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Making health habitual: the psychology of ‘habit-formation’ and general practice
Open accessAbstract
The Secretary of State recently proposed that the NHS: ‘... take every opportunity to prevent poor health and promote healthy living by making the most of healthcare professionals’ contact with individual patients.’ 1 Patients trust health professionals as a source of advice on ‘lifestyle’ (that is, behaviour) change, and brief opportunistic advice can be effective.2 However, many health professionals shy away from giving advice on modifying behaviour because they find traditional behaviour change strategies time-consuming to explain and difficult for the patient to implement.2 Furthermore, even when patients successfully initiate the recommended changes, the gains are often transient3 because few of the traditional behaviour change strategies have built-in mechanisms for maintenance. Brief advice is usually based on advising patients on what to change and why (for example, reducing saturated fat intake to reduce the risk of heart attack). Psychologically, such advice is designed to engage conscious deliberative motivational processes, which Kahneman terms ‘slow’ or ‘System 2’ processes.4 However, the effects are typically short-lived because motivation and attention wane. Brief advice on how to change, engaging automatic (‘System 1’) processes, may offer a valuable alternative with potential for long-term impact. Opportunistic health behaviour advice must be easy for health professionals to give and easy for patients to implement to fit into routine health care. We propose that simple advice on how to make healthy actions into habits — externally-triggered automatic responses to frequently encountered contexts — offers a useful option in the behaviour change toolkit. Advice for creating habits is easy for clinicians to deliver and easy for patients to implement: repeat a chosen behaviour in the same context, until it becomes automatic and effortless. While often used as a synonym for frequent or customary behaviour in everyday parlance, within psychology, ‘habits’ are defined as actions that …
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“Forming medication taking habits can reduce reliance on memory and help sustain behaviour change.39–42”
From Refining and optimising a behavioural intervention to support endocrine therapy adherence (ROSETA) in UK women with breast cancer: Protocol for a pilot fractional factorial trial (2023) · cites this paper as [41]
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredThe cited source says what the claim attributes to it.
In the citing paper
“Habit-based advice has been identified as particularly useful in primary care, as it is less time consuming to explain and easier for patients to implement than traditional behaviour change strategies.22”
From A brief intervention for weight control based on habit-formation theory delivered through primary care: results from a randomised controlled trial (2017) · cites this paper as [22]
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“Interventions targeting automatic actions have application where patients’ level of engagement or motivation means that more traditional behavioural approaches with inherently high demand for commitment achieve limited adherence.22, 23”
From A brief intervention for weight control based on habit-formation theory delivered through primary care: results from a randomised controlled trial (2017) · cites this paper as [22]
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“This can be because habit formation usually takes 2-3 months [86], and significant HbA1c changes require at least 3 months [87].”
From Digital Health Interventions to Prevent Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus: Systematic Review (2025) · cites this paper as [86]
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In the citing paper
“Implementing health related behaviour change also takes time and with any skill, practice is important (Gardner et al., Citation2012).”
From The feasibility and acceptability of a single-session Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) intervention to support women self-reporting fear of childbirth in a first pregnancy. (2023) · cites this paper as Gardner et al., 2012
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“While there are no guidelines on the length of intervention for improving performance, research in older adults shows that cognitive training for anywhere from one year to five years can have benefits for functional outcomes [27], while sustained behaviour change may take around 10 weeks [28].”
BackgroundFournier, M., Radel, R., Bailly, L., Pradier, C., Fabre, R., Fuch, A., Mossé, P. R., Domerego, J.-J., Gal, J., & d’Arripe-Longueville, F. (2018) · BMC Cardiovascular Disorders · doi:10.1186/s12872-018-0809-1 · Cited by 15
“The measure of habits (SRBAI) did not show significant results, although we suspect that the participants may have started to create habits.”
BackgroundMethodInfluentialHoo, Z. H., Wildman, M. J., Campbell, M. J., Walters, S. J., & Gardner, B. (2019) · Patient Preference and Adherence · doi:10.2147/ppa.s186417 · Cited by 12
“However, automatic control of habitual behavior reduces the dependency on conscious attention or deliberative processes, such that habitual behavior should persist even when attention or conscious motivation wane.(16) Indeed, studies in various long-term conditions have highlighted the strong association between habit…”
BackgroundSelf-citationHoward, S., Houghton, C. M. G., White, R., Fallon, V., & Slade, P. (2023) · Psychology & Health · doi:10.1080/08870446.2021.2024190 · Cited by 22
“Implementing health related behaviour change also takes time and with any skill, practice is important (Gardner et al., 2012).”
BackgroundDesigning digital health interventions with causal inference and multi-armed bandits: a review
Švihrová, R., Rossi, A. D., Marzorati, D., Tzovara, A., & Faraci, F. D. (2025) · Frontiers in Digital Health · doi:10.3389/fdgth.2025.1435917 · Cited by 17
Jiwani, R. B., Robbins, R. N., Neri, A. L., Renero, J., Lopez, E., & Serra, M. C. (2022) · Current Nutrition Reports · doi:10.1007/s13668-022-00412-5 · Cited by 12
Lawrence, K., Myrissa, K., Toribio-Mateas, M. A., Minini, L., & Gregory, A. M. (2022) · Pilot and Feasibility Studies · doi:10.1186/s40814-022-01058-4 · Cited by 13
“From a behaviour change perspective, individuals typically find it easier to introduce new behaviours into their daily lives than they do to remove existing behaviours: habits become rather automatic, meaning breaking existing habits is more effortful and difficult than establishing new habits [77, 78].”
BackgroundApp-based meditation habits maintain reductions in depression symptoms among autistic adults
Stecher, C. D., Pagni, B. A., Cloonan, S., Vink, S., Hill, E., Ogbeama, D., Delaney, S., & Braden, B. B. (2023) · Autism · doi:10.1177/13623613231200679 · Cited by 12
“One commonly used habit formation strategy is to pair the desired behavior to an existing daily routine, called “anchoring” (Gardner, Lally, & Wardle, 2012; Lally et al., 2011; Lally & Gardner, 2013).”
BackgroundMethodMaking Mindfulness Meditation a Healthy Habit
Miles, E., Matcham, F., Strauss, C., & Cavanagh, K. (2023) · Mindfulness · doi:10.1007/s12671-023-02258-6 · Cited by 21
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Miller, J. J., Pozehl, B., Alonso, W., Schmaderer, M. S., & Eisenhauer, C. M. (2020) · Western Journal of Nursing Research · doi:10.1177/0193945920902146 · Cited by 12
Newborn bloodspot screening in the time of COVID-19
Greaves, R. F., Pitt, J. J., McGregor, C., Wall, M., & Christodoulou, J. (2021) · Genetics in Medicine · doi:10.1038/s41436-020-01086-6 · Cited by 12
Hailey, V., Burton, A., Hamer, M., Fancourt, D. E., & Fisher, A. (2022) · International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health · doi:10.3390/ijerph192214784 · Cited by 13
“Given, on average, it takes 66 days to form a new habit [42], the duration of each lockdown was sufficient to disrupt previous habits or to lead to the formation of new ones.”
BackgroundNudelman, G., & Shiloh, S. (2018) · Annals of Behavioral Medicine · doi:10.1093/abm/kax063 · Cited by 13
The problem of obesity and dietary nudges
White, E. J. (2018) · Politics and the Life Sciences · doi:10.1017/pls.2018.4 · Cited by 12
Nonworksite Interventions to Reduce Sedentary Behavior among Adults: A Systematic Review
Thraen-Borowski, K. M., Ellingson, L. D., Meyer, J. D., & Cadmus‐Bertram, L. (2017) · Translational Journal of the American College of Sports Medicine · doi:10.1249/tjx.0000000000000036 · Cited by 12
Hand Hygiene Habits of Ghanaian Youths in Accra
Oppong, T. B., Yang, H., Amponsem‐Boateng, C., & Duan, G. (2019) · International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health · doi:10.3390/ijerph16111964 · Cited by 12
“This view conforms with the psychological understanding of habits formation and suggests that hand hygiene must become a habit, intrinsically performed by individuals whenever needed without it being as a result of decision making [6].”
BackgroundCritical and Qualitative Approaches to Behavior Change
Chamberlain, K., & Lyons, A. C. (2020) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/9781108677318.030 · Cited by 13
Stecher, C. D., & Linnemayr, S. (2020) · AIDS · doi:10.1097/qad.0000000000002792 · Cited by 12
Maximizing User Engagement with Behavior Change Interventions
Yardley, L., Morrison, L. G., Müller, I., & Bradbury, K. J. (2020) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/9781108677318.025 · Cited by 11
The Neural Response Process of Cognitive Decision Making: An ERP Study
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“However, there is relatively little research on health and treatment decisions [8,9].”
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Khonsari, S., Chandler, C., Parker, R. A., & Holloway, A. S. (2020) · Journal of Advanced Nursing · doi:10.1111/jan.14465 · Cited by 11
Wshah, A., Selzler, A., Hill, K., Brooks, D., & Goldstein, R. S. (2021) · Journal of Cardiopulmonary Rehabilitation and Prevention · doi:10.1097/hcr.0000000000000624 · Cited by 10
Coyne, M., Rinaldi, A., Brigham, K., Hawthorne, J., Katsaros, D., Perich, M., Carrara, N., PERICAUD, F., Franzese, C. J., & Jones, G. B. (2022) · Patient Preference and Adherence · doi:10.2147/ppa.s375037 · Cited by 10
“By transferring the cognitive load required to consciously remember when and how to do tasks to these external cues, dependence on conscious attention and memory requirements are reduced.(48) Thus, routines can help alleviate treatment burden by decreasing overall patient workload.”
BackgroundRosenberg, D. E., Kadokura, E., Morris, M., Renz, A. D., & Vilardaga, R. (2017) · Methods of Information in Medicine · doi:10.3414/me16-02-0043 · Cited by 13
“The prompts provided by commercially available fitness trackers may be particularly important for bringing more awareness to the inherent automaticity of sitting behaviors, particularly according to theories of habit formation [17, 18].”
Audrey, S., Fisher, H., Cooper, A. R., Gaunt, D., Metcalfe, C. D., Garfield, K., Hollingworth, W., Procter, S., Gabe‐Walters, M., Rodgers, S., et al. (2019) · Public Health Research · doi:10.3310/phr07110 · Cited by 11
“Number of journeys when walking was the major mode of travel to and from work, n (%) 0 130 (81) (N = 160) 136 (81) (N = 167) 152 (80) (N = 190) 99 (80) (N = 123) 1 8 (5) (N = 160) 7 (4) (N = 167) 5 (3) (N = 190) 4 (3) (N = 123) 2 2 (1) (N = 160) 8 (5) (N = 167) 4 (2) (N = 190) 4 (3) (N = 123) 3 3 (2) (N = 160) 0 (0) (…”
Müller, C., Lautenschläger, S., Dörge, C., & Voigt-Radloff, S. (2019) · Disability and Rehabilitation · doi:10.1080/09638288.2019.1661530 · Cited by 11
“Habits guide action and relate to a procedure whereby environmental cues automatically activate an unconscious stimulus to perform a behavior [52,54,55].”
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Alshawmar, M., Mombini, H., Tulu, B., & Vaghefi, I. (2021) · Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences (HICSS) · doi:10.24251/hicss.2021.462 · Cited by 11
“Habit Formation (reached by 4 participants and 12 app reviewers): Habit formation is an outcome observed when an actor practices a new behavior in a chosen context, and the habit develops as the actor learns through repeating that behavior and strengthening the context-behavior association [55].”
BackgroundAdaptation of diabetes prevention program for Chinese Americans – a qualitative study
Yeh, M., Lau, W., Chen, S., Wong, A., Tung, H., Grace, X., & Wylie‐Rosett, J. (2022) · BMC Public Health · doi:10.1186/s12889-022-13733-5 · Cited by 13
“Evidence demonstrates habit formation process takes 2–3 months [40].”
BackgroundGorelik, M., Szepsenwol, O., & Doron, G. (2023) · Heliyon · doi:10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e21673 · Cited by 15
“Pull statements that encourage tolerating doubt rather than fearing it ” ) may further motivate and facilitate users ’ comprehension of fundamental CBT principles [54].”
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“…of daily HRVB after 2 weeks, we suggested beginning with 4 or 5-min HRVB sessions initially and increasing session length incrementally every few days since small and gradual change accompanied by repetition helps establish a new healthy habit (Gardner et al., 2012; Phillips-Caesar et al., 2015).”
BackgroundThe Impact of Education Level on AI Reliance, Habit Formation, and Usage
Biswas, M., & Murray, J. (2024) · International Conference on Automation and Computing (ICAC) · doi:10.1109/icac61394.2024.10718860 · Cited by 13
“Habit formation is a multi-stage process involving repetition, cues, and rewards [21].”
BackgroundSystematic review of what people know about brain health
Niechcial, M. A., Elhag, S., Potter, L. M., Dickson, A., & Gow, A. J. (2024) · Ageing Research Reviews · doi:10.1016/j.arr.2024.102592 · Cited by 10
“…of one ’ s diet, sleeping habits or levels of physical activity, for example, may present challenges and any failure could be discouraging, making small, incremental and manageable changes across a number of domains may be more attainable, becoming habitual more quickly (Gardner et al., 2012).”
Fecher‐Jones, I., Ainsworth, B., Gan, T. J., Moonesinghe, R., Shaw, A., Grocott, M. P. W., & Levett, D. Z. H. (2025) · Anaesthesia · doi:10.1111/anae.16648 · Cited by 10
“This will involve selecting speci fi c evidence-informed behaviour change techniques [37] embedded within the curriculum ’ s supporting materials and including techniques such as goal setting and guidance on habit formation [38]. satisfaction [6].”
Cotie, P. N. R., Willms, A., & Liu, S. (2025) · International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health · doi:10.3390/ijerph22071133 · Cited by 11
“This may be insufficient for behavior change to consolidate into a habit, especially given that 10 weeks is often cited as the minimum threshold for habit formation [58].”
Rezapour, T., Aupperle, R. L., Paulus, M. P., & Ekhtiari, H. (2019) · Elsevier eBooks · doi:10.1016/b978-0-12-815298-0.00029-0 · Cited by 10
Changing health behaviors through social and physical context awareness
Chen, G., Ding, X., Huang, K. W., Xu, Y., & Zhang, C. (2015) · 2012 International Conference on Computing, Networking and Communications (ICNC) · doi:10.1109/iccnc.2015.7069424 · Cited by 10
“Habit-formation advice, paired with a ‘small changes’ approach, has been tested as a behavior change strategy [8].”
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“Once there is motivation to change, habit loops can be leveraged to develop and sustain lifestyle change until it becomes second nature (Gardner et al., 2012; Lally, Wardle, & Gardner, 2011; Neal, Wood, Labrecque, & Lally, 2012; Wood & Neal, 2007).”
BackgroundThe Science of Behavior Change: The Road Ahead
Hagger, M. S., Cameron, L. D., Hamilton, K., Hankonen, N. E., & Lintunen, T. (2020) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/9781108677318.046 · Cited by 13
Exploring Workers' Subjective Experiences of Habit Formation in Cybersecurity: A Qualitative Survey
Collins, E. I. M., & Hinds, J. M. (2021) · Cyberpsychology Behavior and Social Networking · doi:10.1089/cyber.2020.0631 · Cited by 11
“15,17,19 However, these responses tended to imply that starting this process was effortless and a result of the passing of time (‘‘Do it over and over again, and after the first thirty or so repetitions it tends to stick,’’ P193).”
Russell, N., Gallagher, S. M., Msetfi, R. M., Hayes, S., Motl, R. W., & Coote, S. B. (2022) · Physiotherapy Theory and Practice · doi:10.1080/09593985.2022.2030828 · Cited by 10
“The power of exercise routine or habit cannot be under-estimated as research shows health behaviors become effortless and automatic when they repeated over time (Gardner, Lally, and Wardle, 2012).”
BackgroundLearning from the challenges of Ebola Virus Disease contact tracers in Sierra Leone, February, 2015.
Ilesanmi, O. S. (2015) · Europe PMC (PubMed Central) · doi:10.11694/pamj.supp.2015.22.1.6537 · Cited by 10
“Habit-formation generates recommendations for simple and sustainable behaviour change [11].”
BackgroundLee, J., Cui, W., & Jin, M. (2017) · Osong Public Health and Research Perspectives · doi:10.24171/j.phrp.2017.8.3.05 · Cited by 10
“[15] argued that new habit formation takes approximately 10 weeks, and noted that repeating a single specific behavior over this period is essential to successfully form the new habit.”
BackgroundNagelkerk, J. M., Benkert, R. A., Pawl, B., Myers, A., Baer, L. J., Rayford, A., Berlin, S. J., Fenbert, K., Moore, H., Armstrong, M., et al. (2018) · Journal of Interprofessional Education & Practice · doi:10.1016/j.xjep.2018.02.001 · Cited by 10
Michalek, G., Meran, G., Schwarze, R., & Yildiz, Ö. (2016) · RePEc: Research Papers in Economics · Cited by 10
Shimazaki, T., Iio, M., Uechi, H., & Takenaka, K. (2021) · Health Psychology and Behavioral Medicine · doi:10.1080/21642850.2021.1921583 · Cited by 9
“The theory of habit formation was mainly applied to the content (Gardner et al., 2012).”
MethodHabit Formation in Older Adults
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“15,16 Once a habit is formed, individuals engage in action with minimal forethought 17 ; they do so out of second nature .”
InfluentialShahabi, N. A., Sighaldeh, S. S., Kakhaki, H. E. S., Mohseni, S., Dadipoor, S., & Shahawy, O. E. (2024) · BMC Public Health · doi:10.1186/s12889-024-18169-7 · Cited by 9
“This is indicative of the fact that just as a habit or a physical-psychological dependence on WT is formed over time, it takes time to eliminate it [56, 57].”
BackgroundFactors Influencing Safety Efficacy: Examining Past Experience, Mind-Set, and Emotion Management
Logan, T. (2018) · Journal of Interpersonal Violence · doi:10.1177/0886260518802849 · Cited by 9
Storm, V., Reinwand, D. A., Wienert, J., Tan, S. L., & Lippke, S. (2018) · JMIR Mental Health · doi:10.2196/11124 · Cited by 9
“Changing physical activity to be more habitual is a desired goal in primary and secondary prevention of CVDs because once a behavior has become habitual, it requires less conscious effort and relapses become less likely [29,30].”
BackgroundAutonomy-Supportive Interventions
Reeve, J., & Cheon, S. H. (2020) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/9781108677318.035 · Cited by 13
Hollingsworth, J. C., Young, K. C., Abdullah, S. F., Wadsworth, D. D., Abukhader, A., Elfenbein, B., & Holley, Z. (2020) · BMC Public Health · doi:10.1186/s12889-020-09355-4 · Cited by 10
The Environmental Kuznets Curve: Recycling and the Role of Habit Formation
Kasioumi, M. (2021) · Review of Economic Analysis · doi:10.15353/rea.v13i3.4688 · Cited by 9
Gillespie, D., Wood, F., Williams, A., Ma, R., de Bruin, M., Hughes, D. A., Jones, A. T., Couzens, Z., & Hood, K. (2022) · Health Expectations · doi:10.1111/hex.13446 · Cited by 9
“While habit formulation is an often‐encouraged strategy to ensure high levels of medication adherence,(27) the automatic action developed by integrating PrEP into existing routines could be thought of as individuals engaging in ‘System 1’ thinking, whereby conscious deliberate motivational processes do not feature in…”
BackgroundJaakkola, J., Virtanen, R., Vasankari, T., Salminen, M. J., & Airaksinen, J. K. E. (2017) · BMC Geriatrics · doi:10.1186/s12877-017-0607-0 · Cited by 9
“Previous evidence suggests that long-lasting habits, which persist even after the initial motivation to perform the behaviour has waned, are formed when a desired action is associated with an often-encountered external context, which subsequently triggers the action automatically after a short initial learning phase […”
BackgroundImplementation Science and Translation in Behavior Change
Łuszczyńska, A., Łobczowska, K., & Horodyska, K. (2020) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/9781108677318.023 · Cited by 10
Wearable health devices in the workplace: The importance of habits to sustain the use
Stepanovic, S., Mettler, T., Schmidt-Kraepelin, M., Thiebes, S., & Sunyaev, A. (2019) · IEEE Conference on Business Informatics · doi:10.1109/cbi.2019.00048 · Cited by 11
“Creating a habit is surely not an easy task to perform [54, 55, 57, 67, 68].”
BackgroundInfluentialSpiritual care for older people living in the community: A scoping review
Ilmi, A. A., McKenna, L., Murphy, M. C., & Kadar, K. (2024) · Contemporary Nurse · doi:10.1080/10376178.2024.2310260 · Cited by 8
“Gardner et al. (2012) and Gardner et al. (2020) outline a chance of forming a good habit need 2 – 3 months of working effort.”
BackgroundTempels‐Pavlica, Ž., Aarts, M. C. J., Welsing, P. M. J., van der Meer, A.-N., van der Zwan, L., Uss, E., & Knulst, A. C. (2024) · Frontiers in Allergy · doi:10.3389/falgy.2024.1355324 · Cited by 8
“Daily intake of tablets may be cumbersome in the beginning but after a period of time, in particular doing it in a routine way, e.g., before diner, it becomes a habit and less of a burden (26, 38).”
BackgroundBriskin, J. L., & Gunsalus, C. K. (2025) · The Journal of Law Medicine & Ethics · doi:10.1017/jme.2025.40 · Cited by 8
Zhou, P., Li, Y. Q., Lau, W. C., Yan, L., Song, H., & Shi, T. L. (2023) · Journal of Exercise Science & Fitness · doi:10.1016/j.jesf.2023.10.004 · Cited by 11
“55 This result might be related to two reasons.”
BackgroundIncentivizing Vegetable Consumption in School‐Aged Children: Evidence from a Field Experiment
Marchi, E. D., Cavaliere, A., Nayga, R. M., & Banterle, A. (2019) · Journal of Consumer Affairs · doi:10.1111/joca.12268 · Cited by 11
de Ridder, D. T. D., Gillebaart, M., & Friese, M. (2020) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/9781108677318.040 · Cited by 9
Epton, T., & Armitage, C. J. (2020) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/9781108677318.038 · Cited by 8
Munroe, D. D., Moore, M. A., Bonnet, J. P., Rastorguieva, K., Mascaro, J. S., Craighead, L. W., Haack, C. I., Quave, C. L., & Bergquist, S. H. (2021) · American Journal of Lifestyle Medicine · doi:10.1177/15598276211031493 · Cited by 8
“In another, following an 8-week weight loss intervention, participants were able to routinize the recommended lifestyle changes.(88) Based on theoretical and scant empirical data, a suggested curriculum duration would be a minimum of eight to nine weeks.”
MethodLi, Y., Zhou, Y., Chen, M., Fu, M. R., Luo, B., Yu, P., Zheng, H. X., & Liu, F. (2022) · Journal of Multidisciplinary Healthcare · doi:10.2147/jmdh.s349519 · Cited by 8
“The intervention length of 12 weeks is chosen since health habit formation and physiological adaptations to exercise occur in this period of time.(38,39) Outcomes of the pilot RCT will be quantitatively measured and qualitatively evaluated using concurrent semistructured interviews.”
MethodFatima, S., Augusto, J. C., Moseley, R., Urbonas, P., Elliott, A., & Payne, N. (2023) · Entertainment Computing · doi:10.1016/j.entcom.2023.100571 · Cited by 10
Thomson, D., & McAdoo, K. (2015) · International Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology · doi:10.1080/1612197x.2015.1069874 · Cited by 8
“Gardner et al. (2012) maintain that the creation of a habit requires motivation and conscious intention initially, but the repetition of the action in a consistent context will eventually lead to it becoming dependent on external cues and this will reduce the conscious effort required to maintain…”
BackgroundLearning from the challenges of Ebola Virus Disease contact tracers in Sierra Leone, February, 2015
Ilesanmi, O. S. (2015) · Pan African Medical Journal · doi:10.11604/pamj.supp.2015.22.1.6537 · Cited by 8
Xia, H., Barnes, S., Bjarnadóttir, M. V., & Golden, B. (2017) · IISE Transactions on Healthcare Systems Engineering · doi:10.1080/24725579.2017.1351502 · Cited by 8
“Researchers have suggested that breaking existing habits requires more effort than starting new habits under behavior change interventions (Gardner et al. , 2012; Lally and Gardner, 2013).”
BackgroundBurić, I., Žderić, L., Koch, P., & de Bruin, C. (2024) · Journal of Affective Disorders · doi:10.1016/j.jad.2024.12.076 · Cited by 11
Incentivizing dietary choices among children: Review of experimental evidence
Belot, M., & James, J. (2022) · Food Policy · doi:10.1016/j.foodpol.2022.102319 · Cited by 8
Evaluation of Behavior Change Interventions
Matthews, L., & Simpson, S. A. (2020) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/9781108677318.022 · Cited by 8
Huybrechts, I., Kliemann, N., Pérol, O., Cattey-Javouhey, A., Benech, N., Maire, A., Lignini, T., Carretier, J., Saurin, J., Fervers, B., et al. (2021) · Nutrients · doi:10.3390/nu13113685 · Cited by 7
“Since habit formation advice is simple, easily scalable, and a recommended approach to be used with patients [23], it may be a feasible approach to deliver evidence-based lifestyle recommendations in the cancer screening context.”
BackgroundBarnett, J. B., & Zeng, W. (2022) · Frontiers in Aging · doi:10.3389/fragi.2022.960986 · Cited by 7
“Working effortfully on a new behavior for 2 to 3 months may be appealing to participants interested in turning that behavior into a habit (Gardner et al., 2012).”
BackgroundGreen, S. M. C., French, D., Hall, L., Bartlett, Y. K., Rousseau, N. S., Raine, E., Parbutt, C., Gardner, B., ROSETA Investigators, & Smith, S. G. (2023) · Journal of Medical Internet Research · doi:10.2196/38073 · Cited by 7
“This highlights the need for support in the early phases of a behavior change intervention aimed at supporting habit formation [31,34].”
Self-citationHamnes, B., Rønningen, A., & Skarbø, Å. (2017) · Musculoskeletal Care · doi:10.1002/msc.1210 · Cited by 7
Motivational Interviewing Interventions
Berman, A. H., Beckman, M., & Lindqvist, H. (2020) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/9781108677318.045 · Cited by 12
Hamnes, B., Berdal, G., Bø, I., & Kjeken, I. (2020) · Musculoskeletal Care · doi:10.1002/msc.1515 · Cited by 7
Old Tricks Are the Best Tricks: Repurposing Programmed Instruction in the Mobile, Digital Age
Feeney, R. (2017) · Performance Improvement Journal · doi:10.1002/pfi.21694 · Cited by 7
Pubalan, S., Hong, O. Z., Yongxian, T., & Mabel, L. (2024) · Journal of Orthodontics · doi:10.1177/14653125241230561 · Cited by 6
“Furthermore, it has been concluded that with constant reinforcement and persistent self-prac-tice for 2–3 months, there is a high chance of relevant health habits becoming impulsive (Gardner et al., 2012).”
The Role of Plant-Based Nutrition and Exercise in Metabolic Syndrome: A Narrative Review
Stavitz, J., Porcelli, R., & Gentile, J. T. (2025) · Nutrients · doi:10.3390/nu17091498 · Cited by 11
“Gradual improvements in diet and exercise habits create positive reinforcement loops, helping individuals feel better and stay motivated [109].”
Engagement With Meditation Apps: Cross-Sectional Survey of Use and Associations
Adams, J., Davies, J. N., Wattanatakulchat, P., Galante, J., Miller, F., D’Alfonso, S., & Dam, N. T. V. (2025) · Journal of Medical Internet Research · doi:10.2196/71960 · Cited by 4
“Habit formation theory emphasizes reward and associative cues as central to establishing habits, with positive outcomes reinforcing continued engagement [33].”
InfluentialTailored biosecurity training for veterinarians and farmers: bridging knowledge and practice gaps
Mehmedi, B., Niemi, J. K., Saegerman, C., Meneghi, D. D., Iatrou, A. M., Yıldız, R., Chantziaras, I., Allepuz, A., Toppari, I., Batikas, G., et al. (2025) · Frontiers in Veterinary Science · doi:10.3389/fvets.2025.1643029 · Cited by 6
“These tools must be designed for easy implementation, allowing users to repeat specific behaviors until they become automatic (33).”
Zhang, H., Liang, S., Wu, L., Wang, Y., Luo, L., Peng, B., Xiong, X., Chen, L., Jia, Q., Dai, T., et al. (2026) · Frontiers in Public Health · doi:10.3389/fpubh.2026.1735560 · Cited by 6
Economic and Behavioral Economic Approaches to Behavior Change
Brown, P. M., Cameron, L. D., Wilkinson, M., & Taylor, D. (2020) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/9781108677318.042 · Cited by 7
Persistence or reversal? The micro-effects of time-varying financial penalties
Mortimer, D., Harris, A., Wijnands, J. S., & Stevenson, M. (2021) · Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization · doi:10.1016/j.jebo.2021.05.018 · Cited by 7
Improving Equine Welfare through Human Habit Formation
White, J., & Sims, R. E. (2021) · Animals · doi:10.3390/ani11082156 · Cited by 7
Documentary Film as Interreligious Dialogue: A Cognitive Perspective
Lindsay, J. (2023) · Religions · doi:10.3390/rel14030293 · Cited by 10
It’s a force of habit: influences of emotional eating on indulgent tendencies
Bui, M., Krishen, A. S., & Kemp, E. (2023) · Journal of Consumer Marketing · doi:10.1108/jcm-01-2022-5146 · Cited by 6
Changing Behavior Using Integrative Self-Control Theory
Hofmann, W., Dohle, S., & Diel, K. (2020) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/9781108677318.011 · Cited by 7
The Influence of Emotions and Behavioral Theories behind Hand Hygiene in COVID-19 Pandemic
Kiew, S. C. A., Yek, J. L. J., Singh, P. A., & Chandran, R. (2021) · Open Journal of Preventive Medicine · doi:10.4236/ojpm.2021.117024 · Cited by 6
Conner, M. T., Williams, D. M., & Rhodes, R. E. (2020) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/9781108677318.034 · Cited by 6
Green, S. M. C., French, D., Graham, C. D., Hall, L., Rousseau, N. S., Foy, R., Clark, J., Parbutt, C., Raine, E., Gardner, B., et al. (2022) · Research Square · doi:10.21203/rs.3.rs-1239166/v1 · Cited by 6
Self-citationSwierad, E., & Williams, O. A. (2023) · Education Sciences · doi:10.3390/educsci13121250 · Cited by 5
Siesta behavior and genetics interact to influence obesity risk
Rodríguez‐Martín, M., Salmerón, D., Dashti, H. S., Cascales, A. I., Alonso, A. A., Scheer, F. A. J. L., Saxena, R., & Garaulet, M. (2024) · Obesity · doi:10.1002/oby.24173 · Cited by 5
Majid, G. M., Tussyadiah, I. P., Kim, Y. R., & Chen, J. L. (2025) · Journal of Travel Research · doi:10.1177/00472875251337777 · Cited by 5
“…behavior spillover is a process of adopting a new behavior in which the respective individuals often have not fully internalized as part of their habit, there may be occasions where the performance of pro-environmental behavior remains inconstant at the start (Gardner et al., 2012).”
Bray, L., Chew-Graham, C. A., Polidano, K., Fisher, T., Farmer, A. D., McDermott‐Hughes, M., & Saunders, B. (2023) · Health Expectations · doi:10.1111/hex.13845 · Cited by 5
“41 When discussing lessons from the findings for the development of the future Stoma Support intervention, the group felt that self ‐ management workbooks may be beneficial, suggesting value in being able to work through information at their own pace, in a logical order.”
BackgroundWong, I. S., Dawson, D. E., Pandalai, S. P., & Sprajcer, M. (2025) · American Journal of Industrial Medicine · doi:10.1002/ajim.23689 · Cited by 5
Metadata
- Authors
- Gardner, B., Lally, P., & Wardle, J.
- Affiliations
- University College London (GB)
- Venue
- British Journal of General Practice
- Published
- 2012-12
- Volume
- 62
- Issue
- 605
- Pages
- 664-666
- ISSN
- 0960-1643 (ISSN-L)
- 1478-5242
- PMC
- PMC3505409
- OpenAlex
- W1987192180
- Cited by
- 591
- References
- 22
- Citations by year
- 2026: 63 · 2025: 57 · 2024: 61 · 2023: 51 · 2022: 58 · 2021: 61 · 2020: 92 · 2019: 47 · 2018: 37 · 2017: 23 · 2016: 23 · 2015: 8 · 2014: 4 · 2013: 6
- FWCI
- 8.07
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Locations
- British Journal of General Practice (publishedVersion)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- UCL Discovery (University College London) (submittedVersion)
- Research Portal (King's College London) (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- Cancer Research UK (14133)
- Medical Research Council (MR/J000396/1)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Applied Psychology › Behavioral Health and Interventions
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Developmental and Educational Psychology › Behavioral and Psychological Studies
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Management, Monitoring, Policy and Law › Pro-Environmental Behavior and Attitudes
- Keywords
- habit formation, health behavior change, general practice, automatism, maintenance of behaviour change, lifestyle advice, health promotion
- MeSH terms
- Counseling, Habits, Health Promotion, Humans, Motivation, Health Behavior, Risk Reduction Behavior, General Practice
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