19/03/2025
We’re excited to announce a new paper published in Retos journal!
The article, titled “Applications for Promoting Physical Activity in Adolescents: A Narrative Review of Key Behaviour Change Techniques and Their Main Characteristics”, presents a narrative review examining mobile health (mHealth) applications designed to promote physical activity among adolescents.
The authors analysed existing literature to identify the theoretical underpinnings, key behaviour change techniques (BCTs), and central features of these apps. Furthermore, the review investigated the impact of these apps on physical activity adherence and maintenance, noting inconsistent outcomes and highlighting the need for methodologically rigorous future research in this area.
Through this research, the Move4Fun consortium identified that when it comes to behaviour change techniques (BCTs) and central features in physical activity (PA) promotion apps for adolescents:
- Adolescents find goal setting, self-monitoring, and feedback to be attractive and motivating features.
- Rewards and gamification have the potential to increase motivation and engagement.
- Apps with a simple and modern design and easy-to-use interface are preferred by teenagers
- Higher quality apps tend to incorporate a greater number of BCTs and features.
- Effective BCTs for engaging teens include self-monitoring, rewards, feedback, social support, and action planning.
- Customisation and personalisation are appreciated by adolescents in PA apps.
These findings offer valuable insights into the design of digital tools and apps aimed at encouraging regular physical activity among young people. Moreover, the article included recommendations for future app development, which were used for the design of the Move4Fun app, leveraging evidence-based strategies to create an engaging and effective solution.
