Dominika Kwasnicka

University of Melbourne | MSD · Nossal Institute for Global Health

Background Researchers are capitalising on the strong connections that sport fans have with their teams for health promotion programmes, yet no existing systematic reviews have evaluated the effectiveness of interventions delivered through professional sport. Objective The aim of this study was to systematically collate, evaluate, and synthesise t...

Background: Attendance at self-management support interventions is associated with improved outcomes for people with type 2 diabetes. However, initial improvements are often not sustained beyond one year, which may be a result of difficulties in sustaining positive changes made to self-management behaviours. The aim of this systematic review is to...

The aim of this study was to explore health perceptions and priorities. Using a photo elicitation method, participants (N=50) were asked to answer the question: ‘What does it mean to choose health’. Data (original photographs, accompanied by captions) were collected online. We generated and interpreted the main themes associated with common percept...

Background High automaticity in healthy nutrition behaviors is related to long-term maintenance of these behaviors. Drawing upon theoretical frameworks of habit formation, proposed antecedents such as intrinsic reward, anticipated regret, and self-efficacy are important correlates of automaticity, but not much is known about their day-by-day relati...

Physical distancing remains an important initiative to curb COVID‐19 and virus transmission more broadly. This exploratory study investigated how physical distancing behaviour changed during the COVID‐19 pandemic and whether it was associated with identity with virus transmission avoidance and physical distancing habit strength. In a longitudinal,...

Objectives This study examined the effect of using patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) routinely to assess and address depressive symptoms and diabetes distress among adults with type 2 diabetes. Design A systematic review of published peer-reviewed studies. Data sources Medline, Embase, CINAHL Complete, PsycINFO, The Cochrane Library and C...

Ecological Momentary Assessment (EMA) involves repeated, real-time sampling of health behaviours in context. We present the state-of-knowledge in EMA research focused on five key health behaviours (physical activity and sedentary behaviour, dietary behaviour, alcohol consumption, tobacco smoking, sexual health), summarising theoretical (e.g., psych...

In this White Paper, we outline recommendations from the perspective of health psychology and behavioural science, addressing three research gaps: (1) What methods in the health psychology research toolkit can be best used for developing and evaluating digital health tools? (2) What are the most feasible strategies to reuse digital health tools acr...

Abstract Rationale: Translating research evidence into clinical practice to improve care involves healthcare professionals adopting new behaviours and changing or stopping their existing behaviours. However, changing healthcare professional behaviour can be difficult, particularly when it involves changing repetitive, ingrained ways of providing ca...

Purpose: In this study, we aimed to test the relationship between compulsive exercise and self-esteem, body image, and body satisfaction as potential predictors of eating disorders. Methods: Self-report measures of compulsive exercise beliefs and behaviors, self-esteem, body image, and body satisfaction, were completed by 120 female participants...

Regular physical activity benefits health across the lifespan. Women in middle-age often juggle carer and work responsibilities, are often inactive, and may benefit from tailored support to increase physical activity. Establish the acceptability, feasibility, and impact on physical activity of a scalable program for women 50+ years. This pilot tria...

Background: Attendance at self-management support interventions is associated with improved outcomes for people with type 2 diabetes. However, initial improvements are often not sustained beyond one year, which may be a result of difficulties in sustaining positive changes made to self-management behaviours. The aim of this systematic review is to...

The very first issue of the journal of Translational Behavioral Medicine (TBM) was dedicated, in part, to the theme of Health Information Technology as a platform for evidence implementation. The topic was timely: legislation in the USA was passed with the intent of stimulating the adoption of electronic health records; mobile smartphones, tablets,...

Background Effective hand washing (for at least 20 s, with water and soap) is one of the health behaviors protecting against infection transmissions. Behavior change interventions supporting the initiation and maintenance of hand washing are crucial to prevent infection transmissions. Based on the Health Action Process Approach, the aim of this res...

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has devastated the world, and its mental health impact has been recognized in the general population. However, little is known about the mental health impact of COVID-19 on fly-in fly-out (FIFO) workers, who are flown to temporarily stay and work in remote areas, during this pandemic. This study examined the ment...

Objective Habitual behaviours are triggered automatically, with little conscious forethought. Theory suggests that making healthy behaviours habitual, and breaking the habits that underpin many ingrained unhealthy behaviours, promotes long-term behaviour change. This has prompted interest in incorporating habit formation and disruption strategies i...

BACKGROUND Digital health promotion programs tailored to the individual are a potential cost-effective and scalable solution to enable self-management and provide support to people with excess body weight. However, solutions that are personalised, theory- and evidence- based and widely accessible are still limited. OBJECTIVE This study aimed to de...

Objectives: To describe the use and promise of conversational agents in digital health—including health promotion andprevention—and how they can be combined with other new technologies to provide healthcare at home. Method: A narrative review of recent advances in technologies underpinning conversational agents and their use and potential for healt...

Introduction Ecological momentary assessment (EMA) involves repeated, real-time assessments of phenomena (eg, cognitions, emotions, behaviours) over a period of time in naturalistic settings. EMA is increasingly used to study both within-person and between-person processes. We will review EMA studies investigating key health behaviours and synthesi...

Introduction Rotation work, characterised by travelling long distances to work in isolated areas where workers typically rotate consecutive days working and living on-site with periods at home, is increasingly used in the resources and construction sectors globally. Such employment practices may have an impact on workers’ health and well-being. Thi...

In March 2020, the Your COVID-19 Risk tool was developed in response to the global spread of SARS-CoV-2. The tool is an online resource based on key behavioural evidence-based risk factors related to contracting and spreading SARS-CoV-2. This article describes the development of the tool, the produced resources, the associated open repository, and...

Current research funding models for health psychologists tend to be biased toward support for large-scale ‘definitive’ behavioural trials. This approach emphasizes rigorous tests of one or more key questions, but, unintentionally, may lead to the funding of interventions that are based on myriad untested assumptions. We propose that future funding...

How can I motivate my clients? How and when should I talk to my patients about weight loss or alcohol? What types of goals should people set? How are behavioral changes maintained? Questions like these are encountered every day in practical settings, and healthcare practitioners, counsellors, coaches or teachers may not always know the answers. Re...

Objective: This process evaluation aimed to evaluate the feasibility and acceptability of Aussie-FIT, a group-based weight loss intervention for men with overweight and obesity in Australia. Design: Process data and data collected from: (1) six-participant focus groups (n= 24), (2) coach interviews (n = 4), (3) audio recordings of Aussie-FIT ses...

There is substantial evidence documenting the effects of behavioural interventions on weight loss (WL). However, behavioural approaches to initial WL are followed by some degree of longer-term weight regain, and large trials focusing on evidence-based approaches to weight loss maintenance (WLM) have generally only demonstrated small beneficial effe...

Introduction Type 2 diabetes is a global health priority. People with diabetes are more likely to experience mental health problems relative to people without diabetes. Diabetes guidelines recommend assessment of depression and diabetes distress during diabetes care. This systematic review will examine the effect of routinely assessing and addressi...

Health psychology is at the forefront of developing and disseminating evidence, theories, and methods that have improved the understanding of health behaviour change. However, existing evidence dissemination approaches may be insufficient for promoting the broader application and impact of findings to benefit the health of patients and the public....

Objectives: Habit formation has been identified as one of the key determinants of behaviour change. To initiate habit formation, self-regulation interventions can support individuals to form a cue-behaviour plan and to repeatedly enact the plan in the same context. This randomized controlled trial aimed to model habit formation of an everyday nutr...

Background and Aims Within the context of Scotland’s policy change to implement a Minimum Unit Price (MUP) per unit of alcohol sold in licenced premises, this study used an N‐of‐1 design to assess between person differences in the psychological and social factors associated with daily alcohol consumption. Design A mixed methods approach combined N...

Introduction Digital behavioural weight loss interventions have the potential to improve public health; however, these interventions are often not adequately tailored to the needs of the participants. This is the protocol for a trial that aims to determine the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of the Choosing Health programme as a means to promo...

The article describes a position statement and recommendations for actions that need to be taken to develop best practices for promoting scientific integrity through open science in health psychology endorsed at a Synergy Expert Group Meeting. Sixteen Synergy Meeting participants developed a set of recommendations for researchers, gatekeepers, and...

Background: Physical activity has many physical and mental health benefits and can delay the development of disability in older age. However, uptake of this health behaviour is sub-optimal in women in their middle and older age. This trial aims to establish the acceptability and feasibility of the Active Women over 50 programme involving online in...

Background: Recent evidence shows that sport settings can act as a powerful draw to engage men in weight loss. The primary objective of this pilot study was to test feasibility of delivering and evaluating preliminary efficacy of Aussie-FIT, a weight loss program for overweight/obese men delivered in Australian Football League settings, in preparat...

This commentary expands on the recent critical review by Swann et al. (2020) which aimed to update the applications of Goal-Setting Theory (Locke & Latham, 2019) in physical activity promotion. Drawing from other work on goal striving and behaviour change, we make four key points to further elaborate on Swann et al.’s review. First, goals are more...

Objectives (1) To introduce N-of-1 methods and how they can help the researchers identify predictors of behavioural outcomes, (2) to provide examples of studies that test individual theory-based predictions of physical activity and/or exercise; (3) to provide a practical example dataset to illustrate how to design and undertake a basic analysis for...

Objective: To advance understanding of the individual and environmental factors underpinning weight loss maintenance. Design: Semi-structured, data-prompted interviews were conducted with twelve overweight adult participants (3 men, 9 women) who had lost over 5% of their body weight in the year before baseline. Participants gathered daily data thro...

Theories of behaviour change and health behaviour change interventions are most often evaluated in between-person designs. However, behaviour change theories apply to individuals not groups and behavioural interventions ultimately aim to achieve within-person rather than between-group change. Within-person methodology, such as N-of-1 (also known as...

Several interventions have targeted dyads to promote physical activity (PA) or reduce sedentary behaviour (SB), but the evidence has not been synthesised. Sixty-nine studies were identified from MEDLINE, PsycINFO, and Web of Science, and 59 were included in the main meta-analyses (providing 72 independent tests). Intervention details, type of dyadi...

Introduction: Overweight and obesity are highly prevalent among Australian men. Professional sports settings can act as a powerful ‘hook’ to engage men in weight loss programmes; the Football Fans in Training (FFIT) programme delivered in professional UK soccer clubs was successful and cost effective in helping men lose weight. The Australian Footb...

Background: UK guidelines recommend that patients with obesity in primary care receive opportunistic weight loss advice from health care professionals, but there is a lack of research into the characteristics and existing weight management practices of these patients. The aim of this study was to characterise primary care patients with obesity in...

Theories of the behaviour change and health behaviour change interventions are often tested in a conventional between-participant randomized controlled trial design; however, behaviour change interventions aim to achieve within-participant change in participants who are likely to have heterogeneous and unique responses to the behavioural interventi...

Background Most people do not engage in sufficient physical activity to confer health benefits and to reduce risk of chronic disease. Healthcare professionals frequently provide guidance on physical activity, but often do not meet guideline levels of physical activity themselves. The main objective of this study is to develop and test the efficacy...

Many dietary interventions assume a positive influence of home cooking on diet, health and social outcomes, but evidence remains inconsistent. We aimed to systematically review health and social determinants and outcomes of home cooking. Given the absence of a widely accepted, established definition, we defined home cooking as the actions required...

Objective: Behaviour change interventions are effective in supporting individuals to achieve clinically significant weight loss, but weight loss maintenance (WLM) is less often attained. This study examined predictive variables associated with WLM. Design: N-of-1 study with daily ecological momentary assessment combined with objective measurement o...

OBJECTIVE: Behaviour change interventions are effective in supporting individuals to achieve clinically significant weight loss, but weight loss maintenance (WLM) is less often attained. This study examined predictive variables associated with WLM. DESIGN: N-of-1 study with daily ecological momentary assessment combined with objective measurement o...

After weight loss, most individuals regain lost weight. Interventions to support the transition from successful loss to weight loss maintenance (WLM), regardless of the method of prior weight loss, are needed. The aims of this study were to (1) develop a face-to-face behavioural intervention session to support overweight and obese individuals who h...

After weight loss, most individuals regain lost weight. Interventions to support the transition from successful loss to weight loss maintenance (WLM), regardless of the method of prior weight loss, are needed. The aims of this study were to (1) develop a face-to-face behavioural intervention session to support overweight and obese individuals who h...

Background: Many dietary interventions assume a positive influence of home cooking on diet, health and social outcomes, but evidence remains inconsistent. We aimed to systematically review health and social determinants and outcomes of home cooking. Methods: Home cooking was defined as actions required for preparing hot or cold foods at home, in...

Background Poor quality diets high in fat, salt and sugar and low in fruit and vegetables play important roles in the aetiology of obesity and chronic diseases. Many dietary interventions assume relationships between cooking, diet and health, and surmise that a key solution for promoting health is developing cooking skills. However, evidence to sup...

The current article details a position statement and recommendations for future research and practice on planning and implementation intentions in health contexts endorsed by the Synergy Expert Group. The Group comprised world-leading researchers in health and social psychology and behavioural medicine who convened to discuss priority issues in pla...