Choi Jounghwa, Noh Ghee-Young, Park Dong-Jin
Hallym University, Chuncheon, Korea, Republic Of.
J Med Internet Res. 2014 Feb 12;16(2):e44. doi: 10.2196/jmir.3061.
Smartphones are increasingly receiving attention from public health scholars and practitioners as a means to assist individuals' health management. A number of smartphone apps for smoking cessation are also available; however, little effort has been made to evaluate the content and functions of these apps employing a theoretical framework.
The present study aims to analyze and evaluate the contents of smoking cessation apps available in South Korea employing the self-determination theory (SDT) as a theoretical framework for analysis. This study analyzes the extent to which smoking cessation apps have features that satisfy the basic needs identified in the SDT, which stimulate autonomous motivation. The type of motivational goal content manifested in the apps and how the goal content was framed are also explored. By assessing the features of smoking cessation apps based on the SDT, this study aims to offer direction for improvement for these apps.
Out of 309 apps identified from the iTunes store and Google Play (excluding 27 duplications), 175 apps were randomly drawn and analyzed. The coding scheme was drafted by the authors based on the SDT and gain/loss framing theory and was further finely tuned through the process of coder training and by establishing intercoder reliability. Once the intercoder reliability was established, the coders divided up the rest of the sample and coded them independently.
The analysis revealed that most apps (94.3%, 165/175) had at least one feature that tapped at least 1 of the 3 basic needs. Only 18 of 175 apps (10.3%) addressed all 3 basic needs. For goal content, money (53.7%, 94/175) showed the highest frequency, followed by health (32.0%, 56/175), time (7.4%, 13/175), and appearance (1.1%, 2/175), suggesting that extrinsic goals are more dominantly presented in smoking cessation apps. For the framing of goal content, gain framing appeared more frequently (41.7%, 73/175).
The results suggest that these smoking cessation apps may not sufficiently stimulate autonomous motivation; a small number of apps addressed all 3 basic needs suggested by the SDT (ie, autonomy, competence, and relatedness). The apps also tended to present extrinsic goal content (primarily in terms of money) over intrinsic ones (ie, health) by primarily adopting gain framing. Implications of these findings for public health practitioners and consumers are discussed.
智能手机作为辅助个人健康管理的一种手段，越来越受到公共卫生学者和从业者的关注。目前也有许多用于戒烟的智能手机应用程序；然而，在运用理论框架评估这些应用程序的内容和功能方面，所做的工作很少。
本研究旨在以自我决定理论（SDT）为理论分析框架，对韩国现有的戒烟应用程序的内容进行分析和评估。本研究分析了戒烟应用程序具备满足自我决定理论中所确定的、能激发自主动机的基本需求的功能的程度。同时还探讨了应用程序中所体现的动机目标内容的类型以及目标内容的构建方式。通过基于自我决定理论评估戒烟应用程序的功能，本研究旨在为这些应用程序的改进提供方向。
在从iTunes商店和谷歌应用商店中识别出的309个应用程序（不包括27个重复的应用程序）中，随机抽取175个应用程序进行分析。编码方案由作者根据自我决定理论和得失框架理论起草，并通过编码员培训过程和建立编码员间信度进行进一步微调。一旦建立了编码员间信度，编码员就对其余样本进行划分并独立编码。
分析显示，大多数应用程序（94.3%，165/175）至少有一个功能涉及到3种基本需求中的至少1种。175个应用程序中只有18个（10.3%）满足了所有3种基本需求。对于目标内容，金钱（53.7%，94/175）出现的频率最高，其次是健康（32.0%，56/175）、时间（7.4%，13/175）和外貌（1.1%，2/175），这表明外在目标在戒烟应用程序中更为突出。对于目标内容的构建，获益框架出现得更为频繁（41.7%，73/175）。
结果表明，这些戒烟应用程序可能无法充分激发自主动机；只有少数应用程序满足了自我决定理论提出的所有3种基本需求（即自主性、能力和关联性）。这些应用程序还倾向于通过主要采用获益框架来呈现外在目标内容（主要是金钱方面）而非内在目标内容（即健康）。本文讨论了这些发现对公共卫生从业者和消费者的启示。
