Applying the behaviour change technique (BCT) taxonomy v1: a study of coder training.

Caroline E Wood,Susan Michie,Marie Johnston,Wendy Hardeman,Charles Abraham,Jill Francis,Michelle Richardson

doi:10.1007/s13142-014-0290-z

Abstract

Behaviour Change Technique Taxonomy v1 (BCTTv1) has been used to detect active ingredients of interventions. The purpose of this study was to evaluate effectiveness of user training in improving reliable, valid and confident application of BCTTv1 to code BCTs in intervention descriptions. One hundred sixty-one trainees (109 in workshops and 52 in group tutorials) were trained to code frequent BCTs. The following measures were taken before and after training: (i) inter-coder agreement, (ii) trainee agreement with expert consensus, (iii) confidence ratings and (iv) coding competence. Coding was assessed for 12 BCTs (workshops) and for 17 BCTs (tutorials). Trainees completed a course evaluation. Methods improved agreement with expert consensus (p < .05) but not inter-coder agreement (p = .08, p = .57, respectively) and increased confidence for BCTs assessed (both p < .05). Methods were as effective as one another at improving coding competence (p = .55). Training was evaluated positively. The training improved agreement with expert consensus, confidence for BCTs assessed, coding competence but not inter-coder agreement. This varied according to BCT.

Highlights

Effective interventions aimed at changing health behaviours of individuals, communities and populations are needed to improve health and reduce the prevalence of disease [1, 2]
This study found that training delivered in a short, 3-h workshop, delivered to a mix of research psychologists and non-psychologist practitioners significantly improved coding competence in terms of their agreement with expert consensus about which behaviour change techniques (BCTs) were present
This paper presents two sub-studies which report an initial evaluation of the effectiveness of these training methods and address the following research questions: (1) Does face-to-face training (1-day workshops) and distance training improve the reliable specification of behaviour change interventions by BCT as assessed by increased: (i) Inter-coder agreement about BCTs identified (ii) Agreement with BCTs identified by expert consensus

Summary

Introduction

Effective interventions aimed at changing health behaviours of individuals, communities and populations are needed to improve health and reduce the prevalence of disease [1, 2]. Such interventions are often complex and comprise several potentially interacting active components [3]. This can make them challenging to accurately replicate in research, to synthesise across studies in evidence reviews and to translate into practice. Policy: Transparent reporting of BCT content is required to successfully evaluate, replicate and synthesise evidence from interventions.

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