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Cited by 160Behavioral Health and InterventionsMeta-analysis and systematic reviewsBehavioral and Psychological Studies

Meta-Synthesis of Health Behavior Change Meta-Analyses

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Johnson, Blair T., Scott-Sheldon, Lori A.J., Carey, Michael P.·2010·American Journal of Public Health
DOI 10.2105/ajph.2008.155200PMC PMC2951968
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Abstract

Objectives. We integrated and compared meta-analytic findings across diverse behavioral interventions to characterize how well they have achieved change in health behavior. Methods. Outcomes from 62 meta-analyses of interventions for change in health behavior were quantitatively synthesized, including 1011 primary-level investigations with 599 559 participants. Content coding suggested 6 behavioral domains: eating and physical activity, sexual behavior, addictive behaviors, stress management, female-specific screening and intervention behaviors, and behaviors involving use of health services. Results. Behavior change interventions were efficacious (mean effect sizes = 0.08–0.45). Behavior change was more evident in more recent meta-analyses; those that sampled older interventions and literatures or sampled more published articles; those that included studies that relied on self-report, used briefer interventions, or sampled fewer, older, or female participants; and in some domains (e.g., stress management) more than others (e.g., sexual behaviors). Conclusions. Interventions improved health-related behaviors; however, efficacy varied as a function of participant and intervention characteristics. This meta-synthesis provides information about the efficacy of behavioral change interventions across health domains and populations; this knowledge can inform the design and development of public health interventions and future meta-analyses of these studies.

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  • Additional workload caused by the implementation of new complex interventions hindered adoption.

    “Additional workload caused by the implementation of new complex interventions was also found to hinder adoption [17, 31, 44, 54, 66, 81, 84].”

    From Achieving change in primary care—causes of the evidence to practice gap: systematic reviews of reviews (2015) · cites this paper as [81]

    The Results section on factors linked with intervention efficacy compares intervention length and effect sizes, not workload or adoption. A search for implementation workload and adoption barriers found no passage in our copy addressing the claimed obstacle. (LLM, conf=0.72)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured

  • Previous personal experience in clinical practice or with the information system affected professional attitudes to a new system or intervention.

    “Previous personal experience in clinical practice or with the information system affected professional attitudes to a new system or intervention [54, 66, 77, 81].”

    From Achieving change in primary care—causes of the evidence to practice gap: systematic reviews of reviews (2015) · cites this paper as [81]

    The Results and Discussion passages address the efficacy of health-behavior interventions, not professionals’ attitudes toward a new system or intervention. Searches for prior clinical or information-system experience and professional attitudes found no passage addressing the claimed relationship. The indexed passages provide section labels but no page numbers. (LLM, conf=0.76)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured

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Cited by

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Authors
Johnson, B. T., Scott-Sheldon, L. A. J., & Carey, M. P.
Affiliations
  • University of Connecticut (US)
  • Syracuse University (US)
ORCID
Venue
American Journal of Public Health
Publisher
American Public Health Association
Published
2010-11
Volume
100
Issue
11
Pages
2193-2198
ISSN
  • 0090-0036 (ISSN-L)
  • 1541-0048
DOI
10.2105/ajph.2008.155200
PMC
PMC2951968
OpenAlex
W2023583029
Cited by
160
References
12
Citations by year
2026: 4 · 2025: 2 · 2024: 4 · 2023: 7 · 2022: 9 · 2021: 11 · 2020: 10 · 2019: 12 · 2018: 17 · 2017: 8 · 2016: 19 · 2015: 11 · 2014: 15 · 2013: 10 · 2012: 11
FWCI
1.01
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • American Journal of Public Health (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Funders
  • Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (P01CD000237)
  • National Institute of Mental Health (K02 MH01582, R01MH058563, R01-MH58563, K02MH001582)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Applied Psychology › Behavioral Health and Interventions
  • Social Sciences › Decision Sciences › Statistics, Probability and Uncertainty › Meta-analysis and systematic reviews
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Developmental and Educational Psychology › Behavioral and Psychological Studies
Keywords
health behavior change, behavioral interventions, intervention efficacy, dietary habits, physical activity, sexual behavior, addictive behavior, stress management, health screening, health care utilization, self-report measures, intervention duration, participant characteristics
MeSH terms
Adolescent, Adult, Age Factors, Child, Feeding Behavior, Female, Health Promotion, Health Services, Humans, Male, Middle Aged, Sexual Behavior, Sex Factors, Stress, Psychological, Program Evaluation, Health Behavior, Exercise, Substance-Related Disorders, Young Adult

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