Dorina Indita, Mullan Barbara, Boyes Mark, McAlpine Thomas
School of Population Health, Faculty of Health Sciences, Curtin University, Perth 6102, Australia.
Behavioural Science and Health Research Group, enAble Research Institute, Faculty of Health Sciences, Curtin University, Perth 6102, Australia.
Behav Sci (Basel). 2024 Aug 22;14(8):730. doi: 10.3390/bs14080730.
A behavior's complexity may impact habit formation, with implications for habit-based public health and environmental intervention designs. However, there are varying conceptualizations of behavioral complexity, hindering the synthesis of findings. To develop a unified definition, the aim of this study was to explore perceptions of behavioral complexity and identify behaviors that exemplify aspects of complexity. Participants ( = 225) completed a questionnaire concerning the complexity of various health and environmental behaviors, the importance of complexity characteristics previously identified by researchers (novelty, difficulty, steps, planning, immediacy of reward, time, attention, skill, mental resources, self-efficacy, motivation for a behavior, and supportiveness of the context) and demographics. Participants considered all proposed characteristics to be important. Complex behaviors (e.g., abstaining from smoking and taking insulin shots), compared to simple behaviors (e.g., eating fruit and stretching), are more likely to be true to the previously identified characteristics. Perceived complexity is influenced by several salient characteristics. Results may contribute to a synthesized definition and underpin future research to better identify behavior change techniques to foster habitual behaviors of varying complexity. Hence, researchers, practitioners, and policymakers may identify common barriers and facilitators of behavior to target in interventions. However, further research is required to contextualize the findings.
一种行为的复杂性可能会影响习惯的形成，这对基于习惯的公共卫生和环境干预设计具有启示意义。然而，对于行为复杂性存在不同的概念化理解，这阻碍了研究结果的综合。为了形成一个统一的定义，本研究的目的是探讨对行为复杂性的认知，并识别体现复杂性各方面的行为。参与者（n = 225）完成了一份关于各种健康和环境行为复杂性、研究人员先前确定的复杂性特征（新颖性、难度、步骤、规划、奖励即时性、时间、注意力、技能、心理资源、自我效能感、行为动机以及环境支持性）以及人口统计学信息的问卷。参与者认为所有提出的特征都很重要。与简单行为（如吃水果和伸展身体）相比，复杂行为（如戒烟和注射胰岛素）更有可能符合先前确定的特征。感知到的复杂性受到几个显著特征的影响。研究结果可能有助于形成一个综合定义，并为未来的研究提供支持，以便更好地识别行为改变技巧，从而培养具有不同复杂性的习惯行为。因此，研究人员、从业者和政策制定者可以确定行为的常见障碍和促进因素，以便在干预中加以针对。然而，需要进一步的研究来将这些发现置于具体情境中。
