Table 2 Intervention effectiveness and the reported use of theoretical foundation, BCT, social context and EMI/JITAI in the included reviews
Author Type of review | Intervention duration Included study designs | Theoretical foundation | BCT | Social context | EMI/JITAI |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Böhm et al. 2019 [47] Systematic review | 1–12 months 4 RCTs, 1 RC cross over, 2 before-and-after trials | Total number of theory-based studies NA 4/7 (57%) social cognitive theory | 3/7 (43%) additional BCTs | 7/7 (100%) recruited in schools with interventions in and outside the school setting Combining school-based interventions with family or community involvement for social support is potentially effective | NA |
Buckingham et al. 2019 [53] Systematic review | 1–12 months 10 RCTs, 10 prospective cohort studies, 1 combination of methods mentioned above, 3 cluster-RCT, 1 parallel group uncontrolled randomized trial, 1 prospective cluster trial with an asynchronous control group | 15/25 (60%) based on a named behavior change theory and/or principles of behavioral economics 2/25 (8%) studies alluded to BCTs or theory in their discussion 8/25 (32%) neither theory nor BCT | Most frequent BCTs: Self-monitoring of the behavior or outcome (n = 22, 88% of studies) provision of feedback on the behavior or outcome (n = 21, 84%) goal setting for the behavior or outcome (n = 17, 68%) social comparison (n = 14, 56%) social support (n = 12, 48%) | 25/25 (100%) public and private sector workplace setting No associations were found between type of workplace and impact on PA | NA |
Direito et al. 2017 [52] Systematic review and meta-analysis | Median = 9 weeks 21 RTCs | NA | Total BCTs: M = 5.4/93 BCTs (SD = 2.6, range 0 to 12) More BCTs were employed with intervention groups (M = 6.9, SD = 2.6, range 2 to 12) than with comparator groups (M = 3.1, SD = 2.2, range 0 to 10) Most frequent BCTs: 81% goal setting (behavior 74% self-monitoring of behavior 65% social support (unspecified) 55% feedback on behavior 55% instruction on how to perform the behavior 48% adding objects to the environment 45% information about health consequences 45% prompts/cues | NA | NA Prompts and cues common BCT |
Ferrer et al. 2017 [51] Systematic review | 3–12 weeks 5 RCTs, 2 single group designs, 1 within-subject crossover | 4/8 (50%) theory-based interventions 1/8 (13%) theory of planned behavior 1/8 (13%) social cognitive theory 2/8 (25%) not specified | 8/8 (100%) interventions used behavior modification strategies including goal setting, self-monitoring, prompts, and social support | 8/8 (100%) social-media interventions (facebook) 7/8 (88%) of the Facebook interventions ↑ some type of PA behavior change (i.e., interactions, main effects for time, differences between conditions) 2/8 (25%) ↑ for the treatment group compared to the control group. | NA |
Hamel et al. 2011 [56] Systematic review | 2 weeks - 2 years 7 RCTs, 5 quasi-experimental, 1 repeated measures, 1 pretest-posttest control group design | 9/14 (64%) theory-based interventions Social cognitive theory most frequent Other theories: Theory of reasoned action transtheoretical model health belief model theory of planned behavior attitude, social influence, and self-efficacy model 4/14 (29%) having more than one theory | NA | 9/14 (64%) school-based 3/14 (21%) home-based 1/14 (7%) camp- and home-based 1/14 (7%) scout troop and home-based 3/14 (21%) of these included parental involvement School-based interventions were more effective than e.g. home-based interventions and parental support might be important | NA |
McIntosh et al. 2017 [50] Systematic review | 6 weeks - 4 months 6 RCTs, 3 before and after quasi-experimental designs 1 cluster-RCT | 9/10 (90%) theory-based interventions 5/10 (50%) social cognitive theory 2/10 (20%) theory of planned behavior 1/10 (10%) transtheoretical model 1/10 (10%) SMART goals | NA | 10/10 (100%) students attending school, college or university Effect of social context not analyzed | NA |
Muellemann et al. 2018 [49] Systematic review | 1–24 months 18 RCTs, 2 quasi-experimental design | 16/20 (80%) theory-based interventions most common: 9/20 (45%) social cognitive theory 8/20 (40%) transtheoretical model 7/20 (35%) self-determination theory 7/20 (35%) i-change model | NA | NA | NA |
Nour et al. 2016 [54] Systematic review and meta-analysis | one-off contact - 6 months 14 RCTs | 6/14 (43%) theory- or education-based interventions 5/14 (36%) transtheoretical model 2/14 (14%) social cognitive theory 2/14 (14%) theory of planned behavior and the theory of habit formation 7/14 (50%) applied self-efficacy in their intervention | NA | no group intervention 11/14 (79%) university setting 2/14 (14%) N.A. 1/14 (7%) home based Effect of social context not analyzed | NA |
Rocha et al. 2019 [55] Meta-analysis | one-time session - 24 weeks 14 RCTs, 3 cluster-RCTs, 2 non-randomized studies | NA | 1 to 7 BCTs used20/40 BCT categories identified Most common:68% provide instruction on how to perform the behavior 47% Provide feedback on performance 26% goal setting on behavior | 8/19 (42%) school setting 6/19 (32%) community-based 2/19 (11%) workplace-based 1/19 (5%) clinic-based (prevention) 1/19 (5%) online-based 1/19 (5%) supermarket-based Effect of social context not analyzed | NA 15/19 (79%) tailored interventions 4/19 (21%) were nontailored interventions |
Schoeppe et al. 2016 [57] Systematic review | 1–24 weeks 19 RCTs, 4 pre-post studies, 3 controlled trials, 1 randomized trial | 15/27 (56%) theory-based interventions 4/27 (15%) transtheoretical model 4/27 (15%) social cognitive theory 3/27 (11%) self-determination theory 2/27 (7%) theory of planned behavior 1/27 (4%) control systems 1/27 (4%) theory of self-regulation 1/27 (4%) behavior change wheel | NA | 6/27 (22%) social support 3/6 interaction with peers 4/6 friendly team challenges Effect of social context not analyzed | NA |
Stephenson et al. 2017 [48] Systematic review and meta-analysis | 5 days - 24 months 17 RCTs | NA | 1 to 15 BCTs used 20/93 BCTs categories identified most common: 88% instruction on how to perform a behavior 71% social support (unspecified) 65% prompts and cues 65% adding objects to the environment | 10/17 (59%) workplace setting 5/17 (29%) Community/home setting 2/17 (12%) workplace and community/home setting Effect of social context not analyzed | NA Prompts and cues common BCT |