need to consider risk behaviours in conjunction with sociodemographic context.

Reducing single-use plastic packaging is an environmental priority and reusable packaging is often promoted as a sustainable solution, yet little is known about the feasibility of reusable packaging systems for meat delivered to food service venues. This study explored stakeholder perspectives prior to planned implementation of a reuse scheme through semi-structured interviews with food service operators and supply chain stakeholders (n = 23). The qualitative data were analysed using framework analysis informed by the COM-B model. Four key themes were identified: (1) Operational readiness in kitchens, reflecting limited understanding of reuse and resource constraints; (2) Appropriate design of reusable packaging for effective practice, relating to compatibility with workflows and food safety, (3) Power dynamics and fragmentation across the supply chain, highlighting coordination challenges and unclear responsibilities, and (4) Making a business case for reuse, with cost neutrality as a minimum condition. Overall, barriers were primarily operational and systemic rather than technical. Findings highlight the need for coordinated infrastructure, regulatory clarity and financially viable reuse models.

IntroductionObesity is a serious and prevalent problem in dogs. The causes are multifactorial, but owners play a key role and so this paper reports the development and evaluation of a health pack designed to help owners to manage the weight of their dogs.MethodThe pack was informed by previous research, behavior change theory (i.e., the COM-B model), and interviews with 12 veterinary professionals to identify challenges and potential solutions. Six workshops with a total of 28 dog owners provided feedback on the initial ideas. The pack included information on the importance of weight management, how to weigh and assess body condition score (BCS), a journal to track progress, an infographic illustrating the calorific value of treats, cards to help owners manage difficult situations, and a collar tag for the dog. The acceptability of the materials and potential outcomes were evaluated in a pre-registered pilot trial with a sample of 78 dog owners who were posted a health pack, 49 of whom completed a follow-up questionnaire.ResultsThe findings suggested that owners were willing to weigh their dog, found the pack acceptable, and there was preliminary evidence that the weight and BCS of dogs was lower at follow-up than at baseline.DiscussionThe findings illustrate the potential of a health pack for supporting dog owners and provide the basis for a larger RCT to formally evaluate effectiveness.

Managing iodine formation is crucial for realising efficient and stable perovskite photovoltaics. Poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene)polystyrene sulfonate (PEDOT:PSS) is a widely adopted hole transport material, particularly for perovskite solar cells (PSCs). However, improving the performance and stability of PEDOT:PSS based perovskite optoelectronics remains a key challenge. We show that amine-containing organic cations de-dope PEDOT:PSS, causing performance loss, which is partially recovered with thiocyanate additives. However, this comes at the expense of device stability due to cyanogen formation from thiocyanate-iodine interaction which is accelerated in the presence of moisture. To mitigate this degradation pathway, we incorporate an iodine reductant in lead-tin PSCs. The resulting devices show an improved power conversion efficiency of 23.2% which is among the highest reported for lead-tin PSCs, and similar to 66% enhancement in the TS80 lifetime under maximum power point tracking and ambient conditions. These findings offer insights for designing next-generation hole extraction materials for more efficient and stable PSCs.

Almost all societal grand challenges, whether concerning the environment, health, well-being, or the development of sustainable economic models, have at their heart a need to understand people’s behaviour. However, uniting data and insights across disparate fields requires an explicit and shared understanding of concepts, variables, and ideas (e.g., how to characterise and differentiate behaviours). Ontologies provide a mechanism for creating this explicit and shared understanding and are starting to be developed and used in the social and behavioural sciences. This paper proposes an online co-design approach to use and develop ontologies of behaviour to specify the characteristics of behaviour (e.g., habitual, changeable, effortless) and studies that investigate behaviour as part of a project designed to understand how behaviours are related. We report on our experience of collaborative co-development of ontologies using real-time interactive tools and reflect on the benefits and challenges of our approach. We also offer a set of recommendations for researchers interested in applying such methods to co-develop ontologies. The work contributes to efforts to understand the characteristics of behaviour and enable these to be used to understand questions about behaviour (e.g., is poor sleep associated with greater engagement in habitual behaviours?).

Certified compostable packaging has the potential to be a more sustainable alternative to some conventional plastics, but only if disposed of appropriately. This study developed and evaluated the effects of a behaviour change intervention on the disposal of compostable packaging in the co-mingled food and garden waste bin for industrial composting in households in the United Kingdom. The intervention targeted barriers to the appropriate disposal of compostable packaging as identified via focus groups, previous research and the capability, opportunity, motivation-behaviour model. Intervention components included front- and back-of-pack labels, tips on positioning of household bins, visual reminders to check packaging labels and which bin to use, and a bag of compost with an infographic highlighting what happens during the composting process. The intervention was delivered over 6 weeks to 120 households who were provided with compostable and non-compostable items. The results from online surveys completed at three time points (pre-intervention, post-intervention and follow-up) and weekly waste audits that assessed the weight of compostable packaging in the food and garden waste bin showed significant increases in perceived capability, opportunity and motivation to correctly dispose of compostable packaging via the food and garden waste bin over the course of the intervention and increased amounts of compostable packaging disposed of. The implications are that standardised, clear labels on industrially compostable packaging are needed to help residents to identify and appropriately dispose of this packaging. Strategies that automatically prompt which bin to use and increase residents’ awareness and motivation to appropriately dispose of compostable packaging are also recommended.

Compostable packaging may provide a more sustainable alternative to conventional packaging. However, people often inappropriately dispose of compostable packaging which limits its potential benefits. This study applied the Behaviour Change Wheel and the capability, opportunity, motivation-behaviour model to develop and evaluate the effect of a behaviour change intervention on the disposal of compostable packaging at workplaces. Focus groups, observations, analysis of existing materials and a review of the literature identified barriers in relation to capability, opportunity and motivation to compost packaging. The intervention addressed the identified barriers through clear and distinctive labels on packaging, matching bin signage, a motivational video and an onboarding presentation for workplaces. The intervention was implemented in three workplaces and evaluated using a pre-post design. The intervention led to sustained increases in compostable packaging in compostable bins and reduced contamination. A post-intervention survey and roundtable event suggested that the intervention was acceptable to workplace leads and employees. There was no evidence that the intervention changed perceived capability, opportunity and/or motivation. The main recommendations for packaging producers and workplaces include using consistent distinctive bin signage that corresponds with standardized packaging labels.

Background Ontologies are frameworks for representing information that promote clarity, consistency and coherence, reduce the fragmentation of knowledge, and allow datasets and knowledge to be linked across studies, disciplines and domains. To enable this, it is important to identify how concepts of interest (‘classes’) are represented in different ontologies and evaluate the extent to which such classes align (i.e., are ‘interoperable’). This study aims to provide a method for doing this. Methods An automated tool using Meta’s Llama 3 language model was developed and used to compare artificial intelligence (AI) and human approaches to matching ontology classes. The automated tool was then integrated into a hybrid method for identifying classes that appear to refer to the same thing across pairs of ontologies. The method was evaluated by three behavioural scientists who used it to identify similar classes in two ontologies and provided feedback on their experience. Results The automated tool identified a larger number of potential matches than human-led review, so was used to generate a shortlist. The evaluation of the method produced mixed results. Users agreed which classes were identical or essentially the same across contexts, but none of the users identified similar classes that could be imported into an ontology without causing a contradiction or conflict. Users typically found using the method difficult, but many of the challenges related to using ontologies, rather than to the method specifically. Conclusions A combination of automated and human processes appears to be a feasible way to assess the interoperability of ontology classes. While further refinement is needed along with tools and resources that enable the use of ontologies by a broad range of researchers, the study provides a workable method for matching ontology classes in the behavioural and social sciences and offers a practical guide to support its implementation.

Systems for reusing packaging (e.g., refillable bottles for laundry detergent) have the potential to reduce plastic waste and lower the environmental impact of delivering products to consumers. However, despite the potential of reusable packaging, uptake of reuse systems is typically low and so the present research investigated whether informing consumers about these benefits increases their willingness to engage with reuse systems. A total of 969 participants were asked to imagine buying consumer products, such as laundry detergent in refillable bottles, and were then randomly allocated to either receive information on the potential environmental benefit of (i) their using the scheme, (ii) the scheme as a whole, or (iii) no information. The findings suggested that the information increased consumers’ awareness of the environmental impact of reuse systems but did not increase their willingness to use such systems. This finding underscores the need for strategies that go beyond mere dissemination of information, to circumvent obstacles that prevent willing consumers from enacting desirable behaviours.

The development of new strategies which target simultaneous adsorption of corrosive iodine (I2), facilitate reduction into I− and reintroduction within the crystal lattice are highly promising for addressing the longevity of perovskite-based devices.

Body dissatisfaction reflects a person's negative perceptions, thoughts, and feelings regarding their body. Two factors-(1) self-compassion, a positive attitude of self-acceptance despite flaws, and (2) gratitude, the capability to notice and appreciate the positive aspects of life-may help to reduce body dissatisfaction. The present research aimed to provide further evidence for the relationship between gratitude, self-compassion, and body dissatisfaction and test whether meditation focusing on self-compassion can reduce body dissatisfaction. Two online studies were conducted with samples of adult women recruited in the United Kingdom (N = 342 and 117). Study 1 found that self-compassion, but not gratitude, significantly predicted lower levels of body dissatisfaction. Study 2 found that participating in a 3-week meditation program-whether focused on self-compassion or relaxation-increased self-compassion over time and reduced body dissatisfaction. Taken together, the findings that regular meditation can bring positive outcomes to women with body dissatisfaction, regardless of the specific focus or content of the meditation.

There has been a rapid expansion in the quantity and complexity of data, information and knowledge created in the behavioural and social sciences, yet the field is not advancing understanding, practice or policy to the extent that the insights warrant. One challenge is that research often progresses in disciplinary silos and is reported using inconsistent and ambiguous terminology. This makes it difficult to integrate and aggregate findings to produce cumulative bodies of knowledge that can be translated to applied settings. Ontologies can address these challenges; their development and use have the potential to accelerate the behavioural and social sciences. Ontologies can facilitate communication through precise specification and dissemination of terms, and enable efficient data integration, sharing, comparison and analysis. The widespread use of ontologies in the biomedical and biological sciences has led to multiple successes. It is time now for the behavioural and social sciences to follow that lead. In recent years, a number of ontologies have been developed within the behavioural and social sciences; however, efforts have tended to be isolated, with limited resources to support developers and those who work (or would like to work) with and use ontologies. There is a need for coordination and exchange to reduce duplication of work and leverage the value of a community to support the interoperability of these ontologies (linking of entities across domains and datasets). We have therefore initiated the Behavioural and Social Sciences Ontology (BSSO) Foundry, a community of practice and online repository for the development, adoption and use of ontologies in the behavioural and social sciences. The BSSO Foundry aligns with and builds upon the model provided by the Open Biological and Biomedical Ontology Foundry. We describe this new initiative and how to join and contribute to the community of interoperable ontologies for the behavioural and social sciences.

There has been a rapid expansion in the quantity and complexity of data, information and knowledge created in the behavioural and social sciences, yet the field is not advancing understanding, practice or policy to the extent that the insights warrant. One challenge is that research often progresses in disciplinary silos and is reported using inconsistent and ambiguous terminology. This makes it difficult to integrate and aggregate findings to produce cumulative bodies of knowledge that can be translated to applied settings. Ontologies can address these challenges; their development and use have the potential to accelerate the behavioural and social sciences. Ontologies can facilitate communication through precise specification and dissemination of terms, and enable efficient data integration, sharing, comparison and analysis. The widespread use of ontologies in the biomedical and biological sciences has led to multiple successes. It is time now for the behavioural and social sciences to follow that lead. In recent years, a number of ontologies have been developed within the behavioural and social sciences; however, efforts have tended to be isolated, with limited resources to support developers and those who work (or would like to work) with and use ontologies. There is a need for coordination and exchange to reduce duplication of work and leverage the value of a community to support the interoperability of these ontologies (linking of entities across domains and datasets). We have therefore initiated the Behavioural and Social Sciences Ontology (BSSO) Foundry, a community of practice and online repository for the development, adoption and use of ontologies in the behavioural and social sciences. The BSSO Foundry aligns with and builds upon the model provided by the Open Biological and Biomedical Ontology Foundry. We describe this new initiative and how to join and contribute to the community of interoperable ontologies for the behavioural and social sciences.

Systems for reusing containers (e.g., for takeaway food) represent one way to reduce waste. However, evidence suggests that people are relatively unwilling to reuse containers, especially if they show signs of previous use. The present research investigated the hypothesis that providing information about cleaning would increase willingness to reuse containers for takeaway food and reduce concerns about contamination. Study 1 found that information about cleaning decreased, rather than increased, participants’ willingness to reuse visibly stained bowls. Study 2 found no effects from the information about cleaning on willingness to reuse bowls or the accessibility of contamination concerns, although information about cleaning reduced self-reported concerns about hygienic contamination. Taken together, the findings suggest that exposure to information designed to reassure users that containers are properly cleaned is not an effective way to increase engagement with reuse systems for takeaway food. Further studies are therefore needed to test alternative ways to increase people’s willingness to reuse containers that show signs of prior use.

BACKGROUND:Health-risk behaviours such as smoking, unhealthy nutrition, alcohol consumption, and physical inactivity (termed SNAP behaviours) are leading risk factors for multimorbidity and tend to cluster (i.e. occur in specific combinations within distinct subpopulations). However, little is known about how these clusters change with age in older adults, and whether and how cluster membership is associated with multimorbidity. METHODS:Repeated measures latent class analysis using data from Waves 4-8 of the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (ELSA; n = 4759) identified clusters of respondents with common patterns of SNAP behaviours over time. Disease status (from Wave 9) was used to assess disorders of eight body systems, multimorbidity, and complex multimorbidity. Multinomial and binomial logistic regressions were used to examine how clusters were associated with socio-demographic characteristics and disease status. FINDINGS:Seven clusters were identified: Low-risk (13.4%), Low-risk yet inactive (16.8%), Low-risk yet heavy drinkers (11.4%), Abstainer yet inactive (20.0%), Poor diet and inactive (12.9%), Inactive, heavy drinkers (14.5%), and High-risk smokers (10.9%). There was little evidence that these clusters changed with age. People in the clusters characterised by physical inactivity (in combination with other risky behaviours) had lower levels of education and wealth. People in the heavy drinking clusters were predominantly male. Compared to other clusters, people in the Low-risk and Low-risk yet heavy drinkers had a lower prevalence of all health conditions studied. In contrast, the Abstainer but inactive cluster comprised mostly women and had the highest prevalence of multimorbidity, complex multimorbidity, and endocrine disorders. High-risk smokers were most likely to have respiratory disorders. CONCLUSIONS:Health-risk behaviours tend to be stable as people age and so ought to be addressed early. We identified seven clusters of older adults with distinct patterns of behaviour, socio-demographic characteristics and multimorbidity prevalence. Intervention developers could use this information to identify high-risk subpopulations and tailor interventions to their behaviour patterns and socio-demographic profiles.

Despite research indicating that responding with self-compassion to lapses in goal pursuit can help people to achieve their goals, there is evidence that people often struggle to respond with self-compassion when it would benefit them. One reason is that people may not be familiar with the concept of self-compassion or may think negatively of self-compassion. We propose that providing information about self-compassion and its benefits can help people to respond with self-compassion to lapses in goal pursuit. To test this, we randomly assigned participants to a self-compassion psychoeducation condition or control condition and then tested whether they responded with self-compassion to a recalled lapse. The results suggested that, although psychoeducation seemed to influence participants' beliefs about self-compassion, there was no evidence that psychoeducation increased self-compassionate responding. This finding highlights the need to develop additional strategies to help people to translate knowledge about self-compassion into self-compassionate responses to lapses and difficulties.

Single-use packaging is one of the biggest contributors to plastic waste, and reuse has been identified as a key strategy to reduce such waste. However, reusable containers typically become worn, which may influence how consumers think and feel about reuse. The present research explored whether and how evaluations of a takeaway food service changed depending on the appearance of a reusable container. Two studies were conducted (using opportunity sampling) to (i) investigate the effects that signs of use have on people’s perceptions of reusable packaging systems using quantitative methods (Study 1) and (ii) understand the rationale underpinning these evaluations using qualitative methods (Study 2). Study 1 involved an online questionnaire where participants (n = 292) were shown images of reusable bowls for takeaway food with various levels of staining and asked to evaluate the container and the restaurant serving the food using rating scales. Study 2 involved in-person interviews where participants (n = 22) were given the opportunity to inspect either a clean bowl or a stained bowl and then were asked questions about the bowls. Signs of previous use seemed to undermine people’s willingness to reuse containers in the future and were associated with more negative evaluations of the packaging, product, and restaurant serving the food. These findings provide insights into the factors that affect people’s willingness to engage with reusable packaging systems, and we use these findings to suggest behavioural and design interventions that might mitigate negative evaluations and encourage reuse.

While a growing number of studies report on relationships between behaviours (e.g. alcohol consumption, political behaviours, sleep, recycling), there is a need for a shared understanding of behaviour (e.g. how to characterise and differentiate between behaviours) and the ability to integrate insights on the relations between behaviours. Semantic technologies and ontologies can help in formalising the behaviour domain in a structured approach to support sharing, reuse and interoperability in a manner that can allow future researchers to build on activities in this space. In this work-in-progress paper, we describe the semantic technologies (ontology, data capture tool and visualisations) that are currently being developed by the TURBBO (Tools for Understanding the Relationship between Behaviours using Ontologies) project to support researchers in understanding relations between behaviours and reason upon the existent data. In this paper, we also describe our future plans to evaluate the technologies being developed as a part of the project.

Reusable packaging systems can help tackle the global problem of plastic waste by keeping material in circulation. Furthermore, technology now makes it possible to trace material as it moves through the reuse process, which potentially confers benefits across the supply chain. However, research into these digital reuse systems remains limited, particularly from the perspective of consumers who are asked to use such systems. The current work involved a series of online studies designed to identify (i) the barriers and enablers to engaging with digital reuse systems, (ii) which are most strongly endorsed and predict willingness to engage, and (iii) what information about digital reuse systems influences consumers’ willingness to engage and their beliefs. Studies 1 (N = 40) and 2 (N = 300) found that, while people are typically willing to engage with digital reuse systems, some people have concerns over the tracking aspect of digital reuse systems, and this is associated with their willingness to engage. Study 3 (N = 690) found that providing consumers with different types of information about digital reuse systems (e.g., going into more vs. less detail) did not influence their willingness to engage with digital reuse systems or their beliefs about the systems. These findings have implications for how digital reuse systems should be implemented.