Michelle Richardson

BACKGROUND: CONSORT guidelines call for precise reporting of behavior change interventions: we need rigorous methods of characterizing active content of interventions with precision and specificity. OBJECTIVES: The objective of this study is to develop an extensive, consensually agreed hierarchically structured taxonomy of techniques [behavior change techniques (BCTs)] used in behavior change interventions. METHODS: In a Delphi-type exercise, 14 experts rated labels and definitions of 124 BCTs from six published classification systems. Another 18 experts grouped BCTs according to similarity of active ingredients in an open-sort task. Inter-rater agreement amongst six researchers coding 85 intervention descriptions by BCTs was assessed. RESULTS: This resulted in 93 BCTs clustered into 16 groups. Of the 26 BCTs occurring at least five times, 23 had adjusted kappas of 0.60 or above. CONCLUSIONS: "BCT taxonomy v1," an extensive taxonomy of 93 consensually agreed, distinct BCTs, offers a step change as a method for specifying interventions, but we anticipate further development and evaluation based on international, interdisciplinary consensus.

A review of 13 years of research into antecedents of university students' grade point average (GPA) scores generated the following: a comprehensive, conceptual map of known correlates of tertiary GPA; assessment of the magnitude of average, weighted correlations with GPA; and tests of multivariate models of GPA correlates within and across research domains. A systematic search of PsycINFO and Web of Knowledge databases between 1997 and 2010 identified 7,167 English-language articles yielding 241 data sets, which reported on 50 conceptually distinct correlates of GPA, including 3 demographic factors and 5 traditional measures of cognitive capacity or prior academic performance. In addition, 42 non-intellective constructs were identified from 5 conceptually overlapping but distinct research domains: (a) personality traits, (b) motivational factors, (c) self-regulatory learning strategies, (d) students' approaches to learning, and (e) psychosocial contextual influences. We retrieved 1,105 independent correlations and analyzed data using hypothesis-driven, random-effects meta-analyses. Significant average, weighted correlations were found for 41 of 50 measures. Univariate analyses revealed that demographic and psychosocial contextual factors generated, at best, small correlations with GPA. Medium-sized correlations were observed for high school GPA, SAT, ACT, and A level scores. Three non-intellective constructs also showed medium-sized correlations with GPA: academic self-efficacy, grade goal, and effort regulation. A large correlation was observed for performance self-efficacy, which was the strongest correlate (of 50 measures) followed by high school GPA, ACT, and grade goal. Implications for future research, student assessment, and intervention design are discussed.

OBJECTIVES: Behaviour change technique (BCT) Taxonomy v1 is a hierarchically grouped, consensus-based taxonomy of 93 BCTs for reporting intervention content. To enhance the use and understanding of BCTs, the aims of the present study were to (1) quantitatively examine the 'bottom-up' hierarchical structure of Taxonomy v1, (2) identify whether BCTs can be reliably mapped to theoretical domains using a 'top-down' theoretically driven approach, and (3) identify any overlap between the 'bottom-up' and 'top-down' groupings. METHODS AND DESIGN: The 'bottom-up' structure was examined for higher-order groupings using a dendrogram derived from hierarchical cluster analysis. For the theory-based 'top-down' structure, 18 experts sorted BCTs into 14 theoretical domains. Discriminant Content Validity was used to identify groupings, and chi-square tests and Pearson's residuals were used to examine the overlap between groupings. RESULTS: Behaviour change techniques relating to 'Reward and Punishment' and 'Cues and Cue Responses' were perceived as markedly different to other BCTs. Fifty-nine of the BCTs were reliably allocated to 12 of the 14 theoretical domains; 47 were significant and 12 were of borderline significance. Thirty-four of 208 'bottom-up' × 'top-down' pairings showed greater overlap than expected by chance. However, only six combinations achieved satisfactory evidence of similarity. CONCLUSIONS: The moderate overlap between the groupings indicates some tendency to implicitly conceptualize BCTs in terms of the same theoretical domains. Understanding the nature of the overlap will aid the conceptualization of BCTs in terms of theory and application. Further research into different methods of developing a hierarchical taxonomic structure of BCTs for international, interdisciplinary work is now required. Statement of contribution What is already known on this subject? Behaviour change interventions are effective in improving health care and health outcomes. The 'active' components of these interventions are behaviour change techniques and over 93 have been identified. Taxonomies of behaviour change techniques require structure to enable potential applications. What does this study add? This study identifies groups of BCTs to aid the recall of BCTs for intervention coding and design. It compares two methods of grouping--'bottom-up' and theory-based 'top-down'--and finds a moderate overlap. Building on identified BCT groups, it examines relationships between theoretical domains and BCTs.

Cyberbullying is associated with considerable negative mental and psychosocial consequences in children and young people, making it a serious public health concern. To review the highest level of available evidence, a systematic mapping review was conducted to identify systematic reviews that investigated the relationship between cyberbullying and mental and psychological outcomes in young people. Topic-relevant bibliographic databases and online resources were searched to identify reviews published since 2007. Data were extracted using a coding tool developed for this study. Methodological quality of included reviews was assessed using AMSTAR criteria. Nineteen systematic reviews satisfied the inclusion criteria and they reported a strong negative association between cyberbullying and mental health outcomes in young people. Meta-analysis was performed in 11 reviews and narrative synthesis in 8 reviews. Data were derived from predominantly cross-sectional studies and a clear causal relationship between cyberbullying and mental outcomes cannot be established. Two-third of the included reviews were classified to be of low or unclear quality, due to the lack of quality assessment of the primary studies included in individual reviews. This systematic map consolidates available evidence at review level and confirms the existing gaps in longitudinal and qualitative evidence synthesis. Closer examination of the moderating factors influencing cyberbullying behaviors in future research can advance our understanding and inform the development of tailored programs of intervention to mitigate the negative impact of this phenomenon.

BACKGROUND: Numerous studies have shown that the quality of the therapeutic relationship (TR) between the patient and the clinician is an important predictor of the outcome of different forms of psychotherapy. It is less clear whether the TR also predicts outcomes of psychiatric treatment programmes in patients with psychosis (i.e. outside conventional psychotherapy). METHODS: We conducted a systematic review and identified 9 primary studies that prospectively tested the association of the TR with 3 outcomes, i.e. hospitalisation, symptom levels and functioning. Because of the heterogeneity of the methods used, a meta-analysis was not feasible. A vote counting method was used to determine the number of statistically significant effects in the hypothesised direction (i.e. that a more positive TR predicts more favourable outcomes). RESULTS: For each outcome, a χ² analysis showed that the number of statistically significant findings in the hypothesised direction was greater than expected if the null hypothesis of no association were true. However, studies had methodological shortcomings, and the effect sizes of positive associations were rather small. CONCLUSION: It may be concluded that there is some, but not overwhelming, evidence that the TR predicts outcomes of complex psychiatric treatment programmes in patients with psychosis, and that methodologically more rigorous research is required. Such research should measure the TR at initial stages of treatment and use validated assessment instruments for both TR and outcomes.