The NIH Health Behavior Theories Project and Upcoming Conference: Towards Advancement and Innovation

Sydney O’Connor, PhD¹; Angela Pfammatter, PhD²; Elise Rice, PhD³; Alex Rothman, PhD⁴

Health Behavior Theories are a Bedrock of Behavioral Medicine

Health behavior theories (HBTs) have long been used to describe, predict, and understand health behaviors, and inform the development and use of behavior change strategies. HBTs are broadly relevant across health behaviors, populations, and disease contexts. Modern developments, including technological advancement, changes in scientific protocols, and greater attention to social and structural determinants of health, offer opportunities to stimulate innovations in the specification, refinement, and application of HBTs. 

The NIH Health Behavior Theories Project

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) Office of Behavioral and Social Sciences Research (OBSSR) seeks to advance the development, testing, and application of HBTs. The current NIH HBT Project was launched to examine key challenges in how theories have been developed, tested, and refined in health behavior research and, in turn, identify a roadmap to advance the quality, and effective use of HBT. To guide the development of this roadmap, HBT Project members, including both NIH staff and academic researchers, have coalesced around four key actions to advance HBT.

Key Actions to Advance HBT

• Specifying What a HBT Should Do and How It Can Get There
  • Co-Chairs: Alex Rothman, PhD, University of Minnesota & Arielle Gillman, PhD, National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities, NIH
• Incorporating an Equity Focus in the Evolution and Application of HBT
  • Co-Chairs: Sydney O’Connor, PhD, OBSSR, NIH & Maria E. Fernández, PhD, UTHealth Houston
• Synthesizing Evidence to Advance HBT
  • Co-Chairs: Elise Rice, PhD, National Institute on Aging, NIH & Katie Witkiewitz, PhD, The University of New Mexico
• Capitalizing on Novel Approaches for Advancing HBT Development and Testing
  • Co-Chairs: Angela Pfammatter, PhD, University of Tennessee, Knoxville & Audie Atienza, PhD, National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences, NIH

Your Invitation to Contribute

We hope you will join us on February 27, 2025, from 10:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m. ET for a hybrid conference titled "Unlocking the Future of Health Behavior Theory: Toward Innovations in Understanding and Practice." This conference will include reports on recent efforts from HBT Project members and invited panelists, as well as opportunities to engage in discussion about key next steps for the future of HBT. Please subscribe to OBSSR’s mailing list for registration information and event updates. You can also read more about this effort and the details of the conference as they become available on our website, https://obssr.od.nih.gov/.

Affiliations:

1. Office of Behavioral and Social Sciences Research, National Institutes of Health
2. University of Tennessee, Knoxville
3. National Institute on Aging, National Institutes of Health
4. University of Minnesota