CoChat
Sign Up
Cited by 116Mobile Health and mHealth ApplicationsDigital Mental Health InterventionsBehavioral Health and Interventions

Theory-based strategies for enhancing the impact and usage of digital health behaviour change interventions: A review

Open access
Morrison, Leanne G·2015·DIGITAL HEALTH
DOI 10.1177/2055207615595335PMC PMC5999061
Open this paper in CoChat — free accountOpen PDF

Abstract

There is growing evidence that digital interventions can successfully effect meaningful changes in health-related behaviour. However, optimisation of digital intervention delivery is challenged by low usage, high attrition and small effect sizes. Whilst a number of conceptual frameworks and models exist to guide intervention planning and development, insufficient attention has been paid to how existing psychological theory could inform the optimal implementation and delivery of the design features commonly used in digital health behaviour change interventions. This paper provides a critical review of psychological theories and models in order to consider their implications for the design of digital interventions. The theories reviewed include theories of: persuasion and attitude change; motivation; volition and self-regulation; patient preferences for participation in medical decision making; and social support. A set of theory-based guidelines is provided to inform the development of future interventions.

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.1177/2055207615595335

Cites

52 of 52 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Claims the paper makes

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Claims other papers make about this one

Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?

Self-check

Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.

The self-check needs the paper’s full text.

Cites

Flagged first, then by citations

Research works printed but not linked: 18

  1. [16]Petty RE Rucker D Bizer G The elaboration likelihood model of persuasion. In: Seiter JS Glass GH (eds). Perspectives on persuasion, social influence and compliance gaining, Boston: Allyn and Bacon, 2004, pp. 65– 89.
  2. [20]Dijkstra A The psychology of tailoring-ingredients in computer-tailored persuasion. Soc Personal Psychol Compass 2008; 2: 765– 784.
  3. [26]Ryan RM Patrick H Deci EL Facilitating health behaviour change and its maintenance: Interventions based on self-determination theory. Eur Health Psychol 2008; 10: 2– 5.
  4. [32]Locke E Latham G A theory of goal setting and task performance, Eaglewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1990.
  5. [34]Klein HJ Whitener EM Ilgen DR The role of goal specificity in the goal-setting process. Motiv Emot 1990; 14: 179– 193.
  6. [37]Latham GP Seijts GH The effects of proximal and distal goals on performance on a moderately complex task. J Organiz Behav 1999; 20: 421– 429.
  7. [39]Winters D Latham GP The effect of learning versus outcome goals on a simple versus a complex task. Group Organiz Manage 1996; 21: 236– 250.
  8. [42]Scheier M Carver C Goals and confidence as self-regulatory elements underlying health and illness behaviour. In: Cameron L Leventhal H (eds). The self-regulation of health and illness behaviour, London: Routledge, 2003, pp. 7– 41.
  9. [43]Fishbach A Dhar R Goals as excuses or guides: The liberating effect of perceived goal progress on choice. J Consum Res 2005; 32: 370– 377.
  10. [45]Leventhal H Brissette I Leventhal E The common-sense model of self-regulation and illness. In: Cameron L Leventhal H (eds). The self-regulation of health and illness, London: Routledge, 2003, pp. 42– 65.
  11. [46]Hall PA Fong GT The effects of a brief time perspective intervention for increasing physical activity among young adults. Psychol Health 2003; 18: 685– 706.
  12. [47]Hall PA Fong GT Temporal self-regulation theory: A model for individual health behavior. Health Psychol Rev 2007; 1: 6– 52.
  13. [49]Gebhardt W On multiple goals and continuous conflict. Eur Health Psychol 2008; 10: 25– 28.
  14. [50]Karoly P Ruehlman LS Okun MA Perceived self-regulation of exercise goals and interfering goals among regular and irregular exercisers: A life space analysis. Psychol Sport Exercise 2004; 6: 427– 442.
  15. [51]Sheeran P Milne S Webb TL Implementation intentions and health behaviour. In: Conner M Norman P (eds). Predicting health behaviour: Research and practice with social cognition models, 2nd ed Buckingham: Open University Press, 2005, pp. 276– 323.
  16. [54]Swenson SL Buell S Zettler P Patient-centered communication: Do patients really prefer it? J Gen Intern Med 2004; 19: 1069– 1079. 15566435 PMC1494788
  17. [61]House J Umberson D Landis K Structures and processes of social support. Annu Rev Soc Psychol 1988; 14: 293– 318.
  18. [65]Lu L Argyle M Receiving and giving support: Effects on relationships and well-being. Counsel Psychol Quart 1992; 5: 123– 133.

Cited by

Sorted by citations

Authors
Morrison, L. G.
Affiliations
University of Southampton (GB)
Corresponding author
Morrison, Leanne G
ORCID
Morrison, Leanne G
Venue
DIGITAL HEALTH
Publisher
SAGE Publications
Published
2015-01
Volume
1
Pages
2055207615595335-2055207615595335
ISSN
2055-2076 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.1177/2055207615595335
PMC
PMC5999061
OpenAlex
W2110664484
Cited by
116
References
52
Citations by year
2026: 14 · 2025: 9 · 2024: 12 · 2023: 10 · 2022: 18 · 2021: 17 · 2020: 14 · 2019: 7 · 2018: 6 · 2017: 4 · 2016: 4 · 2015: 1
FWCI
0.90
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
Locations
  • Digital Health (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc)
  • Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • ePrints Soton (University of Southampton) (acceptedVersion)
  • DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Health Professions › General Health Professions › Mobile Health and mHealth Applications
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Applied Psychology › Digital Mental Health Interventions
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Applied Psychology › Behavioral Health and Interventions
Keywords
digital health interventions, behaviour change interventions, psychological theory, intervention design, persuasion, attitude change, motivation, volition, self-regulation, patient preferences, shared decision-making, social support, intervention attrition

About these checks

Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.

Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.

Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.

What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›

Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review