Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, USA.
Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, Chapel Hill, NC, USA.
Ann Behav Med. 2023 Apr 5;57(3):205-215. doi: 10.1093/abm/kaac045.
Interventions are effective in promoting health behavior change to the extent that (a) intervention strategies modify targets (i.e., mechanisms of action), and (b) modifying targets leads to changes in behavior. To complement taxonomies that characterize the variety of strategies used in behavioral interventions, we outline a new principle that specifies how strategies modify targets and thereby promote behavior change. We distinguish two dimensions of targets-value (positive vs. negative) and accessibility (activation level)-and show that intervention strategies operate either by altering the value of what people think, feel, or want (target change) or by heightening the accessibility of behavior-related thoughts, feelings, and goals (target activation).
We review strategies designed to promote target activation and find that nudges, cue-reminders, goal priming, the question-behavior effect, and if-then planning are each effective in generating health behavior change, and that their effectiveness accrues from heightened accessibility of relevant targets. We also identify several other strategies that may operate, at least in part, via target activation (e.g., self-monitoring, message framing, anticipated regret inductions, and habits).
The Activation Vs. Change Principle (AVCP) offers a theoretically grounded and parsimonious means of distinguishing among intervention strategies. By focusing on how strategies modify targets, the AVCP can aid interventionists in deciding which intervention strategies to deploy and how to combine different strategies in behavioral trials. We outline a research agenda that could serve to further enhance the design and delivery of interventions to promote target activation.
干预措施在促进健康行为改变方面是有效的，前提是（a）干预策略能够改变目标（即作用机制），并且（b）改变目标会导致行为发生变化。为了补充描述行为干预中各种策略的多样性的分类法，我们提出了一个新的原则，该原则具体说明了策略如何改变目标，从而促进行为改变。我们区分了目标的两个维度——价值（积极与消极）和可及性（激活水平），并表明干预策略通过改变人们的想法、感受或愿望的价值（目标改变）或增强与行为相关的想法、感受和目标的可及性（目标激活）来发挥作用。
我们回顾了旨在促进目标激活的策略，并发现提示、线索提醒、目标启动、问题-行为效应和如果-那么计划都能有效地促进健康行为改变，其有效性归因于相关目标的可及性提高。我们还确定了其他几种可能至少部分通过目标激活起作用的策略（例如，自我监测、信息框架、预期后悔诱导和习惯）。
激活与改变原则（AVCP）为区分干预策略提供了一种理论基础和简洁的方法。通过关注策略如何改变目标，AVCP 可以帮助干预者决定部署哪些干预策略以及如何在行为试验中组合不同的策略。我们概述了一个研究议程，该议程可以进一步增强促进目标激活的干预措施的设计和实施。
