The theory of Planned Behaviour is one of the models most frequently used in the literature to explore pro-environmental behaviour including recycling, travel mode choice, energy consumption, water conservation, food choice, and ethical investment (Stern, 2000; Staats, 2003). Armitage and Conner (2001) identified its application in 154 different contexts. The Theory of Planned Behaviour (Ajzen, 1988) assumes that the best prediction of behaviour is given by asking people if they are intending to behave in a certain way. Here we note that the intention will not express itself in behaviour if it is physically impossible to perform the behaviour or if unexpected barriers stand in the way. Assuming intention can explain behaviour, how can intention be explained?. According to Azjen, three determinants explain behavioural intention: 1. The attitude (opinions of oneself about the behaviour); 2. The subjective norm (opinions of others about the behaviour); 3. The perceived behavioural control (self-efficacy towards the behaviour).

The Theory of Planned Behaviour

Purpose. To review applications of Ajzen's theory of planned behavior in the domain of health and to verify the efficiency of the theory to explain and predict health-related behaviors. Methods. Most material has been drawn from Current Contents (Social and Behavioral Sciences and Clinical Medicine) from 1985 to date, together with all peer-reviewed articles cited in the publications thus identified. Findings. The results indicated that the theory performs very well for the explanation of intention; an averaged R2 of .41 was observed. Attitude toward the action and perceived behavioral control were most often the significant variables responsible for this explained variation in intention. The prediction of behavior yielded an averaged R2 of .34. Intention remained the most important predictor, but in half of the studies reviewed perceived behavioral control significantly added to the prediction. Conclusions. The efficiency of the model seems to be quite good for explaining intention, perceived be...

The theory of planned behavior: a review of its applications to health-related behaviors.

This article examines health promotion and disease prevention from the perspective of social cognitive theory. The areas of overlap with some of the most widely applied psychosocial models of health are identified. The models of health promotion and disease prevention have undergone several generational changes. We have shifted from trying to scare people into health, to rewarding them into health, to equipping them with self-regulatory skills to manage their health habits, to shoring up their habit changes with dependable social supports. These transformations have evolved a multifaceted approach that addresses the reciprocal interplay between self-regulatory and environmental determinants of health behavior. Social cognitive theory addresses the socio structural determinants of health as well as the personal determinants. A comprehensive approach to health promotion requires changing the practices of social systems that have widespread detrimental effects on health rather than solely changing t...

https://www.uky.edu/~eushe2/Bandura/Bandura1998PH.pdf

Health promotion from the perspective of social cognitive theory

Doing Qualitative Research

Background: The Internet is increasingly used as a medium for the delivery of interventions designed to promote health behavior change. However, reviews of these interventions to date have not systematically identified intervention characteristics and linked these to effectiveness. Objectives: The present review sought to capitalize on recently published coding frames for assessing use of theory and behavior change techniques to investigate which characteristics of Internet-based interventions best promote health behavior change. In addition, we wanted to develop a novel coding scheme for assessing mode of delivery in Internet-based interventions and also to link different modes to effect sizes. Methods: We conducted a computerized search of the databases indexed by ISI Web of Knowledge (including BIOSIS Previews and Medline) between 2000 and 2008. Studies were included if (1) the primary components of the intervention were delivered via the Internet, (2) participants were randomly assigned to conditions, and (3) a measure of behavior related to health was taken after the intervention. Results: We found 85 studies that satisfied the inclusion criteria, providing a total sample size of 43,236 participants. On average, interventions had a statistically small but significant effect on health-related behavior (d+ = 0.16, 95% CI 0.09-0.23). More extensive use of theory was associated with increases in effect size (P = .049), and, in particular, interventions based on the theory of planned behavior tended to have substantial effects on behavior (d+ = 0.36, 95% CI 0.15-0.56). Interventions that incorporated more behavior change techniques also tended to have larger effects compared to interventions that incorporated fewer techniques (P < .001). Finally, the effectiveness of Internet-based interventions was enhanced by the use of additional methods of communicating with participants, especially the use of short message service (SMS), or text, messages. Conclusions: The review provides a framework for the development of a science of Internet-based interventions, and our findings provide a rationale for investing in more intensive theory-based interventions that incorporate multiple behavior change techniques and modes of delivery. [J Med Internet Res 2010;12(1):e4]

Using the Internet to promote health behavior change: A systematic review and meta-analysis of the impact of theoretical basis, use of behavior change techniques, and mode of delivery on efficacy

Purpose Examine the effects of three iterative tailored feedback letters addressing smoking; physical activity; and fruit, vegetable, and fat intake, and test the additional effects of providing feedback on action plans. Design A tailored, print-based intervention was developed and tested in a randomized control trial with a posttest after 9 months. Setting A total of 2827 respondents agreed to participate. They were recruited from a random sample of 35,000 addresses obtained through the Dutch national telephone company. Subjects The mean age was 49 years, and 55% were female. Intervention The experimental group received three printed tailored letters, and the control group received three printed generic letters. Respondents from the experimental group randomly received either a third letter with tailored information or tailored information and action-planning feedback. Measures The questionnaire assessed physical activity; smoking; consumption of fruit, vegetables and fat; motivational determina...

The effectiveness of tailored feedback and action plans in an intervention addressing multiple health behaviors.

http://www.stats.ox.ac.uk/~snijders/MerckenSnijdersSteglichVartiainenDeVries2009.pdf

Dynamics of adolescent friendship networks and smoking behavior

Objective: To examine whether smoking onset in young adolescents is predicted by peer or parental smoking. Design: Longitudinal design with one pretest and one follow-up at 12 months. Setting: Schools in Finland, Denmark, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Spain and Portugal. Participants: 7102 randomly selected adolescents from six countries. Mean age was 12.78 years. Main outcome measures: Smoking behaviour of adolescents, peers and parents. Results: No support was found for peer smoking as an important predictor of smoking onset in most countries. Support was found for the selection paradigm, implying that adolescents choose friends with similar smoking behaviour. Support for the impact of parents on adolescent behaviour and the choice of friends was also found. Conclusions: Smoking uptake in this age cohort may be more strongly influenced by personal and parental influences than initially believed. Hence, social inoculation programmes teaching youngsters to resist the pressures to smoke may be less appropriate if youngsters have a positive attitude towards smoking, associate smoking with various advantages and look for peers with similar values. For this group attitudes towards smoking may thus guide future friend selection.

/pdf/challenges-to-the-peer-influence-paradigm-results-for-12-13-2sqk17wsum.pdf

Challenges to the peer influence paradigm: results for 12–13 year olds from six European countries from the European Smoking Prevention Framework Approach study

H. de Vries

Papers

The effectiveness of tailored feedback and action plans in an intervention addressing multiple health behaviors.

Dynamics of adolescent friendship networks and smoking behavior

Challenges to the peer influence paradigm: results for 12–13 year olds from six European countries from the European Smoking Prevention Framework Approach study

Clusters of lifestyle behaviors : Results from the Dutch SMILE study

Self-Efficacy as an Important Determinant of Quitting among Pregnant Women Who Smoke: The O-pattern