Habit Strength and Adherence to Oral Contraceptives: the Role of Time- and Place-Based Cues

Murphy, J. A.; Eustace, Neidin; Sarma, Kiran; Molloy, Gerard J.

doi:10.1007/s12529-018-9729-9

Cited by 14 publications

(17 citation statements)

References 37 publications

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“…Some participants did, however, identify that habits also occurred via different types of stable contexts or cues, including time, place, or mood. This is consistent with other research that has shown that different types of cues predict habit strength and behavioural frequency (Murphy, Eustace, Sarma, & Molloy, 2018;Pimm et al, 2016). This, again, has important implications for habit-based interventions as some participants may expect that the formation of their habit guarantees behavioural performance at the same time every day, week, month, or year, when this expectation may differ with the researcher or clinician.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 89%

A Qualitative Investigation into the Representations of Habit by Lay People

Brown¹,

Morrissey²,

Ms³

et al. 2019

Preprint

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Objective: There is continued debate regarding the most useful and meaningful way to measure habit and how to form habits via intervention. To date, lay representations of habit have rarely been explored. Such understandings may provide clarity on how researchers might better define habit, develop valid measurements of habit, and evaluate habit-based interventions. This study aimed to explore how lay people represent habit, across two studies. Methods: Study 1 (N = 158) used an online, open-ended questionnaire to elicit what lay people believe to be the salient features of habit. Study 2 involved a series of interviews and focus groups (N = 27), to explore individual representations of habit. Results: Theoretical thematic content analysis across the two studies revealed that participants described habit by what it is (i.e., an explicit outcome or internal mechanism), by habit’s features (i.e., automatic, frequent, stable cue/context, and emotionally rewarding), and by how they evaluated habits (i.e., being both “good” and “bad”). When describing the characteristics of habitual behaviours, participants identified that habits were either simple, discrete behaviours; clustered, repetitive behaviours synonymous with routine; or a self-identity characteristic. Conclusions: Current findings indicate that lay people hold consistent and contradictory representations of habit. Largely, lay representations were similar to scientific conceptualisations, with some notable difference. Participants appeared to misunderstand the cue-based mechanism of habits, interchangeably used ‘habit’ with ‘routine’, and believed that habits were emotionally rewarding. Future research should focus on integrating the beliefs identified in this research with new measures of habit and habit interventions.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 89%

A Qualitative Investigation into the Representations of Habit by Lay People

Brown¹,

Morrissey²,

Ms³

et al. 2019

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Our literature search identified 687 studies for screening (title and abstract). Of these, 41 full-text studies were reviewed, and 11 studies [9][10][11][12]20,22,[40][41][42][43][44] met all inclusion criteria. This process is outlined in the PRISMA flow chart (Figure 1).…”

Section: Literature Searchmentioning

confidence: 99%

Habit Strength, Medication Adherence, and Habit-Based Mobile Health Interventions Across Chronic Medical Conditions: Systematic Review

et al. 2020

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Background Unintentional medication nonadherence is common and has been associated with poor health outcomes and increased health care costs. Earlier research demonstrated a relationship between habit strength and medication adherence. Previous research also examined a habit’s direct effect on adherence and how habit interacts with more conscious factors to influence or overrule them. However, the relationship between habit and adherence and the role of habit-based mobile health (mHealth) interventions remain unclear. Objective This review aimed to systematically evaluate the most recent evidence for habit strength, medication adherence, and habit-based mHealth interventions across chronic medical conditions. Methods A keyword search with combinations of the terms habit, habit strength, habit index, medication adherence, and medication compliance was conducted on the PubMed database. After duplicates were removed, two authors conducted independent abstract and full-text screening. The guidelines for the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) were followed when reporting evidence across the included and reviewed studies. Results Of the 687 records examined, 11 met the predefined inclusion criteria and were finalized for data extraction, grading, and synthesis. Most included studies (6/11, 55%) were cross-sectional and used a theoretical model (8/11, 73%). The majority of studies measured habit strength using the self-report habit index and self-report behavioral automaticity index (9/11, 82%). Habit strength was positively correlated with medication adherence in most studies (10/11, 91%). Habit mediated the effects of self-efficacy on medication adherence (1/11, 9%), and social norms moderated the effects of habit strength on medication adherence (1/11, 9%). Habit strength also moderated the effects of poor mental health symptoms and medication adherence (1/11, 9%). None of the included studies reported on using or proposing a habit-based mHealth behavioral intervention to promote medication adherence. Conclusions Habit strength was strongly correlated with medication adherence, and stronger habit was associated with higher medication adherence rates, regardless of the theoretical model and/or guiding framework. Habit-based interventions should be used to increase medication adherence, and these interventions could leverage widely available mobile technology tools such as mobile apps or text messaging, and existing routines.

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“…This relationship should be explored further to see whether the behavior has perhaps become routinized or even become automatic such that it is now a habit. Habit has previously shown to be associated with better adherence to the oral contraceptive pill (Murphy, Eustace, Sarma, & Molloy, 2018 ), but only in a single study. The role of habit in understanding adherence to the oral contraceptive pill could be further explored within theories of behavior that incorporate habit, such as temporal self-regulation theory (Hall & Fong, 2007 ), as other psychological variables may be more predictive of adherence than habit.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 80%

Adherence to the oral contraceptive pill: the roles of health literacy and knowledge

Liddelow

Mullan

Boyes

2020

Health Psychology and Behavioral Medicine

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Objective: The oral contraceptive pill is the most widely used method of contraception and when adhered to perfectly is 99% effective at preventing pregnancy. However, adherence to the pill is relatively low. Knowledge has shown to be important in continuation of the pill, and previous research shows the importance of health literacy in adhering to medication in chronic illnesses, but its role has yet to be explored in this behavior. Methods: This cross-sectional study examined the associations between health literacy, knowledge of the pill and adherence, as well as the predictive ability of these two variables and their interaction, in predicting adherence. Recruited through CloudResearch, 193 women (M age = 32.63 years, SD = 5.98) residing in the United States completed the Health Literacy Skills Instrument-Short Form, a previously validated measure of oral contraceptive pill knowledge and the Medication Adherence Report Scale. Results: Results showed a strong positive correlation between health literacy and adherence (r = .76) and moderate associations between health literacy and knowledge (r = .42), and knowledge and adherence (r = .42). The final model of the hierarchical multiple regression accounted for 59.8% of variance in adherence, with health literacy (β = .69) and length of time taking the pill (β = .13) the only significant predictors of adherence. Conclusion: Family planning clinics should consider assessing the patient's health literacy skills before prescribing the pill to ensure patients fully understand the requirements.

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Habit Strength and Adherence to Oral Contraceptives: the Role of Time- and Place-Based Cues

Abstract: Time- and place-based cues are likely to be an important part of any intervention design to support adherence and strengthen the habit of taking the OCP. It is recommended that future replications include longitudinal study designs and analyses.

Cited by 14 publications

References 37 publications

A Qualitative Investigation into the Representations of Habit by Lay People

A Qualitative Investigation into the Representations of Habit by Lay People

Habit Strength, Medication Adherence, and Habit-Based Mobile Health Interventions Across Chronic Medical Conditions: Systematic Review

Adherence to the oral contraceptive pill: the roles of health literacy and knowledge

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