It is the goal of many researchers interested in health behavior to understand both the determinants of health behaviors and the process of health behavior changes. One key route has been the development and empirical testing of Health Behavior Theory (HBT).
Research in this area has implicates including (1) a better understanding of health behavior, and (2) a basis upon which interventions to improve the public health of individuals and communities can be developed and evaluated. Because we are conducting more research on health behaviors does not necessarily mean that we are adding substantive cumulative knowledge to this area of research. Certain models of health behavior are more accurate than others, that certain variables are more influential than others, or that certain behaviors or situations are understood better than others. In general, researchers have failed to c
...arry out the winnowing process that is necessary for scientific progress. What is the best way to move forward?The purpose of the current article is to offer a critique of the current direction of HBT research and to suggest a new agenda of research in this area. HBT should explain differences across situations, contexts, populations, and with regard to different behaviors.
The primary focus of HBT has been at the individual level. It is not clear that significant modification of theories takes place very often and we would argue that rarely, if ever, are theories completely discarded. New theories are often introduced to explain health phenomena when it is not clear that existing theories are inadequate for explaining such phenomena.Many theories contain constructs that are very identical, but use different terminology, creating the illusion that they are different.
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of consensus regarding what to call certain constructs has resulted in a fragmented literature that could be better integrated if a common set of terminology was agreed upon. We should put theories to the strongest possible tests and when such theories do not stand up to rigorous evaluation, appropriate modifications should be made. Theory obstructs research progress when the researcher has more faith in the correctness of the theory than in the suitability of the rocedures that were used to test it. A number of HBT’s are not well specified in terms of relations between variables, making them difficult to test and subsequently verify or falsify. A single theory is appropriate across multiple behaviors, as compared to theories that are specific to certain behaviors. Theory drives research.
It serves as a guide for knowing what variables to measure, how to measure them, and how to combine them. It also serves as a framework for aiding researchers in developing and evaluating intervention approaches.Every health researcher could propose a theory, but only those best supported empirically and those that resonate with researchers would proliferate further inquiry. For instance, using a particular theory because it is easy to understand or it is the one learned during one’s academic training.
Articles that looked at selected concepts derived from various theories and examined their ability to predict health behavior. The fact that theories have so many similar constructs demands that we (1) try and discover what the best conceptualization of those constructs is. 2) Compare theories to discover how these constructs combine and result in the enactment of health behavior. Although the end result might not be one unified theory
of health behavior, we would certainly be moving in the direction of theories and models that truly integrate what we are learning from research. Conclusion: They had to truly test theories, rather than testing selected components from theories.
We are not entirely sure what theory or theories predict behavior most precisely.
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