TABLE 1.

Selected Behavior Change Models

Model	Description	Selected Citations
Focus on the Individual
Health belief model	Originally developed to predict adoption of preventive behaviors, this model posits that an individual's decision to act stems from people's perceptions of (1) the severity of the threat to their health, (2) their susceptibility to this threat, and (3) the benefits of and barriers to action.	Janz and Becker 1984
Microeconomic consumer choice theory	The microeconomic theory describes how individual consumers make consumption choices under income and other constraints, given their preferences and the opportunity costs.	Kolstad and Chernew 2009
Theory of planned behavior/ theory of reasoned action	The theory of planned behavior is an extension of the theory of reasoned action. It adds the individual's control over the behavior to the individual's attitude toward the behavior, and the norms for behavior as determinants of an individual's intent to perform a behavior. This intent is identified as the mediator for all the other individual attributes and influences.	Ajzen 1991; Armitage and Conner 1999; Fishbein 1979
Transtheoretical model	This model describes five stages of change: precontemplation, contemplation, preparation, action, and maintenance of behaviors. Individual change processes occur within each stage.	Prochaska et al. 1994; Prochaska, Redding, and Evers 2008
Focus on Interactions with People and Environment
Social cognitive theory	This theory posits that human behavior is learned through social interactions. Individual beliefs about the ability to perform behaviors (self-efficacy), control behaviors (self-regulation), and expected outcomes are shaped by interactions in social environment, and vice versa (reciprocal determinism).	Bandura 1986, 2004
Social network theory and social support	Social network theory focuses on how the characteristics of interpersonal relationships, such as number and degree of reciprocity, influence outcomes like health behaviors. Social support theories also focus on interpersonal relationships and how these relationships provide support that is protective or detrimental to health.	Christakis and Fowler 2012; Heaney and Israel 2008; Uchino et al. 2012
Social ecological model	This model focuses on the relationship between the individual and the environment. While individuals are responsible for their own lifestyle choices, behavior is largely determined by the context of the social environment (e.g., community norms, policy, regulation).	Bronfenbrenner 1979; Richard, Gauvin, and Raine 2011