Behaviour Change Technique Reviews
November 13, 2018
These reviews are to find the effectiveness of various techniques that are used to change behaviour.
Many interventions include several behaviour change techniques so it’s difficult to know which technique is responsible for any changes in behaviour.
To do this we select all the studies that compare an intervention that uses the behaviour change technique of interest with a comparison condition that is identical except it doesn’t use the behaviour change technique of interest.
For each study we calculate an effect size. This is a statistic that measures the size of the difference in outcomes between the intervention group and the comparison group. We can combine these effect sizes in a meta-analysis that tells us if the behaviour change is effective overall.
The unique effects of goal setting: A meta-analysis.
November 13, 2018
I reviewed all the current studies where a goal setting intervention had been used to try and change behaviour, performance or an outcome.
For each study an effect size was calculated. This is a statistic that measures the size of the difference in outcomes between the goal setting intervention group and the comparison group (who did not have the goal setting intervention). As I wanted to measure the unique effect of goal setting I only included those studies where the comparison group and intervention group differed only by the inclusion of goal setting (i.e., goal setting only vs. a control who had no intervention or goal setting + other intervention vs identical other intervention without goal setting).
The effect sizes for each study were combined in a meta analysis. Overall we found that goal setting had a small effect on behaviour.
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See here to listen to my talk on this.
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The impact of self-affirmation on health behavior change: A meta-analysis.
2015
I reviewed all the current studies where a self affirmation intervention had been used to try and change health behaviour.
For each study an effect size was calculated. This is a statistic that measures the size of the difference in outcomes between the self affirmation group and the control group (who did not have the self affirmation intervention).
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The effect sizes for each study were combined in a meta analysis. Overall we found that self affirmation had a small but significant effect of health message acceptance, intentions and actual behaviour.
Do self-incentives change behaviour? A systematic review and meta-analysis.
2018
I reviewed all the current studies where a self incentive intervention had been used to try and change behaviour, performance or an outcome.
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For each study an effect size was calculated. This is a statistic that measures the size of the difference in outcomes between the self incentive intervention group and the comparison group (who did not have the self incentive intervention). As I wanted to measure the unique effect of self incentives I only included those studies where the comparison group and intervention group differed only by the inclusion of self incentives (i.e., self incentives only vs. a control who had no intervention or self incentives + other intervention vs identical other intervention without self incentives).
The effect sizes for each study were combined in a meta analysis. Overall we found that self incentives had a very small effect on behaviour but this was based on very few studies.
Does heightening risk appraisals change people’s intentions and behavior? A meta-analysis of experimental studies
2014
I reviewed all the studies that had used an intervention to increase risk perceptions (e.g., vulnerability to a risk, fear, worry) and had been successful in doing so.
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For each study an effect size was calculated. This is a statistic that measure the size of difference in outcomes between the risk intervention and the control condition.
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The effect sizes for each study were combined in a meta analysis. Overall we found that increasing risk perceptions resulted in small effects on intentions to change behaviour and actual behaviour change. The effects were larger if self efficacy (i.e., a person’s belief that they can change) and response efficacy (i.e., a person’s belief that changing the behaviour will reduce risk).
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