Developing Behavior Change Interventions

Peer reviewe

Changing Behavior : A Theory- and Evidence-Based Approach

Social problems in many domains, including health, education, social relationships, and the workplace, have their origins in human behavior. The documented links between behavior and social problems have sparked interest in governments and organizations to develop effective interventions to promote behavior change. The Handbook of Behavior Change provides comprehensive coverage of contemporary theory, research, and practice on behavior change. The handbook incorporates theory- and evidence-based approaches to behavior change with chapters from leading theorists, researchers, and practitioners from multiple disciplines, including psychology, sociology, behavioral science, economics, and implementation science. Chapters are organized into three parts: (1) Theory and Behavior Change; (2) Methods and Processes of Behavior Change: Intervention Development, Application, and Translation; and (3) Behavior Change Interventions: Practical Guides to Behavior Change. This chapter provides an overview of the theory- and evidence-based approaches of the handbook, introduces the content of the handbook, and provides suggestions on how the handbook may be used by different readers. The handbook aims to provide all interested in behavior change, including researchers and students, practitioners, and policy makers, with up-to-date knowledge on behavior change and guidance on how to develop effective interventions to change behavior in different populations and contexts.Peer reviewe

Incentive-Based Interventions

This chapter provides a framework for how incentives affect behavior change. Economic theory is built on the premise that incentives matter, but empirical evidence shows the effect of incentives on behavior is more complicated than predicted by the basic law of demand. Our framework highlights four potential “channels” through which incentives can affect behavior change: First, incentives can help create “desirable” or “adaptive” habits by building up the stock of behavior. Increasing recent experience makes current behavior less costly and more enjoyable. Second, incentives can help “kill” undesirable or maladaptive habits by reducing the stock of behavior. Decreasing recent experience makes current behavior costlier and less enjoyable. Third, incentives can help counter present bias. Using frequent and regular incentives helps change behavior. Fourth, incentives can help remove barriers to change. Using incentives to reduce switching costs makes uptake of the desired behavior or activity cheaper or even free. These four channels and the supporting empirical evidence for them have implications for how incentive-based interventions work and provide guidance on how best to design them for optimal efficacy

Changing behavior using ecological models

Ecological models have their origins in ecological psychology which acknowledges the importance of human-environment interactions in understanding and changing human behavior. Most ecological models incorporate multiple levels of influence including policy, community, organizational, social and individual. Some ecological models have been further developed to inform interventions to change human behavior, however, many lack the specificity of behavioral theories. For this reason they have often been paired with theories such as social cognitive theory, organizational theory, behavioral choice theory, etc. A review of 157 intervention studies targeting nutrition, physical activity, smoking, sexual behavior, alcohol/substance use, disease screening and other behaviors reported that fewer than 10% used ecological models to inform intervention design, and 63% focused on just one or two levels of the ecological model. A meta-analysis of 96 health promotion interventions that used ecological models to target child and adolescent smoking, physical activity and diet found an overall effect size of g=0.2, and an effect of g=0.07 after approximately 12-months follow-up. However, organizational and policy targets remain understudied, with a further review reporting just 9% of interventions to prevent unhealthy weight amongst children were multi-level. A major challenge with ecological models is their partial use in interventions. It is recommended that behavior change interventions target all levels of ecological models. Future research should focus on how ecological models can help change the behavior of whole communities, how ecological models can be used within a systems framework, and how they can assist with the scaling up of interventions to improve population reach