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That Which Is Measured Improves”: An Integrative Review Of The Role Of Self-monitoring In Symptom Self-management And Behavior Change.
Open accessAbstract
Current psychological treatment approaches that rely on time-intensive, face-to-face psychotherapy are not capable of meeting the demand for mental health services.Mental health interventions that promote selfregulation and self-management of symptoms will play an increasingly important role in the well-being of millions of individuals.Self-monitoring is a core assessment and intervention component of many mental health interventions and an obligatory first step in the self-regulation process.The present paper reviews prominent theories of self-regulation and describes classic studies spanning clinical, social, cognitive, and personality psychology, which identify potential mechanisms underlying self-monitoring.At the empirical level, we describe the use of self-monitoring across a range of behavioral interventions directed at mental health and physical outcomes, identify factors that influence the effects of self-monitoring, and suggest ways in which technology can be incorporated into these interventions to improve the reach of psychological interventions.
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“systematic reviews have not found conclusive evidence in terms of direction or magnitude (Chen et al., 2017; Dogan et al. 2017).”
From Effects of a Personalized Stress Management Intervention on Maternal Mental Health: A Randomized Clinical Trial. (2025) · cites this paper as Chen et al., 2017
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“In particular, components such as daily consumption tracking, feedback mechanisms, and behavioral awareness techniques play a significant role in reducing tobacco use (Chen et al., 2017 ).”
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Metadata
- Authors
- Chen, J. A., Fearey, E., & Smith, R. E.
- Affiliations
- University of Washington (US)
- University of Maine (US)
- ORCID
- Chen, Jessica A.
- Venue
- Journal Of Behavior Therapy And Mental Health
- Publisher
- Open Access Pub
- Published
- 2017-03-24
- Volume
- 1
- Issue
- 4
- Pages
- 19-38
- ISSN
- 2474-9273 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2602660564
- Cited by
- 27
- References
- 113
- Citations by year
- 2026: 11 · 2025: 8 · 2024: 2 · 2023: 3 · 2022: 1 · 2021: 1 · 2017: 1
- FWCI
- 0.31
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- diamond
- doi.org
- Licence
- cc-by
- Locations
- Journal of Behavior Therapy And Mental Health (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Applied Psychology › Digital Mental Health Interventions
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Applied Psychology › Behavioral Health and Interventions
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Anxiety, Depression, Psychometrics, Treatment, Cognitive Processes
- Keywords
- self-monitoring, symptom self-management, behavior change, self-regulation, behavioral interventions, mental health interventions, technology-based interventions, access to psychological treatment
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