Snyder and colleagues (1994, 2000) pioneered the development of hope in terms of promoting goal-directed thinking, whereby the individual can find routes to goals (pathways thinking), and motivation to use them (agency thinking) (Snyder et al., 2002). As individuals learn to be more hopeful, they may be more able to make commitments, set goals, and work towards attaining them (Shorey et al., 2003). Research shows that hope exists uniquely beyond optimism and positive thinking (Feldman & Kubota, 2015). Since the creation of hope theory, there has been a growing body of research evaluating its role in wellbeing. Low hope is significantly related to negative outcomes: psychological distress (Snyder, LaPointe, Crowson, & Early, 1998); depressive symptoms (Kwon, 2000), poorer academic achievement; disengaged coping styles (Folkman, 2010) and tendencies to engage in self-doubt and negative rumination (Snyder, 1999). Low-hope and negative rumination has been linked to anxiety (Michael, 2000), low emotional regulation (ER), low selfesteem and low social support satisfaction in children and adolescents (Merkaš & Brajša-Žganec, 2011). Those higher in hopeful thinking show positive associations with perceived competence and self-efficacy (Davidson, Feldman, Margalit & 2012), increased confidence (Snyder, 2000), lower emotional distress (Gilman, Dooley, & Florell, 2006), greater use of engaged coping styles (Chang & DeSimone, 2001), and positive coping abilities such as problem solving (Snyder, 2000). Nevertheless, there remains some mixed reports, as a meta-analysis by Weis and Speridakos (2011) found no conclusive evidence that hope enhancement strategies alleviate psychological distress, although Klausner and colleagues (2002) found a hope-based intervention for older adults diagnosed with depression resulted in significant improvements on all measured outcomes (hope, anxiety, and family interactions). Using college students, Brown and colleagues (1999), found they experienced increases in levels of hope, academic performances and self-esteem on completion of a hope-based programme. There is a lack of longitudinal research on the impact of hope interventions (Ciarrochi, Heaven, & Davies, 2007), however one post-primary school study showed that students who had received a hope intervention showed significant increases in levels of hope, self-worth and life satisfaction up to 18 months after completion (Marques, Lopez, & Pais-Ribeiro, 2011). Considering relatively weak evidence base on the effectiveness of hope-based interventions in pre and early adolescent children (not just those at risk), a purposeful theoretically sound intervention was considered necessary. Further there are no curriculum-based programmes which explicitly teach children to develop an innate conceptualisation of hope and goal setting

IntroductionProlonged, uninterrupted periods of sedentary time may be associated with increased risk of Type II diabetes, cardiovascular disease and all-cause mortality even if the minimum recommended levels of daily physical activity are achieved. It is reported that children spend approximately 80% of their day engaged in sedentary behaviours. Since children spend a large portion of their waking time at school, school-based interventions targeting excessive or interrupted periods of sedentary time have been investigated in a number of studies. However, results of the effectiveness of studies to-date have been inconsistent.AimTo conduct a systematic review to evaluate the effectiveness of school-based interventions designed to reduce sedentary behaviour on objectively measured sedentary time in children.MethodsFive electronic databases were searched to retrieve peer-reviewed studies published in English up to and including August 2015. Studies that reported objectively measured sedentary time before and after a school-based intervention to reduce sedentary time were included in the review. Risk of bias was assessed using the Cochrane Collaboration method.ResultsOur search identified eleven papers reporting eight interventions. Studies focused on the physical environment, the curriculum, individual in-class activities, homework activities or a combination of these strategies. Three studies reported decreases in sedentary time following intervention. Study follow-up periods ranged from immediately post-intervention to 12 months. None of the studies were judged to have a low risk of bias.ConclusionsMulticomponent interventions which also include the use of standing desks may be an effective method for reducing children's sedentary time in a school-based intervention. However, longer term trials are needed to determine the sustained effectiveness of such interventions on children's sedentary time.

Stress from cumulative adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) can pose a serious risk of experiencing anxiety, depression, and other mood disorders in adolescence. However, there is a paucity of research identifying specific profiles or combinations of exposure to other forms of stressful life events and their impact on adolescent psychopathology. This study attempted a conceptual expansion of the ACE checklist by examining these stressful events. The study used cross-sectional data from a modified version of the CASE Study survey where 864 adolescents (56% female, n = 480), aged from 11 – 18 years were recruited from four post-primary schools in the North-West region of NI. Latent class analysis of the 20-item stressful events checklist revealed 3 distinct risk classes: a low-risk class (53.5%), at-risk class (42.7%), and an immediate-risk class (3.8%). Results showed those at most risk of adolescent psychopathology had the highest probability of encountering interpersonal relationship issues, experiencing family dysfunction, and having close friends experiencing psychological difficulties. Findings indicate that the original ten ACE categories may be too narrow in focus and do not capture the wide range of childhood adversity. Expanding the ACE checklist to include other stressful events is discussed as these may also be antecedents to psychopathologic responses.

BackgroundThe aim of this study was to assess the frequency of chest pain presentations and the subsequent non-cardiac chest pain diagnoses in an emergency department (ED) over a 3 year period.MethodsAdministrative data on ED attendances to an urban general hospital in Northern Ireland between March 2013 and March 2016 were used. Data were coded and analysed to estimate frequencies of ‘chest pain’ presentation and the subsequent diagnoses for each year.ResultsBoth chest pain presentations and chest pain presentations with a subsequent diagnosis of unknown cause increased each year. In total, 58.7% of all chest presentations across 3 years resulted in a non-cardiac diagnosis of either ‘anxiety’, ‘panic’ or ‘chest pain of unknown cause’.DiscussionThere is a significant amount of patients in the ED leaving with a non-cardiac diagnosis, following an initial presentation with chest pain. ConclusionGiven the link between non-cardiac chest pain and frequent use of services, the degree of repeat attendance should be investigated.

No abstract