Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40344322›Full record

SynthesisHealth promotion journal of Australia : official journal of Australian Association of Health Promotion Professionals2025

What's the 'Secret Sauce'?: A Systematic Review of the Characteristics of Effective Digital Health Behaviour Change Interventions for Children and Adolescents.

Kavaish Krishna, Linda Portsmouth, Courtenay Harris, Marina Ciccarelli

Abstract readSystematic Review
In one paragraph

Synthesis in Health promotion journal of Australia : official journal of Australian Association of Health Promotion Professionals, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

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.

2 · The registry

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.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

4 authors.

Kavaish KrishnaCurtin University, Perth, Australia.ORCID https://orcid.org/0009-0005-9735-6074
Linda PortsmouthCurtin University, Perth, Australia.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9803-8546
Courtenay HarrisCurtin University, Perth, Australia.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8141-5432
Marina CiccarelliCurtin University, Perth, Australia.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7047-1161

Funding

Australian Government Research Training Program Scholarship
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

issue addressedFew previous reviews have identified the characteristics of effective digital health behaviour change interventions for children and/or adolescents. This systematic review aimed to identify and report the characteristics, including the theoretical bases and the incorporated behaviour change techniques (BCTs).

methodsCINAHL Ultimate (EBSCO), MEDLINE (Ovid), PubMed, ProQuest, and Web of Science were searched to identify intervention studies published in international academic peer-reviewed journals between January 2002 and May 2024 inclusive. Only studies that used a randomised controlled trial (RCT) study design to evaluate interventions were eligible for inclusion in this review. Studies were reviewed independently by two researchers to assess the risk of bias and extract data.

resultsThere were 17 study articles that met the eligibility criteria for inclusion. Twenty interventions were evaluated in the 17 articles. Ten interventions were considered to be effective and incorporated one or more of the following BCTs: (1) shaping knowledge, (2) goals and planning, (3) feedback and monitoring, (4) social support, and (5) reward. Eight effective interventions were based on one or more of the following behaviour change theories: (1) Social Cognitive Theory, (2) Theory of Planned Behaviour, (3) Transtheoretical Model-Stages of Change, (4) I-Change Model, and (5) Health Action Process Approach.

conclusionsEffective interventions incorporated one or more BCTs and most were based on behaviour change theories. SO WHAT?: Findings can inform the selection of appropriate behaviour change theories and techniques in the development of future interventions for children and/or adolescents.

Indexed as

Behavior TherapyDigital HealthHealth BehaviorHealth PromotionAdolescentChildHumansSocial Supportbehavioural determinantseHealthhealth promotiontechnologyyouth

Identifiers

PMID40344322
PMCPMC12062423

What Socratic holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC-ND
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Registered trials

None linked

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 Socratic graph.