Transtheoretical model of behaviour change

Stephen Sutton

doi:10.1017/CBO9780511543579.050

Transtheoretical model of behaviour change

from Psychology, health and illness

Published online by Cambridge University Press: 18 December 2014

Edited by

John Weinman and

Stephen Sutton: Affiliation:
University of Cambridge
Susan Ayers: Affiliation:
University of Sussex
Andrew Baum: Affiliation:
University of Pittsburgh
Chris McManus: Affiliation:
St Mary's Hospital Medical School
Stanton Newman: Affiliation:
University College and Middlesex School of Medicine
Kenneth Wallston: Affiliation:
Vanderbilt University School of Nursing
John Weinman: Affiliation:
United Medical and Dental Schools of Guy's and St Thomas's
Robert West: Affiliation:
St George's Hospital Medical School, University of London

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Summary

Stage theories of health behaviour assume that behaviour change involves movement through a set of discrete stages, that different factors influence the different stage transitions and that interventions should be matched to a person's stage (Sutton, 2005; Weinstein et al., 1998).

The transtheoretical model (TTM; Prochaska & DiClemente, 1983; Prochaska et al., 1992, 2002; Prochaska & Velicer, 1997) is the dominant stage model in health psychology and health promotion. It was developed in the 1980s by a group of researchers at the University of Rhode Island. The model has been used in a large number of studies of smoking cessation, but it has also been applied to a wide range of other health behaviours (Prochaska et al., 1994). Although it is often referred to simply as the stages of change model, the TTM includes several different constructs: the ‘stages of change’, the ‘pros and cons of changing’ (together known as ‘decisional balance’), ‘confidence and temptation’ and the ‘processes of change’. The TTM was an attempt to integrate these different constructs drawn from different theories of behaviour change and systems of psychotherapy into a single coherent model; hence the name transtheoretical (for example, see ‘Health belief model’, ‘Self-efficacy and health behaviour’ and ‘Theory of planned behaviour’).

The stages of change provide the basic organizing principle. The most widely used version of the model specifies five stages: precontemplation, contemplation, preparation, action and maintenance.

Type: Chapter
Information: Cambridge Handbook of Psychology, Health and Medicine , pp. 228 - 232

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511543579.050 [Opens in a new window]

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Print publication year: 2007

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Transtheoretical model of behaviour change

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