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Behavior Change Techniques

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Encyclopedia of Behavioral Medicine

Definition

A behavior change technique (BCT) is a systematic procedure included as an active component of an intervention designed to change behavior.

The defining characteristics of a BCT are that it is:

  • A component of an intervention designed to change a specified behavior

  • The smallest (or smallest for the particular purpose) component that can be postulated to be an active ingredient within the intervention

  • An observable activity

  • Replicable

  • Specified by an active verb and clarity about the desired behavior change targeted with enough detail to achieve good agreement between experts

A BCT is the smallest component of an intervention compatible with retaining the postulated active ingredients, and can be used alone or in combination with other BCTs. BCTs meet the criteria for a good intervention module, namely smallest, meaningful, self-contained, and repurposable (Hekler et al. 2016). A BCT should be well specified so that effectiveness of the BCT can be evaluated (e.g., in...

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. University College London, London, UK

    Susan Michie & Rachel Carey

  2. School of Medicine and Dentistry, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen, UK

    Marie Johnston

Authors
  1. Susan Michie
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  2. Marie Johnston
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  3. Rachel Carey
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Susan Michie .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. University of Miami School of Medicine, Miami, FL, USA

    Marc Gellman

Section Editor information

  1. School of Nursing, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, USA

    Linda C. Baumann

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Michie, S., Johnston, M., Carey, R. (2019). Behavior Change Techniques. In: Gellman, M. (eds) Encyclopedia of Behavioral Medicine. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-6439-6_1661-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-6439-6_1661-3

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Chapter history

  1. Latest

    Behavior Change Techniques
    Published:
    10 November 2018

    DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-6439-6_1661-3

  2. Original

    Behavior Change Techniques
    Published:
    22 September 2016

    DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-6439-6_1661-2

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