ArticleBritish journal of health psychology2026
Implementation intentions as an acceptable health behaviour change strategy? Insights from people with lower socio-economic position in think-aloud interviews.
Article in British journal of health psychology, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
0 citing papers in PubMed.
No citing paper in PubMed yet.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectivesImplementation intentions are simple action plans that may help people with lower socio-economic position (SEP) to navigate their behaviour in environments that undermine their healthy intentions. Implementation intentions hold potential in being a relatively simple, but remarkably effective behaviour change technique. However, it remains unclear whether such a micro-intervention fits the daily realities, needs and skills of lower SEP groups. We aimed to explore how adults with lower SEP (1) perceive (generating) implementation intentions for changing their health behaviour, and (2) independently generate implementation intentions.
methodsAdults living in lower SEP neighbourhoods (n = 15) participated in semi-structured interviews. Participants were instructed to think aloud while independently generating an implementation intention following written instructions. Interview data were thematically analysed, and the plans were evaluated.
resultsParticipants perceived health as a central value in life, which translated into high readiness for health behaviour change. Implementation intentions were perceived as helpful and motivating because they provide structure, support small, doable steps and stimulate conscious decisions and reflections. Participants expressed strong motivation to use implementation intentions in daily life. However, although participants expressed that generating their plan was pleasant and easy, guidance was frequently requested and provided during plan formation. Besides, generated plans often lacked the essential if-then structure and concreteness.
conclusionsImplementation intentions appear acceptable and appealing as a behaviour change strategy for adults with lower SEP. However, independent formation of well-structured, actionable plans is challenging. Guided support is needed to ensure successful use of implementation intentions in lower SEP populations.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.