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A meta-analysis of self-determination theory-informed intervention studies in the health domain: effects on motivation, health behavior, physical, and psychological health
Open accessAbstract
There are no literature reviews that have examined the impact of health-domain interventions, informed by self-determination theory (SDT), on SDT constructs and health indices. Our aim was to meta-analyse such interventions in the health promotion and disease management literatures. Studies were eligible if they used an experimental design, tested an intervention that was based on SDT, measured at least one SDT-based motivational construct, and at least one indicator of health behaviour, physical health, or psychological health. Seventy-three studies met these criteria and provided sufficient data for the purposes of the review. A random-effects meta-analytic model showed that SDT-based interventions produced small-to-medium changes in most SDT constructs at the end of the intervention period, and in health behaviours at the end of the intervention period and at the follow-up. Small positive changes in physical and psychological health outcomes were also observed at the end of the interventions. Increases in need support and autonomous motivation (but not controlled motivation or amotivation) were associated with positive changes in health behaviour. In conclusion, SDT-informed interventions positively affect indices of health; these effects are modest, heterogeneous, and partly due to increases in self-determined motivation and support from social agents.
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“Motivation activation and social support may be interpreted through Self-Determination Theory, which emphasizes the importance of autonomy, competence, and relatedness in sustaining behavior (29).”
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“Indeed, previous research indicated that promoting patients’ self-determination is related to benefits in terms of disease-related behaviors in psychosomatic medicine [113,114,115,116,117].”
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“Meta-analyses have found each of these factors to be associated with decreases in depressive symptoms, but no single treatment covers all mechanisms.”
From Effect of exercise for depression: systematic review and network meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials (2024) · cites this paper as [33]
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“Intrinsic motivation is a key element in autonomy interventions as it is associated to successfully achieving and sustaining treatment targets [3].”
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“Motivation is an essential component of various theories applied to change eating behavior [5,10].”
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“Ntoumanis et al. [49] explain that social connections and relatedness play an important role in SDT.”
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“Emerging evidence suggests that motivation for PA independently contributes to improved mental health outcomes [25].”
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“It has been demonstrated that interventions in the health domain using self-determination theory as a theoretical framework have been effective in positively changing health behavior [18].”
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“[31], the number of dependent variables for indicators of physical health was 16, and the effect size was reported as 0.”
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“Recent meta-analyses of SDT-based techniques support the notion that different self-regulatory and trainer-delivered strategies may be useful for optimizing an individual’s motivation for PA [66,67].”
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“Life satisfaction, positive-negative affect, and burn-out variables are indicators of psychological health (Reis 2001; DeFreese and Smith 2014; Ntoumanis et al. 2021).”
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“Additionally, there is meta-analytic support for the efficacy of health interventions based on SDT that target satisfaction of the psychological needs through need-supporting techniques (Gillison et al. 2019; Ntoumanis et al. 2021).”
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“This condition is associated with positive consequences such as improved adherence to physical activity, enhanced performance, and various indicators of well-being [26].”
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Palombi, T., Lucidi, F., Chirico, A., Alessandri, G., Filosa, L., Tavolucci, S., Borghi, A. M., Fini, C., Cavicchiolo, E., Pistella, J., et al. (2023) · Healthcare · doi:10.3390/healthcare11202707 · Cited by 16
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The reciprocity between psychological need frustration and adolescent problematic smartphone use
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“Ntoumanis et al. conducted a meta-analysis to explore the relationship between motivation and changes in health behaviors across various areas, including diet, physical activity, smoking cessation, and alcohol use [36].”
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“Given that 80% of the sessions of the healthy lifestyle program focused on PA promotion, examining women’s experiences in terms of SDT-related variables and affective outcomes may provide a good indicator for longterm PA maintenance (Ntoumanis et al., 2020).”
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“In support of SDT, a meta-analysis of 73 studies conducted by Ntoumanis et al. (2020) demonstrated that SDT-based interventions’ increases in perceived need support and autonomous motivation were associated with positive changes in health behavior, including exercise and physical activity.”
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Metadata
- Authors
- Ntoumanis, N., Ng, J. Y. Y., Prestwich, A., Quested, E., Hancox, J. E., Thøgersen-Ntoumani, C., Deci, E. L., Ryan, R. M., Lonsdale, C., & Williams, G. C.
- Affiliations
- Curtin University (AU)
- Chinese University of Hong Kong (HK)
- University of Leeds (GB)
- University of Nottingham (GB)
- School of Psychology, Curtin University, Perth, Australia
- University of South-Eastern Norway (NO)
- Australian Catholic University (AU)
- University of Rochester Medicine (US)
- Corresponding author
- Ntoumanis, Nikos
- ORCID
- Venue
- Health Psychology Review
- Publisher
- Informa UK Limited
- Published
- 2020-02-03
- Volume
- 15
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 214-244
- ISSN
- 1743-7199 (ISSN-L)
- 1743-7202
- OpenAlex
- W3002054708
- Cited by
- 1,154
- References
- 118
- Citations by year
- 2026: 237 · 2025: 209 · 2024: 181 · 2023: 264 · 2022: 124 · 2021: 107 · 2020: 31
- FWCI
- 21.15
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- hybrid
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Health Psychology Review (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Repository@Nottingham (University of Nottingham) (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
- University of Birmingham Research Portal (University of Birmingham) (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
- White Rose Research Online (University of Leeds, The University of Sheffield, University of York) (acceptedVersion)
- Repository@Nottingham (University of Nottingham) (submittedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
- NORA - Norwegian Open Research Archives (submittedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Motivation and Self-Concept in Sports
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Applied Psychology › Behavioral Health and Interventions
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism › Diabetes Management and Education
- Keywords
- self-determination theory, health promotion, disease management, autonomous motivation, need support, controlled motivation, amotivation, health behavior, physical health, mental health
- MeSH terms
- Health Promotion, Humans, Mental Health, Motivation, Health Behavior, Personal Autonomy
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