Abstract
Efficacious translational research in health psychology relies on specifying why intervention strategies change health behaviors and when, for what behaviors, and for whom, do these strategies promotechange. Whereas interventions’ mechanism of action (the why question) has attracted considerableattention, there is a need to conceptualize and integrate factors that moderate intervention effectiveness.Intervention effects on health behaviors are a function of 2 change processes: how effectively interventionschange mechanisms of action (target engagement), and how effectively those mechanisms changebehavior (target validity). We outline the Operating Conditions Framework (OCF) to articulate theoreticallinkages between mechanisms and moderators and begin the process of specifying circumstances thatpromote target engagement and target validity. A review of 46 meta-analyses of behavioral interventionsoffers impetus for the OCF by revealing that heterogeneity of effect sizes is frequent, substantial, andlargely unexplained in traditional moderator analyses. We present an approach to moderation groundedon the distinction between 2 foci—engagement moderation and validity moderation—and reveal thatlittle is known about variation in how interventions change targets and how changing targets promotesbehavior change. The OCF addresses this need by maintaining researchers’ focus on mechanisms ofbehavior change but doing so while embracing the conditional nature of these processes.
Original language | English (US) |
---|---|
Pages (from-to) | 845-857 |
Number of pages | 13 |
Journal | Health Psychology |
Volume | 40 |
Issue number | 12 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - 2021 |
Bibliographical note
Publisher Copyright:© 2020. American Psychological Association
Keywords
- Context effects
- Health behavior
- Interventions
- Operating conditions framework
- Theories