The DOI matches its Crossref record; 40 of the 42 references it cites were found in a registry or an index, and 2 are not checked yet.
"Is there nothing more practical than a good theory?": Why innovations and advances in health behavior change will arise if interventions are used to test and refine theory
Open accessAbstract
Theoretical and practical innovations are needed if we are to advance efforts to persuade and enable people to make healthy changes in their behavior. In this paper, I propose that progress in our understanding of and ability to promote health behavior change depends upon greater interdependence in the research activities undertaken by basic and applied behavioral scientists. In particular, both theorists and interventionists need to treat a theory as a dynamic entity whose form and value rests upon it being rigorously applied, tested and refined in both the laboratory and the field. To this end, greater advantage needs to be taken of the opportunities that interventions afford for theory-testing and, moreover, the data generated by these activities need to stimulate and inform efforts to revise, refine, or reject theoretical principles.
Overview
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.
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Verification
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.
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?
In the citing paper
“The number and heterogeneity of potential theories that might be used to guide implementation research poses a challenge to researchers wanting to assess and identify theory-based factors underlying healthcare professional behavior [22,28-30].”
From Discriminant content validity of a theoretical domains framework questionnaire for use in implementation research (2014) · cites this paper as [29]
Self-check
Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.
The self-check needs the paper’s full text.
Citations
Cites
The theory of planned behavior
Ajzen, I. (1991) · Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes · doi:10.1016/0749-5978(91)90020-t · Cited by 90,587
Self-efficacy: The exercise of control
Bandura, A., Freeman, W. H., & Lightsey, R. (1999) · Journal of Cognitive Psychotherapy · doi:10.1891/0889-8391.13.2.158 · Cited by 46,835
(1980) · Medical Entomology and Zoology · Cited by 25,810
Health Behavior and Health Education: Theory, Research, and Practice
(1992) · Annals of Internal Medicine · doi:10.7326/0003-4819-116-4-350_1 · Cited by 13,232
The Handbook of Social Psychology
Gravatt, A. E., Lindzey, G. E., & Aronson, F. (1969) · The Family Coordinator · doi:10.2307/582242 · Cited by 12,518
‘Small Changes' to Diet and Physical Activity Behaviors for Weight Management
Hills, A. P., Byrne, N. M., Lindstrom, R. C., & Hill, J. O. (2013) · Obesity Facts · doi:10.1159/000345030 · Cited by 9,526
In search of how people change: Applications to addictive behaviors.
Prochaska, J. O., DiClemente, C. C., & Norcross, J. C. (1992) · American Psychologist · doi:10.1037/0003-066x.47.9.1102 · Cited by 8,596
Evaluating the public health impact of health promotion interventions: the RE-AIM framework.
Glasgow, R. E., Vogt, T. M., & Boles, S. M. (1999) · American Journal of Public Health · doi:10.2105/ajph.89.9.1322 · Cited by 7,217
(2004) · Choice Reviews Online · doi:10.5860/choice.41-3182 · Cited by 4,740
(2000) · Elsevier eBooks · doi:10.1016/b978-0-12-109890-2.x5027-6 · Cited by 4,453
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Items 301–322 of 322
Zhang, H., Kompf, J. M., & Rhodes, R. E. (2025) · International Journal of Behavioral Medicine · doi:10.1007/s12529-025-10412-8
Willmott, T. J., Pang, B., & Rundle-Thiele, S. R. (2021) · Figshare · doi:10.6084/m9.figshare.14702601
Kentab, B. Y., Barry, H. E., Al-Aqeel, S. A., & Hughes, C. M. (2024) · Figshare · doi:10.6084/m9.figshare.26712938
Willmott, T. J., Pang, B., & Rundle-Thiele, S. R. (2021) · Figshare · doi:10.6084/m9.figshare.14702592
Namutebi, M., Nalwadda, G. K., Kasasa, S., Muwanguzi, P. A., & Kaye, D. K. (2023) · Figshare · doi:10.6084/m9.figshare.24186148
Willett, M., Greig, C. A., Fenton, S., Rogers, D., Duda, J., & Rushton, A. (2021) · Figshare · doi:10.6084/m9.figshare.13787967
Kentab, B. Y., Barry, H. E., Al-Aqeel, S. A., & Hughes, C. M. (2024) · Figshare · doi:10.6084/m9.figshare.25706190
Willett, M., Greig, C. A., Fenton, S., Rogers, D., Duda, J., & Rushton, A. (2021) · Figshare · doi:10.6084/m9.figshare.13787970
Willmott, T. J., Pang, B., & Rundle-Thiele, S. R. (2021) · Figshare · doi:10.6084/m9.figshare.14702595
Willett, M., Greig, C. A., Fenton, S., Rogers, D., Duda, J., & Rushton, A. (2021) · Figshare · doi:10.6084/m9.figshare.13787973
Willmott, T. J., Pang, B., & Rundle-Thiele, S. R. (2021) · Figshare · doi:10.6084/m9.figshare.14702604
Willmott, T. J., Pang, B., & Rundle-Thiele, S. R. (2021) · Figshare · doi:10.6084/m9.figshare.14702598
Kentab, B. Y., Barry, H. E., Al-Aqeel, S. A., & Hughes, C. M. (2024) · Figshare · doi:10.6084/m9.figshare.26712935
Kasthuri, R., Rajeswari, S., Jeevitha, N., Savithiri, D., Kavitha, P., Adarsh, R., Vinothina, V., & Sivasubramanian, K. (2026) · IGI Global eBooks · doi:10.4018/979-8-3373-3877-4.ch009
La méthode du marketing social appliquée à une intervention nutritionnelle en magasin
Gamburzew, A. (2018) · theses.fr (ABES) · doi:10.70675/36867f59zad1dz4110zafeaz29946abe4acb
Thu, H., Chan, F. J. H., Hashim, J., & Ali, S. H. (2026) · Journal of Medical Internet Research · doi:10.2196/88911
Tang, Y., Yan, H., Qin, X., Meng, W., Xu, J., Zhou, R., Liu, L., & Yang, Y. (2026) · BMC Geriatrics · doi:10.1186/s12877-026-07710-5
Rasiah, J., Gruneir, A., Poss, J., Holroyd-Leduc, J., & Cummings, G. G. (2026) · PLoS ONE · doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0351298
Health Behavior Theory(s) or Theoretical Framework(s)
Mooren, F. C., & Schmitz, B. (2026) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-3-032-05988-8_2465
Thomas, E. (2011) · Worcester Research and Publications (University of Worcester)
Metadata
- Authors
- Rothman, A. J.
- Affiliations
- University of Minnesota (US)
- Corresponding author
- Rothman, Alexander J
- ORCID
- Rothman, Alexander J
- Venue
- International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity
- Published
- 2004-07-27
- Volume
- 1
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 11-11
- ISSN
- 1479-5868 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC514573
- OpenAlex
- W2151997300
- Cited by
- 322
- References
- 39
- Citations by year
- 2026: 5 · 2025: 7 · 2024: 11 · 2023: 12 · 2022: 21 · 2021: 23 · 2020: 15 · 2019: 17 · 2018: 24 · 2017: 12 · 2016: 19 · 2015: 16 · 2014: 14 · 2013: 15 · 2012: 10
- FWCI
- 13.82
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Licence
- cc-by
- Locations
- International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
- Funders
- National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (R01NS038441)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Applied Psychology › Behavioral Health and Interventions
- Health Sciences › Health Professions › General Health Professions › Health Policy Implementation Science
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Developmental and Educational Psychology › Behavioral and Psychological Studies
- Keywords
- health behavior change, theory testing, theory refinement, intervention research, dynamic theory, persuasion, theory-practice integration
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
