Effects of habit formation interventions on physical activity habit strength: meta-analysis and meta-regression

This systematic review was conducted in accordance with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines. We conducted a search of three databases (PubMed, Embase, and Cochrane Library) from January 2000 to December 2022, with a focus on interventions for developing PA habits. Two independent authors conducted paper selection, quality assessment, data extraction, and coding of behavior change techniques (BCTs). The effect size of interventions was calculated using standardized mean difference. Subgroup analyses were carried out based on follow-up duration, delivery method, sample characteristics, and theory. Furthermore, we employed meta-regression to investigate the association between BCTs and PA habits. Ten eligible studies with relatively high quality were included in the final data set. Characteristics of studies varied in intervention sample and delivery way. The habit formation interventions significantly increased PA habit (SMD = 0.31, 95% CI 0.14--0.48, P < .001) compared to the control groups. Subgroup analysis demonstrated that the duration of follow-up [less than or equal to] 12 weeks have a higher effect size on PA habit than the duration > 12 weeks. Meta-regression revealed that problem solving has a significant positive association with effectiveness improvement ([beta] = 0.36, 95% CI 0.17-0.55), while social reward is linked with a reduction in effectiveness ([beta] = -0.40, 95% CI -0.74-0.06). Our findings reveal that habit formation interventions are effective in fostering PA habit. Future studies could leverage the insights form this study to optimize the intervention design and achieve better effectiveness.