Health Behavior Change - Science topic

COVID-19 vaccination is the hopeful savior to curb the pandemic. One of the most urgent public health challenges is vaccine hesitancy. Vaccine hesitancy persists despite the availability of COVID-19 vaccinations because of ignorance and unfavorable attitudes. This study evaluated the effect of virtual educational sessions on nursing students' knowl...

BACKGROUND To test the association between a behavior-change, risk-reduction intervention and cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk scores in women with previous hypertensive disorders of pregnancy (HDP). METHODS We completed a prospective, single-arm comparative pre–post study of women with recent HDP. The intervention was the CardioPrevent Postpartu...

Background: WeChat mini program-based interventions grounded in behavioral theories show promise in promoting and maintaining healthy lifestyles among patients with cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) after hospital discharge. However, limited randomized controlled trials (RCTs) have evaluated the effectiveness of such interventions among Chinese patien...

Episodic future thinking (EFT), an intervention in which participants vividly imagine their future, has been explored as a cognitive intervention to reduce delay discounting and decrease engagement in harmful health behaviors. In these studies, participants generate text descriptions of personally meaningful future events. The content of these text...

The rise in the number of people suffering from non-communicable diseases (NCDs), of which 71% of the world's deaths are caused, is the reason why we need to have proper health education. Based on the identified transmission gap, this study focuses on educational interventions as a possible solution to decrease sedentary behaviors and increase heal...

Improving the health and well-being of pregnant adults is an important public health priority in the USA, and mobile health (mHealth) interventions may provide a scalable strategy to disseminate behavior change programs to pregnant adults. This study assessed pregnant people’s use of mobile technology, interest in making health behavior changes dur...

Using co-design principles based on the Health CASCADE framework, we aimed to describe the collaborative process undertaken to develop a 24-hour time-use intervention, called Small Steps, which promoted gradual and incremental health-behavior change. A secondary aim was to reflect on the challenges and benefits of co-design in this project, offerin...

Background/Objectives: Wearable activity trackers (WATs) are increasingly used by individuals to monitor physical activity, sleep, and other health behaviors. Integrating WAT data into clinical care may offer a cost-effective strategy to support health behavior change. However, little is known about users’ willingness to share their WAT data with h...

Migrant health, including reproductive health, is a public health priority. The time after childbirth is considered an important period for health behavior change and mobile health (mHealth) interventions have shown promise in influencing health behaviors. Healthcare professionals have an important role in providing support for health behaviors and...

The current study evaluates the relative contributions and interaction of procedural arguments and narrative content in health interventions. Passive health interventions often fail to make health threats relevant for a young target population. While serious games have shown promise in eliciting health behaviors, the relative contribution of mechan...

In Taiwan, sexual minority men (SMM) account for a significant portion of new HIV cases, highlighting the need for effective prevention measures. However, pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) use remains limited, necessitating a comprehensive examination of barriers. This study examined PrEP engagement and its predictors among 284 SMM in Taiwan. Partici...

mHealth apps are increasingly popular, offering tools like health tracking and personalized reminders to support these behaviors. Personalized messaging, tailored to the user’s profile, has been shown to improve engagement and retention around health topics. Research links personality traits (based on the Big Five model) with preferred app mechanis...

The global rise of chronic disease presents a need for effective prevention and treatment grounded in mind–body science and autonomy-promoting lifestyle interventions. Health and wellness coaching (HWC) has emerged as a new field as the evidence for it has grown. However, there continue to be significant discrepancies in how the HWC role is defined...

This study probes how mobile health monitoring contributes to health behavior change, with a particular focus on the roles of self-quantification and health consciousness. The findings indicate that mobile health monitoring effectively facilitates positive changes in health behaviors. Moreover, there is a significant interplay between self-quantifi...

Background Hypertensive disorders of pregnancy (HDP) are significant contributors to maternal morbidity and mortality in the United States, which has one of the highest maternal mortality rates among high-income nations. Home blood pressure monitoring (HBPM) offers promise for improving care, but its integration into workflows is poorly understood....

Lifestyle-related diseases remain a significant public health concern, highlighting the need to promote sustained health behaviors, particularly among young adults. The present study examines the role of the frontal pole cortex (FPC)—known for supporting persistence towards near-term goals—in promoting long-term health behavior change. Fifty partic...

Introduction The link between health behavior and outcomes is well-established in scientific research. From smoking cessation to increased physical activity, from improving diet to managing stress, the benefits of healthy behaviors are irrefutable. Despite the vast amount of knowledge available on how to improve health, many individuals continue to...

Aim of the study: Previous school-based interventions have addressed adolescent health behaviors such as physical activity during leisure time, screen time, and sleep but have predominantly targeted these behaviors independently rather than simultaneously (Salam, 2016; Oh et al., 2022). The Erasmus+ project FiTeens introduced a digital tools design...

Health behavior change is considered to be central in health promotion, as it can amplify disease prevention and reduce morbidity and mortality at the individual, community, or population level. Behavioral epidemiology, an emerging field of epidemiology, emphasizes the development of integrated, theory-grounded, and evidence-based health promotion...

Background Despite dementia being a global public health priority, young adults’ understanding of the condition and associated risk factors remains low. This study investigated knowledge of dementia and its risk factors and correlates (i.e., participants’ age, sex, and education, education of participants’ parents, knowing a person with dementia, a...

The World Health Organization identifies unhealthy behaviors, such as smoking, as significant risk factors contributing to mortality and morbidity, underscoring the necessity to adopt healthier habits. The increasing prevalence of health applications (apps) presents opportunities for promoting healthier lifestyles. Notably, personalized mobile heal...

Objetivo: Esta investigación explora la relación entre la regulación afectiva y el cambio de comportamiento en salud mediante dos estudios. El Estudio 1 evaluó si las dificultades con la regulación afectiva se asocian con menores intenciones de comportamiento relacionadas con la salud. El Estudio 2 introduce el Modelo de Calibración y Cualificación...

Emotional eating (EE; eating in response to negative emotions) is a considerable problem in adults with obesity. Recent meta-analyses of behavioral treatments for those with elevated body mass index (BMI) have demonstrated inconsistent, but generally minimal, effects for dealing with EE. This might largely be due to inappropriate sampling, cross-se...

Non-communicable diseases (NCDs) account for 53% of premature deaths globally, posing significant challenges to healthcare systems. In Indonesia, the rising prevalence of obesity and overweight among adults highlights the urgent need for innovative interventions to promote healthier lifestyles. Mobile diet applications have emerged as a promising s...

Research on vaccination hesitancy has been extensive, but the role of information processing in decision making still needs to be explored. The study examines the alignment between parents’ COVID-19 vaccination intentions and actual behavior, focusing on the impact of different kinds of information processing on the consistency or inconsistency of...

Background Men’s lower life expectancy has been in part attributed to adherence to masculine stereotypes restricting health promoting behaviors. Health-specific self-efficacy beliefs are theorised to contribute to these outcomes and recent research suggests addressing the link between masculinity and these beliefs is a key pathway to men’s health p...

Objective To systematically synthesize the impact of autonomy and key theoretical models, including Self-Determination Theory (SDT), Technology Acceptance Model (TAM), Value Adoption Model (VAM), Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB), and Health Action Process Approach (HAPA), on health behavior and behavior change determinants, focusing on self-determi...

Social networks play a crucial role in shaping health behaviors by influencing individual decisions through peer interactions, social norms, and community structures. This paper examines how social connections impact health choices, the mechanisms driving behavior change, and the theoretical frameworks explaining these influences. Concepts such as...

Background In home-based cardiac rehabilitation practices, nudging has emerged and was actively explored to promote health behavior change among patients with heart disease. The literature on nudging strategy is fragmented and lacks comprehensive reviews. Objective This study aimed to identify nudging interventions to promote health behavior chang...

Objectives To describe a study protocol for a three-arm randomized controlled trial that will evaluate the effectiveness of an Aged Smart-Care (ASC) application program intervention for community-dwelling older adults in China. Methods This randomized controlled trial with three arms will be conducted at eight community health service centers. Par...

Background Digital interventions have been shown to improve adolescents’ health behaviors. However, little is known about the mechanisms of change related to multiple risk behaviors in this population. This study aimed to estimate the natural direct and indirect effects of a digital intervention for multiple health behavior change in high school st...

Marital dissolution is a stressful transition that can lead to unhealthy coping strategies, including smoking and drinking. Using fixed effect linear probability models to assess health behavior changes, we analyzed 6,607 women and 6,689 men in the Household, Income, and Labour Dynamics in Australia data set who were either continuously married or...

Background Prevention of acute cardiovascular events in patients with cardiovascular disease (CVD) requires promoting health-protective behaviors (e.g., physical activity) and reducing health-compromising behaviors (e.g., sitting). Digital interventions addressing health behavior offer great potential. Based on a multiple behavior change theory, an...

Background Mobile health technologies show promise in addressing metabolic syndrome, but their comparative effectiveness in large-scale public health interventions remains unclear. Objective This study aims to compare the effectiveness of wearable devices (wearable activity trackers) and mobile app–based activity trackers (built-in step counters)...

How can we design human-robot interactions to effectively influence health behaviors? To address this question, this project is structured around two parallel research lines. The first focuses on persuasive communication strategies used by social robots, exploring how people respond both psychologically and behaviorally to different strategies. The...

Introduction Gastric cancer (GC) families as a whole face the stressful time of cancer together, and the quality of life (QoL) of both the patient and the caregiver can be affected. Most past researchers have focused on the QoL of GC patients, but have neglected the role that caregivers play in the treatment process. The purpose of this study was t...

Background: Health behavior consultations support self-management if delivered by skilled practitioners. We summarize here the results of a collaborative training intervention program delivered to health and care practitioners working in a remote-island context. The program was designed to build confidence in the implementation of communication and...

Introduction Clusters of health behaviors (e.g. physical activity/sedentary behavior/diet/sleep) can exert synergistic influences on health outcomes, such as obesity. Understanding how clusters of health behaviors change throughout childhood and adolescence is essential for developing interventions aimed at uncoupling unhealthy behaviors. This revi...

Background Behaviour change interventions delivered in real-world settings could be vulnerable to threats to internal and external validity if methodological considerations are overlooked. The primary dental care setting is a difficult environment within which to deliver research protocols presenting unique challenges for robust scientific research...

Health behavior, specifically physical health, is the main factor contributing to absenteeism and presenteeism of workers that affect an organization’s profitability. Based on the AIA Validity Survey report from 2017 until 2023, two main factors contributed to productivity loss: unhealthy diet and physical inactivity. As the banking sector strives...

Background: Changing health-oriented behavior is a critical aspect of health communication, as demonstrated by Pender's Health Promotion Model (HPM) and its application in public health. Influencing individual cognition plays a crucial role in achieving sustainable behavior change. Objective: This paper aims to propose an Integrated Model of Health...

Background: The usage of mobile health-related applications (mHealth apps) has expanded in recent years, significantly impacting healthcare by promoting healthy behaviors and improving patient engagement.Objective: To map the existing literature on the engagement and implementation of mHealth apps for health behaviors, with a focus on bibliometric...

To design social robots to effectively promote health behavior change, it is essential to understand how people respond to various health communication strategies employed by these robots. This study examines the effectiveness of two types of social control strategies from a social robot, relationship-focused strategies (emphasizing relational cons...

Background To validate the effectiveness of the application of a transition programme for adolescents with chronic kidney disease based on the Integrated Theory of Health Behavior Change. Methods This study was a quasi-experiment study. We included 76 adolescents with chronic kidney disease, and based on their willingness to undergo transition int...

Purpose The purpose of this study is to review the literature on the adoption determinants of mobile health (M-health) applications for health behavior change following a systematic methodology. Design/methodology/approach This review systematically identified 134 peer-reviewed studies out of 10,687 from Scopus, Web of Science, PubMed and the Asso...

Introduction While African countries, in general, experienced a milder COVID-19 impact compared to Western nations, they faced challenges with vaccine uptake. Specifically, Zimbabwe and Sierra Leone saw vaccine acceptance rates below global averages. This research delves into the underlying factors that influenced these disparities in vaccine accep...

More than half of adults with HIV in the United States are aged 50 or older. Older people with HIV (OPWH) are disproportionately affected by age-related health disparities and non-communicable diseases associated with inflammation. The current pilot randomized controlled trial (RCT) evaluated the feasibility and acceptability, while exploring signa...

Background: The implementation of child care education will be different from adult care education. This is because children are not miniature adults. However, the role of child care cannot be separated from the involvement of parents or families. Motivational interviewing (MI) educational interventions have been suggested to improve efficacy, know...

Background Electronic cigarette (e-cigarette) use is a major public health problem and young adults aged 18-24 years are at high risk. Furthermore, oral nicotine products (ONPs) are growing in popularity in this population. Poly-use is widespread. New methodologies for rigorous online studies using social media have been conducted and shown to redu...

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic caused significant disruptions to daily life, affecting regular physical activity (PA) and health behaviors worldwide. This study investigates the associations between PA domains and changes in health behaviors and mental health outcomes among middle-aged and old Chinese adults. Methods: Using wave 5 cross-sectiona...

Background Since its proposal in 2015, MTM has received a lot of attention in health behavior change research both at home and abroad, but the model is still in the exploratory stage. Furthermore, the majority of current health promotion research focuses on a particular health habit, using a rather simple theoretical model. Learning from the evolut...

Pain-coping skills training (PCST) is the predominant behavioral intervention for chronic pain. Benefiting from PCST necessitates that individuals not only complete the training sessions but also integrate the new skills into their daily lives. However, the extent to which the social context influences the ability to use and benefit from this train...

Health Behavior Change Support Systems (HBCSS) have garnered popularity due to their intentional design to influence lifestyles and foster lasting behavioral changes. The Persuasive Systems Design (PSD) model highlights the capacity of persuasive software features to enhance the systems' ability to influence people's behavior, which holds significa...

Health-focused community engagement (CE) is a common intervention to combat existing healthcare inequity and its disproportionate impact on the health of underserved Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) communities. While health-focused CE may contribute to better health outcomes by establishing feelings of empowerment within the communit...

Colorectal cancer (CRC) ranks third in terms of global cancer prevalence and is the second most common cause of cancer-related mortality. Although CRC rates are decreasing in the United States, inequalities still exist despite the effectiveness of invasive screening methods, such as colonoscopy, flexible sigmoidoscopy, and computed tomography (CT)...

This study investigated the impact of nursing interventions based on the Integrated Theory of Health Behavior Change on hemodialysis patients. A retrospective analysis of 713 hemodialysis patients’ electronic medical records from June 2020 to November 2023 was conducted. Patients were divided into an experimental group, receiving nursing interventi...

Background Despite Korea’s efforts to promote dementia‐prevention lifestyles and health behaviors, adherence among older adults is low. This underscores the importance of identifying factors, “beliefs, and attitudes” that influence lifestyle and health behavior changes to reduce dementia risk. The effectiveness of the scale used to measure these ch...

Introduction Smoking causes lung cancer and a wide range of acute and chronic diseases annually throughout the world. A fourth-generation behavioral framework, namely the Multi-Theory Model (MTM) of health behavior change was used to predict the initiation and maintenance of smoking cessation among health worker smokers. Methods A cross-sectional...

Background While the striking impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on mental health, heath care access and lifestyle behaviors, including perceived health, diet, physical activity, and sleep has been reported, few studies have examined these domains jointly among pregnant and postpartum people in the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods This...

The increasing incidence of cancer among women of childbearing age has emerged as asignificant health crisis, necessitating urgent attention from both individuals and societal medicalsystems. Cancer-related screening and prevention strategies are prevalent public health responsesto this challenge. This study integrates the Social Cognitive Theory (...

This systematic review examines the effectiveness of antenatal classes in improving pregnant women's attitudes towards stunting prevention. The review analyzed 28 studies published between 2018 and 2023, focusing on developing countries, particularly in Southeast Asia. The methodology followed PRISMA guidelines, utilizing multiple academic database...

Introduction Physicians face barriers to counseling patients regarding lifestyle, specifically, low perceived importance of and confidence in counseling, leading to underuse. There is a dearth in the literature evaluating educational interventions for counseling skills among preclinical medical students. Closing this gap is crucial to taking advant...

Physical activity (PA) and fruit and vegetable consumption (FVC) are crucial factors jointly affecting young adults’ physical and mental health. However, the psychosocial interactive mechanisms of these behaviors remain understudied. Using a two-wave prospective design over two months, this study investigated the psychological mechanisms underlying...

Objectives The aim of the study was to to uncover the factors influencing the initiation and maintenance of health behaviors indiabetes mellitus (DM) patients, utilizing baseline data from a randomized controlled trial to construct a structural equation model based on the Multi-Theory Model (MTM) and Health Action Process Approach (HAPA) scales. M...

Background This program evaluation was conducted to assess the effectiveness of a community memory screening initiative across 25 Aging and Disability Resource Centers, spanning 39 counties and 5 tribal communities in the state of Wisconsin. Methods We evaluated the screened individuals' characteristics and reasons for screening, the screen result...

Maintaining adequate levels of physical activity is challenging for many children. Parents, particularly mothers, play a pivotal role in children’s engagement in health behaviors. This longitudinal study investigated the moderating role of maternal physical activity-related modeling behaviors on the typical age-related decline in children’s physica...

Objective Adopting healthy behavior is vital for preventing chronic diseases. Mobile health (mHealth) interventions utilizing virtual coaches (i.e., artificial intelligence conversational agents) can offer scalable and cost-effective solutions. Additionally, targeting multiple unhealthy behaviors, like low physical activity and smoking, simultaneou...

In recent years, the convergence of healthcare and big data analytics has opened new avenues for tailored health communication, enabling personalized interventions and improving healthcare outcomes. This systematic review investigates the impact and techniques of harnessing big data for tailored health communication. The review synthesizes findings...

Abstract:The objective of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of community health management interventions in patients with type 2 diabetes over 45 years of age. A one one-year intervention was performed by including 184 patients with type 2 diabetes over the age of 45.Biochemical markers including fasting blood glucose, glycated hemoglobi...

Leveraging digital marketing for health behavior change can significantly enhance patient engagement, especially when deployed through pharmacies. Pharmacies play a pivotal role in public health by serving as accessible points of care where patients can receive critical health information and support for managing various conditions. This paper exam...

Migrant health, including reproductive health, is a public health priority. The time after childbirth is considered an important period for health behavior change and mobile health (mHealth) interventions have shown promise in influencing health behaviors. Health care professionals have an important role in providing support for health behaviors an...

Background Although mobile health (mHealth) interventions have demonstrated effectiveness in modifying 1 or 2 health-risk behaviors at a time, there is a knowledge gap regarding the effects of stand-alone mHealth interventions on multiple health risk behaviors. Objective This study aimed to estimate the 2- and 4-month effectiveness of an mHealth i...

Background: Participation in cardiac rehabilitation (CR) reduces risk of cardiovascular mortality, improves functional capacity and enhances quality of life in patients with coronary artery disease (CAD). eHealth-based CR can increase participation rates, but research into effective components is necessary. The objective of this sys- tematic review...

Introduction: Hazardous drinking by fathers poses a significant risk for negative family interactions and child outcomes. The transition to parenthood may be a time when expectant parents are potentially motivated for health behavior change, suggesting that implementing preventive interventions during this period may be particularly effective. This...

School-based health promotion (HP) emerged from the settings-based approach. Children from disadvantaged neighborhoods benefit from HP in their school. Teachers deliver HP modules but need additional resources. This case study aimed to form a transdisciplinary partnership in a socially disadvantaged area to co-develop and embed HP modules into exis...

One motivator for improving older adults’ diet and exercise may be perceptions of hope; however, little is known about what factors influence hope in older adults and what linguistic features can subsequently be used in strategic messages to increase older adults’ feelings of hope. Using Persuasive Hope Theory (PHT), this study examined whether old...

Online behavioral weight loss (BWL) in primary care is effective and disseminable. This trial compared two implementation approaches on program uptake, use, and weight loss via a pragmatic hybrid type 2 implementation-effectiveness design to evaluate online BWL implementation (Rx Weight Loss [RxWL]) and effectiveness. This manuscript presents the i...

Purpose To evaluate the effectiveness of a nursing intervention based on the integration theory of health behavior change (ITHBC) in older adults with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and frailty. Method This cluster randomized controlled trial has a two-group pre-/posttest design. The intervention group received a 12-week nursing intervention base...

Conversational agents (CAs) are effective tools for health behavior change, yet little research investigates the mechanisms through which they work. Following the Computer as Social Actors (CASA) paradigm, we suggest that agents are perceived as human-like actors and hence influence behavior much as human coaches might. As such, agents should be de...

Carrying heavy loads increases the risk of pelvic organ disorders, particularly in low-income countries. Low self-efficacy hampers adoption of pelvic-floor-protective behaviors. The enabling hypothesis suggests that social support may strengthen women’s behavioral self-efficacy. A three-arm parallel non-randomized controlled trial with 300 women an...

Introduction COVID-19 has triggered significant disruptions globally, necessitating swift adaptations in individuals’ health behaviors. Methods This cross-sectional study was conducted during Phase Four of Malaysia’s National Recovery Plan and examines how the pandemic has affected health behaviors among adult Malaysians. The study gathered data o...

The field of behavioral medicine has a long and successful history of leveraging digital health tools to promote health behavior change. Our 2019 summary of the history and future of digital health in behavioral medicine (Arigo in J Behav Med 8: 67–83, 2019) was one of the most highly cited articles in the Journal of Behavioral Medicine from 2010 t...

Positive psychological well-being (PPWB) is increasingly recognized as a critical factor in cardiovascular health of both healthy individuals and those with cardiovascular diseases (CVD). This mini-review synthesizes the current state of knowledge on the relationship between PPWB and cardiovascular health, examining relevant studies on PPWB in both...

Background There is a growing public health evidence base focused on understanding the links between drinking contexts and alcohol consumption. However, the potential value of developing context-based interventions to help people drinking at increasing and higher risk levels to cut down remains underexplored. Digital interventions, such as apps, of...

Collectively, rare diseases are common, affecting approximately 8% of the population in Canada and the USA. Therefore, the majority of primary care (PC) clinicians will care for patients who are affected or at risk for a genetic disease. Considering the increasing ways in which genetics is being implemented into all areas of healthcare, one way to...

Background Systematic counseling on behavioral health risk factors (HRFs) may be suitable to promote health among general hospital patients. This study aimed to investigate the openness of patients towards systematic screening and intervention of HRFs, its relation to actual participation in a multi-behavioral intervention, and whether socio-econom...

Background Despite the high cure rate of differentiated thyroid cancer (DTC), patients endure side effects from treatment and psychological distress, impacting their quality of life. The potential of mobile health (mHealth) interventions to address these issues remains unexplored. The purpose of this study is to develop an mHealth intervention base...

Background Following acute coronary syndrome (ACS), up to 40% of patients report elevated depressive symptoms which is associated with a two-fold increase in mortality risk due to behavioral and biological mechanisms. Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) delivered via synchronous group videoconferencing could help reduce depressive symptoms....