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Behavior Change Techniques

Encyclopedia of Behavioral Medicine

Synonyms

Potentially active element of an intervention to change behaviour

Definition

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

The defining characteristics of a BCT (Michie et al. 2011) are that it is:

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

  • The smallest 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 Heckler and colleagues’ criteria for a good intervention module, namely, smallest, meaningful, self-contained, and repurposable (Hekler et al. 2016). A BCT should...

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Clinical, Educational & Health Psychology, University College London, London, UK

    Susan Michie & Rachel Carey

  2. School of Medicine and Dentistry, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen, Scotland, 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 authors

Correspondence to Susan Michie , Marie Johnston or Rachel Carey .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

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

    Marc Gellman

  2. Campbell University School of Pharmacy, Buies Creek, North Carolina, USA

    J. Rick Turner

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Michie, S., Johnston, M., Carey, R. (2016). Behavior Change Techniques. In: Gellman, M., Turner, J. (eds) Encyclopedia of Behavioral Medicine. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-6439-6_1661-2

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

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  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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