Carpenter Stephanie M, Roberts Nicole A
College of Health Solutions, Arizona State University, Phoenix, AZ, United States.
School of Social and Behavioral Sciences, Arizona State University, Phoenix, AZ, United States.
Front Psychol. 2025 Aug 22;16:1554099. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1554099. eCollection 2025.
Behavior change interventions are key to improving health and well-being. Knowledge of appropriate health behaviors does not, however, translate into engaging in them. We propose the "Precision Emotion and Affective Context (PEAC) Process Model of Engagement for Behavior Change" to serve as a theoretical framework to advance our understanding of how affect drives engagement and subsequent behavior change. Our framework highlights the importance of accounting for affective circumstances when designing and implementing behavior change interventions. The model accounts for affect that is both incidental and integral to the intervention: ongoing affective states that may work for or against the likelihood of engaging with the intervention (incidental), and affective states that are elicited by the intervention and consequently shape behavior change (integral). We focus on the promise of moderate levels of arousal and positive affective states, along with the need for contextual congruence, social acceptability, and personally meaningful approaches, for enhancing the likelihood of engagement and positive behavior change in interventions. Finally, just-in-time intervention approaches are discussed as a means of delivering personalized, affectively informed interventions that leverage advances in digital health technologies to promote opportunities for real-time implementation. This theoretical framework thus serves as a guide for constructing or harnessing the affective circumstances necessary to promote sustained intervention engagement and behavior change.
行为改变干预措施是改善健康和幸福的关键。然而，了解适当的健康行为并不意味着就会付诸行动。我们提出了“行为改变参与的精准情感与情感情境（PEAC）过程模型”，作为一个理论框架，以增进我们对情感如何驱动参与及后续行为改变的理解。我们的框架强调了在设计和实施行为改变干预措施时考虑情感因素的重要性。该模型考虑了干预中附带的和不可或缺的情感：可能对参与干预的可能性起促进或阻碍作用的持续情感状态（附带的），以及由干预引发并进而塑造行为改变的情感状态（不可或缺的）。我们关注适度唤醒水平和积极情感状态的前景，以及情境一致性、社会可接受性和个人有意义方法的必要性，以提高干预中参与和积极行为改变的可能性。最后，讨论了即时干预方法，作为一种提供个性化、情感导向干预措施的手段，利用数字健康技术的进步来促进实时实施的机会。因此，这个理论框架可作为构建或利用必要情感情境的指南，以促进持续的干预参与和行为改变。
