Four academics from the Aberdeen Health Psychology group travelled to Groningen (pronounced as if you are spitting out some unpleasant food), in the Netherlands, to attend the 39th Annual Conference of the European Health Psychology Society (EHPS) from 26 to 29 August 2025. The central theme of the conference was ‘Putting Health Psychology to Work: Prevention, Practice, and Policy’ emphasizing the translation of health psychology research into effective, real-world applications that impact public health and policy development.
Dr Dan Powell participated in a fabulous roundtable session titled ‘Advancing stress – health behaviour research in daily life’, in which he joined other panellists to examine cutting-edge developments in understanding the complex interplay between stress and health-related behaviours within everyday contexts to drive this field forward.
Professor Marie Johnston had a SOTA (State of the Art) in the session on ‘Theories of Behaviour Change’. She discussed ‘Why Might Theory-Based Behaviour Change Interventions Not Work?’. Her presentation offered a compelling examination of the limitations of prevailing theoretical frameworks in health behaviour change, drawing attention to the critical need for advancing and refining theory and the use of theory to enhance intervention efficacy.
Dr Chantal den Daas launched a special interest group on LGBTQIA+, 
We were also delighted to bump into former Aberdeen MSc Health Psychology student, Katrin Brückner, now a PhD student at Munich Technical University, who presented on psychological influences of fruit and veg purchases in the supermarket. Furthermore, many former Aberdeen colleagues were present, one special mention for Turu (Gertraud) Stadler, who was announced as keynote for next year’s conference in Cyprus.
Beside hardcore academic work, the group enjoyed the Dutch delicacy of ‘bitterballen’ (fried ragou balls), and meeting all their pals.