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Governments employ a range of policy instruments to encourage landholders to adopt land management practices that reduce the environmental impacts of agriculture. While the impact of policy instruments may be well-theorised, their implementation in diverse contexts and landholders' complex behavioural responses, makes measurement and prediction of the resulting adoption rates difficult. This constrains the ability of governments to select the optimal combination of policy instruments. We used a participatory modelling approach to incorporate expert knowledge into a Bayesian network model exploring the effect of different policy combinations on the adoption of sustainable farming practices in the Great Barrier Reef catchment, Australia. The model integrates policy instruments including regulating farming practices, offering financial incentives, and facilitating extension programs to educate and assist farmers. Results showed that the effectiveness of a policy instrument on practice adoption was expected to vary depending on which other instruments are implemented, the characteristics of the land managers, the surrounding social context, and the practice itself. This approach demonstrates the utility of Bayesian networks in integrating high-level multi-disciplinary knowledge to address complex environmental policy decisions such as water quality management in the Great Barrier Reef. ● Impact of agriculture on the Great Barrier Reef can be reduced using policy instruments. ● Interactions between instruments for practice adoption are currently poorly understood. ● Mechanisms influencing the impact of policy instruments were explored using an expert-derived Bayesian network. ● Regulations, financial incentives, extension, governance and communication were considered. ● The model facilitates scenario analysis to help to inform policy decisions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Marine citizen science initiatives often aim to foster ocean stewardship, yet the key factors for success remain uncertain. While time in nature and environmental knowledge are believed to be crucial for encouraging stewardship, the role of other aspects of citizen science, such as social experiences, in influencing outcomes is also not well understood. To address this, we surveyed 131 people attending marine citizen science events. We discovered that both nature and social interactions were significantly associated with the likelihood of adopting ocean stewardship actions. Social interactions that involve observing and learning from others were associated with a greater likelihood of future stewardship action. Nature experiences that 'made conservation issues real' were more influential than feeling energized or connected to nature. We also found that some effects vary according to individual characteristics such as ecocentric values and past involvement in groups. Our findings show that marine citizen science initiatives can effectively promote ocean stewardship. They highlight the importance of providing experiences that connect nature experiences to conservation issues and stewardship actions within a social environment that promotes observation and discussion. Additionally, evaluating these programs with clear objectives is crucial for understanding and improving their impact on ocean stewardship. • Observing and learning from others increased the likelihood of future stewardship actions. • Nature experiences that "made conservation issues real" had more impact than feeling energized or connected to nature. • Combining nature experiences and social interactions in citizen science strengthens impact. • Effects vary by ecocentric values and past involvement in groups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Graphical abstract Highlights • Activity in parks and on beaches is associated with support for conservation. • Proximity to rivers, but not coasts or parks, was linked to conservation support. • These effects are not specific to nature: exercise also elicited support. • Environmental concern only mediated the pathway between activity in parks. • Wellbeing and social interaction were key pathways between experience and support. Abstract It is argued that loss and degradation of natural ecosystems reduce the opportunity to experience nature, and as a consequence, reduce concern for nature and support for nature conservation. This phenomenon is termed the 'extinction of experience'. Research suggests a potential association between some nature experiences and conservation support. However, the influence of more typical urban nature experiences on conservation support—such as visiting urban parks—is not well understood. We used a longitudinal, representative dataset of adults in Brisbane, Australia (N = 6181) and examined the effects of nature experiences on conservation support using data from the same individuals surveyed at two time periods (2009 and 2011). Frequency of park use for physical activity with others was associated with conservation support, but no effects were observed for proximity to parkland or area of parkland adjacent to home. Frequency of physical activity on beaches and proximity to waterways were both associated with stronger conservation support, but coastal proximity was associated with lower conservation support. Mediation analysis examined how these experiences elicited support. The influence of park use on conservation support was mediated by all three tested pathways: environmental concern (as theorized by the extinction of experience), and two novel pathways, wellbeing, and social interactions. Neither beach use nor proximity to waterways elicited their effects via environmental concern; the effect of beach use was mediated by wellbeing and social interactions, whereas the effect of waterway proximity was mediated by wellbeing only. To assess whether observed effects were specific to nature, we examined the influence of two contrasting experiences on conservation support: both frequency of exercise classes and weights training elicited conservation support. Although certain urban nature experiences may elicit conservation support, results suggest that a variety of life experiences influence an individual's capacity to support environmental initiatives. Rather than diminishing the role of nature, we argue these findings identify diverse entry points for broadening community support for nature conservation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Communication strategies designed to strengthen individual and community climate action play a key role in reducing greenhouse gas emissions and averting worst-case climate scenarios. However, communicating climate change in a way that motivates action remains a significant challenge. Through two experimental surveys with representative samples of Australian residents (n 1 =723, n 2 =729), we investigated whether climate messages that highlight relevant and iconic places, such as the Great Barrier Reef (GBR), could strengthen individual action on climate change and if so, what messages are most effective in motivating climate-related behaviour. Participants were randomly allocated to receive one of eight messages about climate change and/or the GBR, or a control condition. In Study 1, we found that climate messages centred around the GBR are more effective in strengthening intentions to adopt energy reduction behaviours than generic (non-reef) climate messages when compared to control. However, we find that they are limited in their ability to motivate more impactful civic and social behaviours, including those which seek to influence climate policy support. In Study 2, we found that messages emphasising collective efficacy can enhance message effect and influence the uptake of a broader range of behaviours, both intentions and in situ behaviour. Mediation analysis suggests that this effect was largely driven by emotions related to distress and that place identity and positive emotions did not play a significant role. This research offers an alternative for those looking to expand beyond traditional climate communication strategies and has implications for both theory and practice. [Display omitted] • Centring climate messages around iconic places may promote action. • We conduct two messaging experiments using the Great Barrier Reef as an example. • Reef messages can strengthen behavioural intentions compared to generic messages. • Collective efficacy statements and public-sphere calls to action enhance the effect. • Message effect is largely driven by emotional responses related to distress. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Public opinion has the potential to shape conservation policy-making and implementation. At a local scale, it is argued that human wellbeing is important for conservation success. However, little research has explored how social factors like wellbeing shape public opinion at cross-national scales. Here, we focus on orangutan conservation, where an iconic species near extinction exists amidst complex social issues. We surveyed 2073 Indonesian and Malaysian residents and assessed three indicators of conservation support: policy support, willingness to act for the environment, and willingness to act for orangutans. We then examined how diverse indicators of wellbeing shaped support for orangutan conservation. Our results show that diverse indicators of wellbeing are related to public opinions supportive of conservation in Indonesian and Malaysian citizens. Consistent with our hypotheses, both physical (having basic needs met) and psychological (being free from worry, feeling safe, a sense of agency) wellbeing were positively associated with all three indicators of conservation support. Contrary to common assumptions, not all wellbeing indicators were related to conservation support; we found no evidence that subjective health was positively associated with conservation support. Overall, these findings indicate that social factors such as wellbeing might have an important influence on public opinion about conservation issues, and subsequently, environmental policy-making. Our findings highlight the complexity of the relationship between wellbeing and public opinion, alongside the need to consider multi-dimensional aspects of wellbeing across diverse social and geographic settings. • Wellbeing can shape public opinion on orangutan conservation. • Having basic needs met was important. • Aspirational needs such as agency were also important. • Strategies to build public support should consider community needs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Graphical abstract Highlights • We tested messages emphasising different benefits of coastal management. • Economic messages performed more poorly than environmental or lifestyle messages. • Factual arguments were more effective than moral arguments. • All framed messages performed poorly in political conservatives. Abstract Sustainable management of coastal ecosystems requires engaged communities—communities that support sustainable management policies and are willing to adopt behaviours that promote waterway health. Information provision is a common component of engagement practices, yet little is known about what type of information will most effectively motivate engaged communities. We conducted an experimental study (N = 702) examining the effectiveness of different messages about benefits of sustainable coastal management. We examined two messages about cultural ecosystem services (economic benefits and lifestyle benefits), messages focused on conservation benefits, and a 'control' message, which mentioned threats to coastal ecosystems but no benefits of management. We also compared the effect of factual and moral arguments on engagement outcomes. Overall, economic messages generated lower intentions to adopt household behaviours, and reduced information seeking across the whole sample. Moral arguments were not more effective than messages using factual arguments. In fact, factual arguments were associated with greater policy support and behavioural intentions. We also examined the role of participant values, political orientation and knowledge on message effectiveness. Participants with a conservative political orientation exhibited poorer responses to framed messages, compared with the control message. These findings highlight the importance of considering message content when communicating with communities. Specifically, messages about ecosystem services may not be superior to environmental messages when communicating about local issues. Recommendations for effective communication commonly suggest aligning messages with audience values. While our findings do not contradict this, they do serve as a reminder to avoid simple assumptions about what these values may entail, and that groups less supportive of conservation goals are likely to require more specific strategies to enhance communication effectiveness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate change poses a key threat to marine ecosystems globally. Yet, contemporary discussions on marine conservation and individual action tend to focus on small lifestyle changes such as reducing plastic use. Some question whether campaigns that target "low impact" behaviours such as those related to plastic distract from broader sustainability goals such as mitigating climate change. However, others suggest that promoting simple behaviours may cause "behavioural spillover", where simple behaviours influence the adoption of additional and potentially more impactful behaviours. Across two experimental surveys (N 1 =581, N 2 =572), in the context of the Great Barrier Reef, we test whether messages targeting plastic behaviours can influence the adoption of a range of climate-related behaviours, from reducing personal emissions to urging local representatives to take action on climate change. We find that messages which focus on plastic pollution can potentially lead to an increase in climate behaviours, particularly when past behaviours are made salient. However, we find no positive effects for already engaged audiences. Our findings suggest caution when developing plastic messaging strategies for reef conservation when behavioural spillover is the central goal. • We test whether plastic campaigns can distract from broader marine conservation goals. • Plastic messages positively influence climate behaviours in general audience. • This effect is enhanced when past "easy" plastic behaviours are made salient. • However, we detect a potential negative effect for highly engaged audiences. • Leveraging reef identity may enable spillover from plastic to climate behaviours. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ensuring future water security requires broad community support for changes in policy, practice, and technology, such as those involved in delivering alternative water schemes. Building community support for alternative water sources may involve a suite of engagement activities, ranging from information campaigns, through to grassroots and participatory approaches. There is increasing recognition that ‘social capital’—the degree of social connectedness, trust, and shared values within a community—is important for building support for pro-environmental policies. However, little research has examined how social capital might influence support for alternative water schemes. We surveyed a representative sample of Australian adults (n = 5194). Support for alternative water sources was examined using a series of questions focusing on stormwater harvesting, desalination, and recycled water. Involvement in community organisations (defined as participation or membership) was used as an indicator of social capital. Using a series of mediation analyses, we identified that community involvement is associated with support for alternative water sources, and that this effect is mediated by (i) stronger water-related social norms, (ii) greater water-related knowledge, and (iii) increased recall of water-related information. Our results also suggest that these indirect effects can be conditional upon location, employment status, life satisfaction, and language spoken within the home. These findings highlight the importance of social capital in building engagement in water-related issues, and specifically, building support for alternative water sources. In addition they highlight potential pathways for the association between social capital and support for alternative water sources for different social groups and communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Citizen engagement in water-related issues is vital for securing future water supplies and protecting waterways. In this paper we explore elements of engagement in water related issues -- what people know, what they value and their actions, and describe how these cohere in ways that can inform planning and interventions. Drawing on a nationally representative survey (N = 5194) and an interdisciplinary conceptual framework, this paper outlines how groups within the population differ on engagement in water-related issues. We identify five key groups: (i) the Disengaged, (ii) Aware but inactive, (iii) Active but not engaged, (iv) Engaged but cautious, and (v) Highly engaged. Homeownership, having a garden, being older, and life experiences such as experience of water restrictions had a significant impact on each of the engagement profiles. The utility of this analysis is demonstrated through finding that the groups have distinct views on two key policy examples, support for raingardens and willingness to pay for waterway protection. We suggest ways of targeting individual and community interventions to reach the identified groups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aggression is common in mental health services, but little research has examined exposure to aggression and its impact on staff in children and adolescent settings. Staff members within a child and adolescent psychiatric inpatient unit were interviewed to examine exposure to aggression and perceptions about the impact of aggression. Involvement in episodes of physical aggression was common (84.8%, 28/33) and was linked to difficulty attending work and other emotional and professional sequelae. These findings suggest that aggression is an important issue for staff working in child and adolescent settings and that aggression may impair the therapeutic capacity of staff. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Objective: Aggression is common in children and adolescents admitted to psychiatric inpatient units. Few interventions for reducing aggressive behaviors have been identified. This study aimed to evaluate the impact of a milieu-based behavioral management program on the frequency of aggressive behaviors in a child and adolescent mental health inpatient unit.Method: The behavioral management program incorporated individualized patient management plans, early detection and prevention, staff training, reinforcement of appropriate behaviors, and intervention using the least restrictive option. Outcomes were assessed for 6 months before and after program introduction, and included episodes of aggressive behavior, injuries, use of physical restraint, seclusion, p.r.n. sedation, use of security services, and staffing factors.Results: Implementation of behavioral management led to a significant reduction in the episodes of aggressive behavior (p < .05) and other unwanted outcomes including injuries (p < .05), use of physical restraint (p < .001), and duration of seclusion (p < .001). These outcomes were achieved without reducing the number of admissions, changing the types of patients admitted, increasing staff costs, or increasing the use of p.r.n. medications.Conclusions: Aggressive behaviors in child and adolescent psychiatric inpatient units can be reduced by implementing a broad-based behavioral management program. These findings highlight the importance of organizational approaches to behavior and risk management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Governments in Australia and internationally are experimenting with policy instruments to facilitate the adoption of farming practices with reduced environmental impacts. The Great Barrier Reef (Australia) is one such case, where sustained efforts over 20 years have yielded insufficient progress towards targets to reduce the impacts of agriculture on water quality in downstream marine ecosystems. We present a critical review of policy instruments as implemented in Great Barrier Reef catchments. We catalogue the evolving mix of policy instruments employed in reef programs, and examine evidence of the effectiveness of agricultural extension, financial incentives, and direct regulation of farming practices. There is little robust evidence to assess instrument effectiveness, in part due to the evolving mix of the instruments employed, weak program evaluation and heterogeneity of agricultural enterprises. We identify the need to improve the understanding of instrument fit to landholders and enterprises. We recommend a modelling approach to clarify pathways to impact and guide improved policy evaluation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Broadening community participation in pro-environmental behaviors would benefit from better understanding individuals not yet concerned about nature. In this paper, we examined whether psychological ownership of nature (i.e., the feeling that nature is mine/ours) was positively associated with pro-environmental intentions and particularly, whether this association was contingent on individual differences in environmental views (e.g., new ecological paradigm, dominionistic beliefs toward nature, environmental self-identity, environmental concern, and value orientations). Based on the jiu-jitsu persuasion model, we hypothesized that psychological ownership of nature would resonate with less environmentally-oriented people but might be less effective for those already oriented. Results of a cross-sectional survey distributed to the Australian community (total N = 836) showed that psychological ownership of nature was positively related to civic pro-environmental intentions. However, there was limited evidence supporting the proposed moderation—increased levels of psychological ownership of nature were almost similarly associated with increased pro-environmental intentions for individuals across the environmental orientation spectrum. This paper contributes to the literature on psychological ownership of nature by examining its boundary conditions in nature conservation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Restoration is a means for achieving and sustaining social-ecological system recovery. Failing to plan for both longer-term social and ecological impacts compromises the chances of attaining the intended benefits. Equity and power dynamics are crucial social dimensions to be considered in restoration. Integrating goals, metrics, and activities acknowledging power asymmetries and different types of equity must be done early on and throughout restoration design and evaluation. A logic model applied to restoration can help identify indicators that reflect the necessary inputs and activities to achieve the desired outputs, outcomes, and impacts that encompass social, economic, and ecological dimensions. We must shift attention from a project-based lens to situating restoration as a process within broader social-ecological systems to achieve lasting transformational change. Ecosystem restoration conventionally focuses on ecological targets. However, while ecological targets are crucial to mobilizing political, social, and financial capital, they do not encapsulate the need to: integrate social, economic, and ecological dimensions and systems approaches; reconcile global targets and local objectives; and measure the rate of progress toward multiple and synergistic goals. Restoration is better conceived as an inclusive social-ecological process that integrates diverse values, practices, knowledge, and restoration objectives across temporal and spatial scales and stakeholder groups. Taking a more process-based approach will ultimately enable greater social-ecological transformation, greater restoration effectiveness, and more long-lasting benefits to people and nature across time and place. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Executive control processes, such as sustained attention, response inhibition, and error monitoring, allow humans to guide behavior in appropriate, flexible, and adaptive ways. The consequences of executive dysfunction for humans can be dramatic, as exemplified by the large range of both neurologic and neuropsychiatric disorders in which such deficits negatively affect outcome and quality of life. Much evidence suggests that many clinical disorders marked by executive deficits are highly heritable and that individual differences in quantitative measures of executive function are strongly driven by genetic differences. Accordingly, intense research effort has recently been directed toward mapping the genetic architecture of executive control processes in both clinical (e.g., attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder) and nonclinical populations. Here we review the extant literature on the molecular genetic correlates of three exemplar but dissociable executive functions: sustained attention, response inhibition, and error processing. Our review focuses on monoaminergic gene variants given the strong body of evidence from cognitive neuroscience and pharmacology implicating dopamine, noradrenaline, and serotonin as neuromodulators of executive function. Associations between DNA variants of the dopamine beta hydroxylase gene and measures of sustained attention accord well with cognitive-neuroanatomical models of sustained attention. Equally, functional variants of the dopamine D2 receptor gene are reliably associated with performance monitoring, error processing, and reinforcement learning. Emerging evidence suggests that variants of the dopamine transporter gene (DAT1) and dopamine D4 receptor gene (DRD4) show promise for explaining significant variance in individual differences in both behavioral and neural measures of inhibitory control. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Psychological ownership, i.e., the sense that an object is "mine/ours", has been adapted from the organisational psychology literature and applied to the environmental sphere to promote individuals' conservation behaviours. However, the concept—"psychological ownership of nature"—requires greater scrutiny to inform its usefulness in human dimensions of conservation. Our paper conceptually explores whether nature could be viable objects for ownership feelings. We theoretically differentiate psychological ownership of nature, with sense/feelings of ownership toward nature being the conceptual core, from other similar concepts like place attachment and connection to nature. We also discuss that psychological ownership of nature may effectively elicit conservation behaviours in individuals with strong anthropocentric worldviews but be less influential for those with high ecocentric beliefs. Psychological ownership of nature might also result in adverse outcomes (e.g., nature exploitation). This paper contributes a conceptual elaboration of psychological ownership of nature and its research agenda in conservation. • Psychological ownership of nature refers to the feeling that nature is "mine" or "ours". • It is theoretically distinct from proximate concepts, such as place attachment and connection to nature. • Specific aspects of nature that are psychologically close to one's experiences might enable stronger ownership feelings. • Psychological ownership of nature may effectively promote conservation action among those not yet environmentally oriented. • We offered a research agenda on psychological ownership of nature to advance human dimensions of conservation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Although it is well established that methylphenidate (MPH) enhances sustained attention, the neural mechanisms underpinning this improvement remain unclear. We examined how MPH influenced known electrophysiological precursors of lapsing attention over different time scales. Methods We measured the impact of MPH, compared with placebo, on behavioral and electrocortical markers while healthy adults ( n = 40) performed a continuous monitoring paradigm designed to elicit attentional lapses. Results MPH led to increased rates of target detection, and electrophysiological analyses were conducted to identify the mechanisms underlying these improvements. Lapses of attention were reliably preceded by progressive increases in alpha activity that emerged over periods of several seconds. MPH led to an overall suppression of alpha activity across the entire task but also diminished the frequency of these maladaptive pretarget increases through a reduction of alpha variability. A drug-related linear increase in the amplitude of the frontal P3 event-related component was also observed in the pretarget timeframe (3 or 4 seconds). Furthermore, during immediate target processing, there was a significant increase in the parietal P3 amplitude with MPH, indicative of enhanced perceptual evidence accumulation underpinning target detection. MPH-related enhancements occurred without significant changes to early visual processing (visual P1 and 25-Hz steady-state visual evoked potential). Conclusions MPH serves to reduce maladaptive electrophysiological precursors of lapsing attention by acting selectively on top-down endogenous mechanisms that support sustained attention and target detection with no significant effect on bottom-up sensory excitability. These findings offer candidate markers to monitor the therapeutic efficacy of psychostimulants or to predict therapeutic responses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Response inhibition is a prototypical executive function of considerable clinical relevance to psychiatry. Nevertheless, our understanding of its pharmacological modulation remains incomplete. Methods: We used a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, crossover design to examine the effect of an acute dose of methylphenidate (MPH) (30 mg), atomoxetine (ATM) (60 mg), citalopram (CIT) (30 mg), and placebo (PLAC) (dextrose) on the stop signal inhibition task in 24 healthy, right-handed men 18–35 years of age. Participants performed the task under each of the four drug conditions across four consecutive sessions. Results: Methylphenidate led to a reduction in both response time variability and stop-signal reaction time (SSRT), indicating enhanced response inhibition compared with all other drug conditions. Crucially, the enhancement of response inhibition by MPH occurred without concomitant changes in overall response speed, arguing against a simple enhancement of processing speed. We found no significant differences between ATM and PLAC, CIT and PLAC, or ATM and CIT for either response time variability or SSRT. Conclusions: An acute dose of MPH but not ATM or CIT was able to improve SSRT and reduce response time variability in nonclinical participants. Improvements in response inhibition and response variability might underlie the reported clinical benefits of MPH in disorders such as attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]