Transtheoretical model

The transtheoretical model of behavior change is an integrative theory of therapy that assesses an individual's readiness to act on a new healthier behavior, and provides strategies, or processes of change to guide the individual. The model is composed of constructs such as: stages of change, processes of change, levels of change, self-efficacy, and decisional balance. The transtheoretical model of behavior change is an integrative theory of therapy that assesses an individual's readiness to act on a new healthier behavior, and provides strategies, or processes of change to guide the individual. The model is composed of constructs such as: stages of change, processes of change, levels of change, self-efficacy, and decisional balance. The transtheoretical model is also known by the abbreviation 'TTM' and sometimes by the term 'stages of change', although this latter term is a synecdoche since the stages of change are only one part of the model along with processes of change, levels of change, etc. Several self-help books—Changing for Good (1994), Changeology (2012), and Changing to Thrive (2016)—and articles in the news media have discussed the model. It has been called 'arguably the dominant model of health behaviour change, having received unprecedented research attention, yet it has simultaneously attracted criticism'. James O. Prochaska of the University of Rhode Island, and Carlo Di Clemente and colleagues developed the transtheoretical model beginning in 1977. It is based on analysis and use of different theories of psychotherapy, hence the name 'transtheoretical'. Prochaska and colleagues refined the model on the basis of research that they published in peer-reviewed journals and books. This construct refers to the temporal dimension of behavioural change. In the transtheoretical model, change is a 'process involving progress through a series of stages': In addition, the researchers conceptualized 'Relapse' (recycling) which is not a stage in itself but rather the 'return from Action or Maintenance to an earlier stage'. The quantitative definition of the stages of change (see below) is perhaps the most notorious feature of the model. However it is also one of the most critiqued, even in the field of smoking cessation, where it was originally formulated. It has been said that such quantitative definition (i.e. a person is in preparation if it intends to change within a month) does not reflect the nature of behaviour change, that it does not have better predictive power than simpler questions (i.e. 'do you have plans to change...'), and that it has problems regarding its classification reliability. Communication theorist and sociologist Everett Rogers suggested that the stages of change are analogues of the stages of the innovation adoption process in Rogers' theory of diffusion of innovations. Stage 1: Precontemplation (not ready)