Novel behaviour change frameworks for digital health interventions: A critical review

Digital health interventions – interventions delivered over digital media to support the health of users – are becoming increasingly prevalent. Utilising an intervention development framework can increase the efficacy of digital interventions for health-related behaviours. This critical review aims to outline and review novel behaviour change frameworks that guide digital health intervention development. Our comprehensive search for preprints and publications used PubMed, PsycINFO, Scopus, Web of Science and the Open Science Framework repository. Articles were included if they: (1) were peer-reviewed; (2) proposed a behaviour change framework to guide digital health intervention development; (3) were written in English; (4) were published between 1/1/19 and 1/8/2021; and (5) were applicable to chronic diseases. Intervention development frameworks considered the user, intervention elements and theoretical foundations. However, the timing and policy of interventions are not consistently addressed across frameworks. Researchers should deeply consider the digital applicability of behaviour change frameworks to improve intervention success.