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

A Meta-Analysis of Autobiographical Memory Studies in Schizophrenia ă Spectrum Disorder

International audienceMeta-analyses and reviews on cognitive disorders in schizophrenia have ă shown that the most robust and common cognitive deficits are found in ă episodic memory and executive functions. More complex memory domains, ă such as autobiographical memory (AM), are also impaired in ă schizophrenia, but such impairments are reported less often despite ă their negative impact on patients' outcome. In contrast to episodic ă memory, assessed in laboratory tasks, memories of past personal events ă are much more complex and directly relate to the self. The meta-analysis ă included 20 studies, 571 patients with schizophrenia spectrum disorder, ă and 503 comparison subjects. It found moderate-to-large effect sizes ă with regard to the 3 parameters commonly used to assess AM: memory ă specificity (g = -0.97), richness of detail (g = -1.40), and conscious ă recollection (g = -0.62). These effect sizes were in the same range as ă those found in other memory domains in schizophrenia; for this reason, ă we propose that defective memories of personal past events should be ă regarded as a major cognitive impairment in this illness