Health Behavior Change and Life Course: A Qualitative Study Using Focus-Groups

Abstract

This study aimed to explore the mechanisms of long-term behavior changes to a healthier lifestyle. We conducted focus group interviews with a sample of 18 adults without further selection criteria and applied a top-down thematic analysis approach to extract the determinants of long-term health behavior change. The results showed that long-term health behavior changes only occurred as a response to life events that force individuals to abandon established habits. These triggers accrued from the interplay of three life course elements: the life phase, a change in external living conditions (e.g. the social environment) over time, and internal motifs (past experience, future goals, and perceived immediate payoff). Our results are discussed in the context of sociological lifestyle theories, suggesting that long-term lifestyle change follows from a disturbed equilibrium between external determinants and identity cues.