The DOI matches its Crossref record; 22 of the 22 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
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 …
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?
The source backs part of the claim, not all of it — or backs it for a different population, condition or comparison.
In the citing paper
“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]
The cited source says what the claim attributes to it.
In the citing paper
“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]
The cited source says what the claim attributes to it.
In the citing paper
“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]
The cited source says what the claim attributes to it.
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
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
Social Cognitive Theory: An Agentic Perspective
Bandura, A. (2001) · Annual Review of Psychology · doi:10.1146/annurev.psych.52.1.1 · Cited by 15,510
Health benefits of physical activity: the evidence
Warburton, D. E. R. (2006) · Canadian Medical Association Journal · doi:10.1503/cmaj.051351 · Cited by 8,007
A perspective on judgment and choice: mapping bounded rationality.
Kahneman, D. (2003) · American Psychologist · doi:10.1037/0003-066x.58.9.697 · Cited by 5,540
The support of autonomy and the control of behavior.
Deci, E. L., & Ryan, R. M. (1987) · Journal of Personality and Social Psychology · doi:10.1037//0022-3514.53.6.1024 · Cited by 3,242
Systematic review and meta-analysis
Gillies, A. (2019) · CRC Press eBooks · doi:10.1201/9781315377315-19 · Cited by 2,876
How are habits formed: modelling habit formation in the real world
Lally, P., van Jaarsveld, C. H. M., Potts, H. W. W., & Wardle, J. (2010) · European Journal of Social Psychology · doi:10.1002/ejsp.674 · Cited by 2,036
Self-citationPrinciples of Behavior. An Introduction to Behavior Theory
N., E., & Hull, C. L. (1943) · The Journal of Philosophy · doi:10.2307/2019960 · Cited by 1,736
A new look at habits and the habit-goal interface.
Wood, W., & Neal, D. T. (2007) · Psychological Review · doi:10.1037/0033-295x.114.4.843 · Cited by 1,470
Long-term maintenance of weight loss: Current status.
Jeffery, R. W., Epstein, L. H., Wilson, G. T., Drewnowski, A., Stunkard, A. J., & Wing, R. R. (2000) · Health Psychology · doi:10.1037/0278-6133.19.suppl1.5 · Cited by 1,093
Lally, P., & Gardner, B. (2013) · Health Psychology Review · doi:10.1080/17437199.2011.603640 · Cited by 901
Self-citation
Research works printed but not linked: 2
- 10.1037/0022-3514.53.6.1024 · DOI · Paper page
- Maltz M (1960) Psycho-cybernetics (Prentice Hall, New York, NY).
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Items 301–400 of 591
Adhikari, P., & Gollub, E. A. (2021) · European Journal of Investigation in Health Psychology and Education · doi:10.3390/ejihpe11010019 · Cited by 5
“Habits are relevant to maintenance of positive behaviors and a healthier lifestyle [15,17].”
BackgroundCovid-19: Decision-Making in Public Health
de Caestecker, L., & von Wissmann, B. (2021) · The Journal of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh · doi:10.4997/jrcpe.2021.238 · Cited by 5
Mayne, R., Hart, N. D., Tully, M. A., Wilson, J. J., & Heron, N. (2022) · BJGP Open · doi:10.3399/bjgpo.2022.0008 · Cited by 5
“This aligns with research showing that people are more likely to maintain positive health behaviours if they make them habitual, and that high levels of PA are required to offset the harms of excessive sedentary behaviour [50, 51].”
BackgroundMisje, M., Ask, T., Skouen, J. S., Anderson, B., & Magnussen, L. H. (2023) · Physiotherapy Theory and Practice · doi:10.1080/09593985.2023.2227967 · Cited by 5
“The challenges of achieving behavioral change are well described in the literature on habit formation (Gardner, Lally, and Wardle, 2012; Lally and Gardner, 2013).”
Staab, P. A., Williams, A. J., Robertson, M. D. A., & Slovák, P. (2024) · CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems · doi:10.1145/3613904.3643054 · Cited by 7
“Counselors strongly advocate for the integration of IA into clients’ daily lives (bedtime, morning cofee, etc.), insisting it " has to be a consistent practice " (C7), a sentiment supported by habit formation research [39, 62].”
BackgroundAddressing Underserved Populations and Disparities in Behavior Change
Schüz, B., & Hooper, M. W. (2020) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/9781108677318.027 · Cited by 5
Dillon, L. L., Clemson, L. M., Nguyen, H., Jakobsen, K. B., Martin, J., Tinsley, F., & Keay, L. J. (2020) · BMJ Open · doi:10.1136/bmjopen-2020-038386 · Cited by 5
Schmalbach, I., Schmalbach, B., Zenger, M., Petrowski, K., Beutel, M. E., Hilbert, A., & Brähler, E. (2021) · Frontiers in Psychology · doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2021.649867 · Cited by 7
“Therefore, the ability to effectively regulate one’s eating behavior is an important goal for many health-related interventions (Gardner et al., 2012; Llewellyn andWardle, 2015).”
BackgroundRosenberg, D. E., Greenwood-Hickman, M. A., Zhou, J., Cook, A. J., Mettert, K. D., Cooper, J., Arterburn, D. E., Green, B. B., Walsh‐Bailey, C., Kerr, J., et al. (2021) · Contemporary Clinical Trials · doi:10.1016/j.cct.2021.106593 · Cited by 5
Kermavnar, T., & Desmet, P. (2024) · Multimodal Technologies and Interaction · doi:10.3390/mti8020009 · Cited by 5
Self-Experiencing “The Healthiest Weight”
Peregrín-Alvarez, J. M. (2017) · Journal of Obesity and Overweight · doi:10.15744/2455-7633.3.101 · Cited by 5
Making Physical Activity Interventions Acceptable to Older People
Devereux‐Fitzgerald, A., McGowan, L. J., Powell, R., & French, D. (2018) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-3-319-71291-8_15 · Cited by 5
Patel, N. V., Beeken, R. J., Leurent, B., Omar, R., Nazareth, I., & Stephen Morris, A. (2018) · BMJ Open · doi:10.1136/bmjopen-2017-017511 · Cited by 5
“Psychological research shows that repetition of a simple action in a consistent context leads, through associative learning, to the action being activated on subsequent exposure to those contextual cues.(10) A small pilot trial consisting of 100 people showed that those who received the 10TT leaflet lost significantly…”
BackgroundAn Investigation into the Psychological Determinants of Health Habit Formation
Judah, G. (2015) · LSHTM Research Online (London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine) · doi:10.17037/pubs.02121556 · Cited by 6
Feldhacker, D. R., Ikiugu, M. N., Fritz, H., Schweinle, W. E., & Wang, H. (2023) · American Journal of Occupational Therapy · doi:10.5014/ajot.2023.050351 · Cited by 4
Buller, D. B., Sussman, A. L., Thomson, C. A., Kepka, D., TAREN, D. L., Henry, K. L., Warner, E. L., Walkosz, B. J., Woodall, W. G., Nuss, K. J., et al. (2024) · JMIR Research Protocols · doi:10.2196/50392 · Cited by 5
PERRY, A. C., Bonner, J., Williams, S., Xiong, W., García, A., Velasquez, C., Friedman, A., Lee, D. L., Hernandes, I. D. L., Shen, J., et al. (2025) · Nutrients · doi:10.3390/nu17091538 · Cited by 4
“Given the different stages of readiness for change, family influences, and the environment, it has been reported to take anywhere from 66 days to 24 months to initiate positive changes in eating habits [51].”
Changing Behavior in the Digital Age
Kavanagh, D. J. (2020) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/9781108677318.029 · Cited by 4
Robles, L. A., Shingler, E., Hackshaw‐McGeagh, L., Rowe, E., Koupparis, A. J., Bahl, A. K., Shiridzinomwa, C., Persad, R. A., Martin, R. M., & Lane, J. A. (2022) · BMJ Open · doi:10.1136/bmjopen-2021-055566 · Cited by 4
Forming new health behavior habits during weight loss maintenance—The PREVIEW study.
Huttunen‐Lenz, M., Hansen, S., Raben, A., Westerterp‐Plantenga, M. S., Macdonald, I. A., Stratton, G., Swindell, N. J., Martinez, J. A., Handjieva‐Darlenska, T., Poppitt, S. D., et al. (2022) · Health Psychology · doi:10.1037/hea0001182 · Cited by 4
Ijioma, C. E., Uwalaka, I. W., Kamanu, C. O., Okeji, I. E., Aminu-Ayinde, O. E., Abali, I. O., Orji, O. J., Omole, O. R., Madumere, C. W. T., & Airaodion, A. I. (2023) · Cardiology and Angiology An International Journal · doi:10.9734/ca/2023/v12i4352 · Cited by 4
“Prior research also indicates that patient education is critical in hypertension management, and can lead to better control of blood pressure and improved patient outcomes [20].”
BackgroundHamer, J., Desbrow, B., Irwin, C. G., Shaw, G., Disher, A., & Alexiou, H. (2024) · International Journal of Sports Science & Coaching · doi:10.1177/17479541241304053 · Cited by 4
“28,29 Further exploration of how education can facilitate automaticity in coaching behaviours is required.”
Ling, J., Zahry, N. R., Chen, S., Xie, Y., Lalonde, H., Robbins, L. B., & Kerver, J. M. (2025) · Critical Public Health · doi:10.1080/09581596.2025.2505110 · Cited by 4
Omura, M., Venkatesh, M., Khandaker, I., & Rahman, A. (2025) · PLoS ONE · doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0327325 · Cited by 4
Feasibility Testing of the Alert for AFib Intervention
McCabe, P. J., Douglas, K. V., Barton, D. L., Austin, C. M., Delgado, A. M., & DeVon, H. A. (2016) · Western Journal of Nursing Research · doi:10.1177/0193945916656609 · Cited by 4
Fournier, M., Radel, R., Tifratène, K., Pradier, C., Fuch, A., Mossé, P. R., Domerego, J.-J., Gal, J., & d’Arripe-Longueville, F. (2016) · BMC Cardiovascular Disorders · doi:10.1186/s12872-016-0325-0 · Cited by 4
“The strength of PA habits will be measured using the Self-Report Behavioral Automaticity Index (SRBAI) [20].”
MethodInfluentialCostello, F. (2020) · Continuity & Resilience Review · doi:10.1108/crr-05-2020-0019 · Cited by 4
Epidermoid cyst of the facial skin: an investigative case report
Jain, S., Fry, R. R., Kaur, J., Sidhwa, A., Jain, N., & Pilmane, M. (2022) · SAGE Open Medical Case Reports · doi:10.1177/2050313x221089756 · Cited by 4
Makowski, P. T. (2023) · Journal of Management · doi:10.1177/01492063231157328 · Cited by 4
Faulkner, J., Wright, A., Stone, K. J., Fryer, S. M., Martinelli, L., Lambrick, D., Paine, E., & Stoner, L. R. (2023) · Frontiers in Neurology · doi:10.3389/fneur.2023.1093008 · Cited by 4
Andriani, M., Ariyanti, A., & Arbain, A. (2019) · Borneo Educational Journal (Borju) · doi:10.24903/bej.v1i1.255 · Cited by 4
The Impact of Interpersonal Relationships on Dietary Habits
Intiful, F. D., Steele-Dadzie, R., Amos, P. M., Pobee, R. A., Ainuson‐Quampah, J., Ammah, C., Antwi, T., Wilson, K. N., & Asante, M. (2021) · IntechOpen eBooks · doi:10.5772/intechopen.95482 · Cited by 4
Neural mechanisms associated with treatment decision making: An fMRI study
Abidi, M., Bruce, J. M., Blanche, A. L., Bruce, A. S., Jarmolowicz, D. P., Csillik, A. S., Thai, N. J., Lim, S.-L., Heinzlef, O., & de Marco, G. (2018) · Behavioural Brain Research · doi:10.1016/j.bbr.2018.04.034 · Cited by 4
“is relatively little research on how people make health and treatment choices [5,6].”
Müller, A. M., BLANDFORD, A. E., & Yardley, L. (2017) · SSRN Electronic Journal · doi:10.2139/ssrn.3044368 · Cited by 4
Medication adherence in youths with CKD: habits for success
Eaton, C. K., Comer, M., Pruette, C. S., & Riekert, K. A. (2023) · Pediatric Nephrology · doi:10.1007/s00467-023-05976-0 · Cited by 3
“Providers may need to spend more time with patients who provide fewer details about their adherence habits or acknowledge challenges with adherence habits (including older patients requiring parental reminders) to create more structure and opportunities for repeatable situational cues that support automaticity in acti…”
BackgroundShort, C. E., Rawstorn, J. C., Jones, T. L., Edbrooke, L., Hayes, S. C., Maddison, R., Nightingale, S., Ismail, H., BOER, R. D., Hegi‐Johnson, F., et al. (2024) · JMIR Research Protocols · doi:10.2196/53301 · Cited by 3
“The messages are based on social cognitive [36], self-determination [37], and habit theories [38] (Table S1 in Multimedia Appendix 2 outlines the specific strategies).”
Hunter, E., Johnstone, A. M., Stone, R. A., Greatwood, H. C., Hardman, C. A., Brown, A. C., Griffiths, C., & Douglas, F. (2025) · Frontiers in Nutrition · doi:10.3389/fnut.2025.1646056 · Cited by 3
Xie, X., Yang, S., Liu, X., Yang, Y., Jiang, Q., & Huang, D. (2026) · Journal of Environmental Psychology · doi:10.1016/j.jenvp.2026.102955 · Cited by 3
Stecher, C. D., Cloonan, S., Linnemayr, S., & Huberty, J. (2023) · JMIR Research Protocols · doi:10.2196/39930 · Cited by 4
“In this way, behavioral control is delegated to external cues, thereby reducing the demand on an individual’s attention and memory processes [42,45,46].”
Lin, T., Linville, D. C., Nese, R. N. T., Seeley, J. R., & Shune, S. (2024) · Perspectives of the ASHA Special Interest Groups · doi:10.1044/2024_persp-24-00079 · Cited by 3
How Education and Tech Savvy Perception Shape AI Interactions*
Biswas, M., & Murray, J. (2024) · IEEE RO-MAN · doi:10.1109/ro-man60168.2024.10731306 · Cited by 3
“Habit formation is a complex process involving the repetition of a behaviour, leading to its eventual automation [21].”
BackgroundXu, S., Song, Z., Xiao, C., & Wang, J. (2025) · Frontiers in Allergy · doi:10.3389/falgy.2025.1503597 · Cited by 3
Zlatar, Z. Z., Greenwood-Hickman, M. A., Lujan, L. N. M., Cooper, J., Flórez-Acevedo, S., Márquez, D. X., Aceves, R. G., Vargas, A. P., & Rosenberg, D. E. (2025) · JMIR Formative Research · doi:10.2196/65489 · Cited by 3
“The pilot intervention was based on social cognitive theory and habit formation theory [40,41] and targeted the promotion of self-efficacy (gradually building behavior from sitting less and moving more to staying fit), habit strength (creating strong connections between existing daily habits and…”
Towards blue diving: analysis and solutions to prevent scuba diving impact in the Mediterranean sea
Camillo, C. G. D., Turicchia, E., Roveta, C., Quadrini, G., Storari, A., Scarpa, C., Coppari, M., Marrocco, T., Torsani, F., Gregorin, C., et al. (2025) · Ocean & Coastal Management · doi:10.1016/j.ocecoaman.2025.107833 · Cited by 3
Shimazaki, T., Uechi, H., Bao, H., Deli, G., Lee, Y.-H., Miura, K., & Takenaka, K. (2019) · Child & Youth Services · doi:10.1080/0145935x.2018.1561265 · Cited by 3
Huttunen‐Lenz, M., Hansen, S., Larsen, T. M., Christensen, P., Drummen, M., Adam, T. C., Taylor, M. A., Simpson, E. J., Martínez, J. A., Navas‐Carretero, S., et al. (2019) · European Journal of Health Psychology · doi:10.1027/2512-8442/a000026 · Cited by 3
“In this way, after an initial learning stage, behavior becomes an automation (i.e., habit) requiring little cognitive effort to be performed (Gardner et al., 2012; Lally & Gardner, 2013).”
BackgroundThe psychology of health-related behaviour change
Campbell-Danesh, A. (2021) · Elsevier eBooks · doi:10.1016/b978-0-12-821573-9.00003-5 · Cited by 3
Zhang, X., Wu, H., Huang, X., Wu, Q., & Wu, Y. (2023) · Industrial and Commercial Training · doi:10.1108/ict-02-2023-0006 · Cited by 3
Beauchemin, J. D., Krueger, D., Yates, H. T., & Ding, X. H. (2023) · Journal of Evidence-Based Social Work · doi:10.1080/26408066.2023.2284918 · Cited by 3
Habit Formation and Automaticity: Psychoneurobiological Correlates of Gamma Activity
Leaf, C., Wasserman, C. S., Leaf, A., Kopooshian, N., Turner, R., & Paulson, R. M. (2024) · NeuroRegulation · doi:10.15540/nr.11.1.2 · Cited by 5
Zhou, P., Song, H., Lau, W. C., Shi, L., & Wang, J. (2024) · JMIR Research Protocols · doi:10.2196/58344 · Cited by 6
“Gardner et al [87] indicated that behavioral modification needs at least 2 to 3 months.”
BackgroundUsing precision periodontal health care chart (PPHCC) to improve periodontal health
Lee, C.-T., Meng, H., Tran, D. T., Brandon, R. G., Ayilavarapu, S., Walji, M. F., & Angelov, N. (2024) · Clinical Oral Investigations · doi:10.1007/s00784-024-05947-1 · Cited by 3
“The impact of the patient’s behavioral change influenced by PPHCC on clinical out - comes may take much longer to be significant [ 42].”
McClelland, J., Gallagher, D., Moore, S. E., McGirr, C., Beeken, R. J., Croker, H. A., Eastwood, K., O’Neill, R. F., Woodside, J. V., McGowan, L. J., et al. (2024) · BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth · doi:10.1186/s12884-024-06945-7 · Cited by 2
“…is and which context/cue will be used to do the behaviour, the ‘learning’ phase involves repeating the behaviour in the selected context/cue consistently and, finally, the ‘sta-bility’ phase is when the habit has been formed and the behaviour is automatic or ‘second nature’ to the person [24].”
InfluentialFaulkner, J., Paine, E., Hudson, N., Hannah, S., Dennis-Jones, A., Martinelli, L., & Hobbs, H. (2025) · PLoS ONE · doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0318942 · Cited by 3
Pugh, G., Hough, R. E., Gravestock, H. L., Davies, C., Horder, R., & Fisher, A. (2019) · Research Involvement and Engagement · doi:10.1186/s40900-019-0142-6 · Cited by 3
“The intervention materials were based on habit theory and designed to prompt TYACS to make healthy lifestyle choices habitual [18].”
MethodRösler, A., Gasparatos, N., Hermanussen, M., & Scheffler, C. (2022) · Human Biology and Public Health · doi:10.52905/hbph2022.2.48 · Cited by 3
Kunjir, H., Shetty, L., Domah, T. K., Chhatriwala, A. F., & Kathiravan, J. (2021) · Journal of Maxillofacial and Oral Surgery · doi:10.1007/s12663-021-01574-5 · Cited by 3
“Fine motor skills are important for children not only in the activities of daily living, but also for learning activities [10].”
BackgroundConroy, D., Smith, D. M., & Armitage, C. J. (2022) · Psychology and Health · doi:10.1080/08870446.2021.2012574 · Cited by 4
“For example, a self-monitoring daily ticksheet (gardner et al., 2012) might prove an effective resource for individuals struggling to consistently adhere to face covering use by recording the incidence of adherence over a time period until behavioural practice becomes automatic.”
Hagger, M. S., & Rebar, A. L. (2020) · The Wiley Encyclopedia of Health Psychology · doi:10.1002/9781119057840.ch64 · Cited by 3
Effect of a motivational video on flossing behaviour: A pilot study
Özyemişci, N., & Turgut Çankaya, Z. (2021) · International Journal of Dental Hygiene · doi:10.1111/idh.12480 · Cited by 2
Hinrichs, T., Schilling, R., Sofios, A., Infanger, D., Prechtl, L. M., Stauffer, N., Eichenberger, V., Giannouli, E., Rantanen, T., Portegijs, E., et al. (2025) · BMC Geriatrics · doi:10.1186/s12877-025-06113-2 · Cited by 2
“Competence is built through incremental successes and positive reinforcement [122].”
Hoeeg, D., Grabowski, D., Torbahn, G., Handjieva‐Darlenska, T., Łuszczki, E., Vlachopapadopoulou, E. A., Vania, A., Thivel, D., Weghuber, D., & Braet, C. (2025) · Pediatric Obesity · doi:10.1111/ijpo.70054 · Cited by 4
“To support parents in changing their own unhealthy habits, we suggest offering hands-on guidance based on the research on habit formation [34, 35] Interventions that guide parents to use positive and authoritative parenting strategies have been found to lead to healthier family environments,…”
Bullock, A. F., Cohen, J., Huang, C., Jackson, G., Lind, M., Pearson, M., Richardson, G. A., Saxton, J., Twiddy, M., Wilson, C., et al. (2025) · BMJ Open · doi:10.1136/bmjopen-2025-100044 · Cited by 2
Ali, A. M., Shiyanbola, O. O., Salihu, E. Y., Abdelwahab, S., Bailey, J. E., & Chewning, B. A. (2025) · Diabetology · doi:10.3390/diabetology6100104 · Cited by 2
“Specific tools such as motivational interviewing and habit formation can help healthcare providers guide the patients in choosing their specific self-management behavioral goal and create manageable aims with reasonable expectations [42,44–47].”
Siette, J., de Vera-Pinpin, M. J. R., Alsager, S. Y., Dodds, L., Naismith, S. L., & Armitage, C. J. (2025) · Scientific Reports · doi:10.1038/s41598-025-24009-4 · Cited by 3
“Once the strength of the association has reached the peak, the habit has been formed and the behaviour persists without requiring conscious effort 83 .”
Understanding Learning Strategy Use Through the Lens of Habit
Krause, A.-K., Breitwieser, J., & Brod, G. (2025) · Educational Psychology Review · doi:10.1007/s10648-025-10087-3 · Cited by 8
“Habit strength was assessed using a subset of items from the Self-Report Habit Index (SRHI), a widely used instrument for measuring habit strength, comprising items on behavioral repetition, lack of awareness and lack of control (Opwis et al., 2023; Reyes Fernández et al., 2019 ; Verplanken & Orbell, 2003 ).”
InfluentialKim, H. J., Choi, G. W., Park, Y., Jeong, H. N., & Chang, S. J. (2025) · BMC Health Services Research · doi:10.1186/s12913-025-13726-1 · Cited by 2
“The 8-week post-intervention period was considered suitable for reflecting the impact of the self-management education program on behavior change, based on a prior study, which demonstrated that it took approximately 2 months for behavior changes to become habitual [33].”
Perspectives of Older Patients on the Complexity of Medication Use
Falke, C., Koolen, M. F. J., Timmer, S. L., Karapinar‐Çarkit, F., Bouvy, M. L., Egberts, T. C. G., & Knol, W. (2026) · Journal of the American Geriatrics Society · doi:10.1111/jgs.70311 · Cited by 2
Real-World Meditation App Engagement: Longitudinal Study of the Medito Meditation App
Adams, J. A., Davies, J. N., Wattanatakulchat, P., Galante, J., D’Alfonso, S., & Christodoulides, N. (2026) · JMIR mhealth and uhealth · doi:10.2196/79366 · Cited by 2
“User factors that affect engagement are explorative but broadly reflect theories of habit formation and planned behavior [30,31].”
Cognitive Intervention for Patients with Neurocognitive Impairments
Gagnon, G., & Masson, M. (2019) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-3-030-10814-4_26 · Cited by 2
[Diagnostic accuracy of mammography and mammoscintigraphy in multifocal breast cancer].
Криворотько, П. В. (2013) · PubMed · Cited by 2
Changing Behavior Using Control Theory
Mansell, W. (2020) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/9781108677318.009 · Cited by 11
Ee, J. S., Pham, C. K., Shaha, D. P., Rogers, M. C., Cacace, G. S., & Mounts, C. W. (2021) · Military Medicine · doi:10.1093/milmed/usaa306 · Cited by 2
Next Level Health: a holistic health and wellbeing program to empower New Zealand women
Chinn, V., Neely, E., Shultz, S. P., Kruger, R., Hughes, R., Page, R., Coad, J. E., & Thunders, M. C. (2021) · Health Promotion International · doi:10.1093/heapro/daab205 · Cited by 2
Sudaryono, H. N. B., & Kartika, L. (2022) · Among Makarti · doi:10.52353/ama.v15i1.228 · Cited by 2
“Tahap Pelaksanaan program Green-Back Berdasarkan Konsep Gardner et al. (2012), Clear (2018) dan Thaler dan Sunstein (2017) Berdasarkan gambar 4, tahap pelaksanaan program Green-Back secara lebih rinci adalah sebagai berikut : 1) Cue (1 hari) Tahapan ini merupakan tahap partisipan mendapatkan…”
BackgroundMeadows, J., & Sambasivam, S. (2023) · Issues in Informing Science and Information Technology · doi:10.28945/5129 · Cited by 2
“Changing behaviors because of external demands or breaking existing habits is significantly more challenging than creating habits (Gardner et al., 2012).”
BackgroundDeveloping self-care habits through a hybrid coaching framework in higher education
Morel, N. J., Brown, D., & Duke, A. B. (2023) · International Coaching Psychology Review · doi:10.53841/bpsicpr.2023.18.2.40 · Cited by 2
de Passos, T. O. M., Camacho, D. P., Campos, C. P., & Berenguer, S. A. (2024) · Revista de Investigación e Innovación en Ciencias de la Salud · doi:10.46634/riics.282 · Cited by 3
Garvelink, M. M., Mahboubian, A., de Weerdt, O., & van der Nat, P. B. (2024) · Zeitschrift für Evidenz Fortbildung und Qualität im Gesundheitswesen · doi:10.1016/j.zefq.2024.04.002 · Cited by 2
Awamleh, Z. (2024) · Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B Biological Sciences · doi:10.1098/rstb.2023.0292 · Cited by 2
Jones, M., Metse, A. P., Watkins, A., Hermens, D. F., & Driver, C. (2024) · Digital Health · doi:10.1177/20552076241288381 · Cited by 2
“46 An important component of coaching is to use language and goal setting which are positively focused supporting proactive actions rather than removal of a behaviour, i.e. increasing nutritional choices instead of loss of weight.”
BackgroundDeterminants of Self‐Management Behavior in Gout: A Scoping Review
van der Ven, J., van den Bemt, B. J. F., Flendrie, M., Vriezekolk, J. E., & Verhoef, L. M. (2024) · Arthritis Care & Research · doi:10.1002/acr.25449 · Cited by 2
“84 Regarding mode of delivery, eHealth can play an important role because it facilitates delivery of intervention functions in a cost-ef fi cient manner.”
Allen, A., Sanders‐Westerhof, G., Khodadadi, A., & Kannis‐Dymand, L. (2025) · Scandinavian Journal of Psychology · doi:10.1111/sjop.13119 · Cited by 2
“Gardner et al. (2012) propose that such behaviors can bypass conscious thought, leading to reduced metacognitive awareness.”
Ali, N. A., Hudson, J., Straton, G., & Mullins, J. M. (2025) · BMJ Open · doi:10.1136/bmjopen-2024-090384 · Cited by 2
Abildgren, L., Lebahn-Hadidi, M., Mogensen, C. B., Toft, P., Steffensen, S. V., & Hounsgaard, L. (2025) · Advances in Simulation · doi:10.1186/s41077-025-00356-0 · Cited by 5
“Without a transfer process, focusing on meaning, motivation or conscious attention, the new or trained skill(s) will diminish, and the HP will return to usual habits and routines [16].”
Tan, R. E. J. H., Lim, W. S., Tay, C. H., Liew, K. W., Yeow, J. A., Chong, P. L., & Ng, Y. J. (2025) · Inventions · doi:10.3390/inventions10030042 · Cited by 2
Vadiveloo, M. K., Tovar, A., Elenio, E. G., Eickhoff, C., Soucie, J. S., Ewing, S. W. F., Gans, K. M., & Thorndike, A. N. (2025) · Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior · doi:10.1016/j.jneb.2025.07.010 · Cited by 2
Integrating neuro-psychological habit research into consumer choice models
Webb, R., Fong, J., Landry, P., Levine, J., Wellsjo, A., Natan, O., Mazar, A., Zhao, C., Lally, P. J., de Wit, S., et al. (2025) · International Journal of Research in Marketing · doi:10.1016/j.ijresmar.2025.10.002 · Cited by 2
Self-citationThe 10 best practices for remote software engineering
Sochat, V. (2021) · Communications of the ACM · doi:10.1145/3459613 · Cited by 2
“The more that you are able to repeat a behavior in a specific environment, the more likely it is to become effortless.(12) For example, if you immensely enjoy browsing the Internet for pleasure, you might teach yourself to look forward to this activity after dinner, and choose to browse at a different location with a…”
BackgroundEntrenamiento en casa durante el aislamiento
Arabia, J. J. M., & Naranjo, P. A. B. (2020) · Vitae (Universidad de Antioquia) · Cited by 2
Kusumastuti, A. E., & Putritamara, J. A. (2022) · The International Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities Invention · doi:10.18535/ijsshi/v9i02.03 · Cited by 2
Kim, J.-K., & Gu, M. O. (2016) · Journal of Korean Academy of Fundamentals of Nursing · doi:10.7739/jkafn.2016.23.3.245 · Cited by 2
“황적 자극(contextual cues)에 의해 유도되는 자동적인 반응으 로서 같은 상황에서 반복적인 행위를 통해 상황적 자극과 행 위의 연관성이 강화되므로써 형성된다[17].”
Authorship Attribution using Rough Sets based Feature Selection Techniques
Ikechukwu, I., & Olutayo, V. A. (2016) · International Journal of Computer Applications · doi:10.5120/ijca2016911889 · Cited by 2
“Habitual tendencies become irresistible over time and the urge to exhibit the promptings become very hard to control because they are autonomic and are not within the control of the individual [40; 12; 15] and as [40] puts it, ―habits are activated in memory in an autonomous fashion without requiring executive control…”
BackgroundThomson, D., Gowing, F., English, M., & Hassenkamp, A.-M. (2017) · International Journal of Practice-based Learning in Health and Social Care · doi:10.18552/ijpblhsc.v5i2.394 · Cited by 2
Strategies to Promote Walking Among Community-Dwelling Individuals With Major Mental Disorders
Swarbrick, M. A., Nemec, P. B., Brandow, C. L., & Spagnolo, A. B. (2017) · Journal of Psychosocial Nursing and Mental Health Services · doi:10.3928/02793695-20171205-01 · Cited by 2
Raison, H., Corcoran, R., & Harris, R. V. (2018) · Community Dental Health · doi:10.1922/cdh_4174raison10 · Cited by 2
“Indeed measures such as self-reported behavioural automaticity index (SRBAI) would be important to consider, as well as longer follow-up periods in future intervention work in order to help determine the level of automaticity established to predetermined cues for infrequent behaviours.”
Behavior Change in Community Contexts
Trickett, E. J., & Paterson, S. E. (2020) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/9781108677318.028 · Cited by 2
Odake, Y., Fukutani, N., Shimoura, K., Morino, T., Matsumura, N., Niu, Q., Shinohara, Y., Mukaiyama, K., Nagai‐Tanima, M., & Aoyama, T. (2021) · Environmental and Occupational Health Practice · doi:10.1539/eohp.2020-0024-oa · Cited by 2
Znaczenie dobrostanu nauczyciela w procesie kształtowania wartości poznawczych i społecznych
Wójcik, A. (2022) · Studia Paedagogica Ignatiana · doi:10.12775/spi.2022.1.004 · Cited by 2
Kunjir, H., Shetty, L., Palekar, T. J. K., Basu, S., & Kunjir, G. (2022) · Journal of Maxillofacial and Oral Surgery · doi:10.1007/s12663-022-01774-7 · Cited by 2
“Whereas, according to Maxwell Maltz, any habits can be created by completing an activity for 21 days in a row [4, 5].”
Method
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
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
