Overweight and obesity are major public health challenges, requiring preventive efforts targeting diet, physical activity (PA), sedentary behaviour (SB) and sleep. Current research often treats these behaviours in isolation, ignores daily fluctuations and focuses on between-person differences. Studies examining the temporal covariance of these behaviours, assessing within-day and day-to-day variations in determinants and exploring how these time-varying determinants predict within-person variability in behaviours are needed. This paper aims to evaluate the feasibility of a measurement burst design with repeated intensive longitudinal assessments and to present patterns of behaviours and determinants. A 12-month observational study with a measurement burst design was conducted (January–December 2025). In total, 130 participants aged 55–75 years enrolled in the study, which consisted of four 7-day measurement bursts. Data collection included monitoring of diet, PA, SB, sleep and time-based ecological momentary assessment (EMA). Compliance rates, descriptive statistics per burst and across bursts were computed. 116 participants completed all bursts (retention rate = 89·2 %). Compliance rates ranged from 83·5 % for time-based EMA to 91·8 % for SB, supporting feasibility of the protocol. Mean values of 1692 kcal/day (sd = 565) for energy intake, 9·4 h/day (sd = 2·4) for sedentary time and 10 610 steps/day (sd = 6302) were observed. Mean daily light, moderate and vigorous PA-levels were 102·9 (sd = 37·4), 65·5 (sd = 43·4) and 11·5 (sd = 17·0) minutes, respectively. Mean sleep duration was 6·4 h/night (sd = 1·3), with a mean sleep efficiency of 79·2 % (sd = 10·2). This paper demonstrated the feasibility of integrating multiple assessment methods within a measurement burst design for studying health behaviours in adults aged 55–75 years and highlighted the value of analyses at more fine-grained temporal and individual levels.

There is recognition of the need to design wellbeing interventions in contextually sensitive ways, and report systematic, theory-driven approaches to intervention development. However, many intervention studies in the burgeoning literature on psychological professional trainee wellbeing do not include information on processes or theory surrounding the development of interventions tested. This theory- and stakeholder-informed intervention development study was guided by the MRC framework for developing and evaluating complex interventions and underpinned by the COM-B. Evidence and theory were used to support an initial intervention outline. Meetings were subsequently held to gather stakeholder perspectives, to address unknowns of intervention design, and to support development of a theory of change. Stakeholder (trainees and professional training staff) perspectives and relevant theory were used to inform the design of an acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) based intervention, to address key stressors experienced by trainees. The intervention was delivered in a group setting, over the course of four sessions spaced 1–3 weeks apart. Collaboratively constructed COM-B analyses identified target behaviours and shaped intervention design. A comprehensive theory of change was developed, outlining key assumptions and setting out hypothesised pathways of change. An evidence-informed ACT-based intervention for psychological professional trainee wellbeing has been developed with key stakeholder collaboration. An acceptability and feasibility evaluation of this intervention is underway.

Key learning aims

1. (1) To understand the processes through which a tailored wellbeing intervention for psychological professional trainees was developed in collaboration with key stakeholders.

2. (2) To consider how an acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) based intervention was adapted to address specific challenges encountered by psychological professional trainees.

3. (3) To understand the pathways through which an adapted ACT intervention is anticipated to support trainee wellbeing.

Traditional life and health insurance compensates after the fact, acting reactively in response to adverse events. Today, the rise of digital technologies enables insurers to intervene proactively, monitoring policyholders’ behaviour and incentivizing lifestyle changes intended to reduce risks before they materialize. This article argues that the shift from reactivity to proactivity marks a profound transformation in the temporal logic and social role of insurance. Based on empirical research, we examine the actuarial, normative, and societal implications of proactivity in life and health insurance. We situate these developments within broader debates on quantification and the quantified self, showing how individual self-tracking practices are embedded into institutional feedback loops that make unprecedented surveillance possible, but also create new forms of personalisation, solidarity, and responsibility. Proactivity, we contend, is not simply prevention by other means, but an innovative reconfiguration of uncertainty management that both disciplines and empowers policyholders through data-driven incentives and recommendations.

Cat confinement continues to be a topic that draws lively debate. Our recent paper “Calling a trade-off a trade-off in arguments for cat confinement” aimed to challenge the narrative that confinement is categorically good for cat welfare and is therefore a “win-win” for cats and wildlife conservation (Glanville et al. 2025). Moreover, we questioned the efficacy of the “win-win” public communication strategy, when the welfare risks to cats are not addressed and owners are not appropriately prepared for the implications of confinement. Our paper has since been critiqued by Legge et al. (2026) based on misunderstanding or mischaracterisation of our original arguments. Therefore, we take this opportunity to correct these, to further demonstrate the welfare challenges faced by confined cats, and to underline how our arguments are intended to align with conservation goals.

Behavioural design is an important, emerging area of research and practice. However, major questions remain regarding how behaviour change mechanisms should be embodied in artefacts to create effective interventions. Hence, we ask: How do behaviour change mechanisms and their embodiments emerge and relate to each other during behavioural design processes? We answer this question via analysis of 11, in-depth case studies of expert practice. Based on our findings, we reveal a complex, multi-layered co-evolutionary process in behavioural design, capturing development within and between spaces linked to behaviour change mechanisms and their embodying artefacts. Further, we relate the structure of this co-evolutionary development via process synergy between mechanisms and embodiments spaces to understanding and cohesion of the final interventions. This has significant implications for behavioural design theory and process guidance, as well as highlighting the need for further research on the link between design processes and interventions in this context.

Behavioural design processes have proliferated in recent years across a diverse set of fields including policy, product development and health. However, this diversity of perspectives also increases ambiguity regarding which (and when) processes should be enacted, which hinders research and practice across fields. This drives two research questions: (1) How are behavioural design processes currently framed, described, and enacted? and (2) How can we consistently understand commonalities and differences across behavioural design processes? In response to these questions, we adopt a critical interpretive synthesis (CIS) approach, reviewing 12 processes from academic and practitioner sources selected through purposive sampling and analysed using a theory-informed coding protocol. Through interpretive synthesis, we re-characterise behavioural design in terms of an ecosystem of distinct but complementary processes rather than its typical presentation in fixed sequences of steps. This increases behavioural design’s ability to respond to different degrees of uncertainty and dynamism in the problem and solution as well as its ability to reflect diverse assumptions about uncertainty, iteration, outcomes and practitioner capability. This research supports an important and developing interdisciplinary area by bringing design process into a design science research context through which many of these topics can be further discussed and developed.

To halt and reverse the ongoing biodiversity crisis, substantial changes in human behaviour will be required. One important challenge in achieving such changes is the ‘extinction of experience’ – the progressive loss of direct human interactions with nature (hereafter ‘personalised ecologies’). Diminished personalised ecologies can erode emotional ties to nature, weaken pro-conservation attitudes and reduce engagement in the diverse actions needed to support biodiversity. Although the extent of this decline has increasingly been documented, far less attention has been paid to the processes through which it unfolds over time, particularly across generations. In this Perspective, we examine how the extinction of experience may become entrenched within societies. We propose a conceptual framework, drawing on ideas from behavioural genetics, to explore how personalised ecologies could be transmitted across generations through genetic, environmental and interactive pathways. We then use this framework to consider why, once initiated, the extinction of experience may persist and intensify over time. Finally, we outline potential strategies to help disrupt this cycle of disconnection and to foster more positive, self-reinforcing trajectories of human–nature interactions. Achieving this will likely require coordinated efforts across sectors, including conservation organisations, education systems, urban planning and public health initiatives.

The aim of this study is to describe the development and implementation of a novel Readiness to Change Nutritional Habits (RCNH) survey for use along with dietary assessment and gut microbiome profiling in a proof-of-concept study in individuals with early Alzheimer’s disease dementia (eAD), mild cognitive impairment (MCI), and healthy controls (HC). Overall, this methods paper contributes to emerging research examining how behavioural readiness for change can be integrated with dietary assessment and gut microbiome profiling to better understand the microbiome’s influence on the nervous system. This is a sub-study embedded within a multi-prong proof-of-concept, observational study mapping the gut microbiome in 45 participants (15 HC, 15 MCI, 15 eAD) at baseline, 3 months, and 6 months. The parent study collects gut microbiome profiles, dietary patterns, and cognitive assessments. The sub-study develops and administers the 32-item RCNH survey to characterize participants’ readiness to adopt nutritional change. This manuscript reports the RCNH survey, its development process, the sub-study protocol including data collection procedures, and planned exploratory analyses. This protocol presents a novel intervention to assess the gut microbiome, individual dietary patterns, and readiness to make lifestyle changes related to diet.

The gambling industry tends to frame gambling harms as a matter of personal responsibility, which is implicit in their messages like ‘gamble responsibly’ or ‘take time to think’. Jurisdictions such as Australia and the UK are replacing industry messages with a range of independently designed ones, like in tobacco warning labels. Counter-industry messages have been proposed to challenge industry narratives, e.g., ‘gambling products are designed to be addictive’. Here we tested 10 potential counter-industry messages among UK gamblers (N = 4,094) using a mixed-methods approach. Results showed that the three best-performing messages came from existing counter-industry campaigns. Participants believed the messages and agreed that they were relevant to people experiencing gambling harm. Participants experiencing higher levels of harm tended to see the messages as more personally relevant to them. Free-text analysis showed that ‘gambling products are designed to be addictive’ received the most positive responses, and also that personal responsibility views were widespread among participants. Messages randomly shown later in the experiment were appraised more positively, suggesting that counter-industry messaging may become more effective when its core message is repeated in multiple ways. Continual design and testing will contribute to the development of best approaches and inform future implementation.

Lameness remains an ongoing challenge to the health and welfare of UK sheep flocks. Whilst effective recommended practice exists in the UK in the form of the five-point plan (5PP), it is not always used or used effectively, particularly in relation to culling. A more in-depth understanding of farmer lameness management behaviours and decision-making is crucial for driving positive change. Behaviour change frameworks offer useful tools to do this, specifically the Behaviour Change Wheel and its central tenets of capability, opportunity and motivation (COM-B). This research sought to explore on-farm management practices surrounding lameness, particularly focused on the 5PP and culling in relation to COM-B. Findings are drawn from five online focus groups with UK farmers (n = 19) and one with veterinarians (n = 4). Thematic analysis led to the identification of themes in relation to the role of capability, opportunity and motivation to enact the steps of the 5PP, particularly culling. Culling, alongside prompt treatment, were the only tools used by all participants. Yet, culling practices did not always follow recommended advice. Factors that influenced behaviours included those self-controlled by farmers, e.g. records kept; outside of their control, e.g. space available, and those controlled by other actors, such as market prices. Considerations of the individual farm and the wider UK sheep sector context were important. Findings suggest a need for interventions aimed at encouraging good record-keeping, collective industry action against lameness and opportunities for vet-farmer interactions. These should be pursued together to achieve the goal of reducing lameness and subsequently improving sheep welfare.

Many charities rely on donations to support their work addressing some of the world’s most pressing problems. We conducted a meta-review to determine what interventions work to increase charitable donations. We found 21 systematic reviews incorporating 1339 primary studies and over 2,139,938 participants. Our meta-meta-analysis estimated the average effect of an intervention on charitable donation size and incidence: r = 0.08 (95% CI [0.03, 0.12]). Due to limitations in the included systematic reviews, we are not certain this estimate reflects the true overall effect size. The most robust evidence found suggests charities could increase donations by (1) emphasising individual beneficiaries, (2) increasing the visibility of donations, (3) describing the impact of the donation, and (4) enacting or promoting tax-deductibility of the charity. We make recommendations for improving primary research and reviews about charitable donations, and how to apply the meta-review findings to increase charitable donations.

Individuals with severe mental illness face a significantly reduced life expectancy compared to the general population. Addressing key modifiable risk factors is essential to reduce these alarming rates of mortality in this population. Nutritional psychiatry has emerged as an important field of research, highlighting the important role of nutrition on mental health outcomes. However, individuals with severe mental illness often encounter barriers to healthy eating, including poor diet quality, medication-related side effects such as increased appetite and weight gain, food insecurity and limited autonomy over food choices. While nutrition interventions play a key role in improving health outcomes and should be a standard part of care, their implementation remains challenging. Digital technology presents a promising alternative support model, with the potential to address many of the structural and attitudinal barriers experienced by this population. Nonetheless, issues such as digital exclusion and low digital literacy persist. Integrating public and patient involvement, along with behavioural science frameworks, into the design and delivery of digital nutrition interventions can improve their relevance, acceptability and impact. This review discusses the current and potential role of digital nutrition interventions for individuals with severe mental illness, examining insights, challenges and future directions to inform research and practice.

Cancer-related fatigue is a common problem among colorectal cancer (CRC) survivors even after completion of treatment. In a randomised trial, we assessed the effect of a person-centred lifestyle programme on cancer-related fatigue among CRC survivors who completed treatment. Survivors who completed treatment at least 6 months but no longer than 5 years ago and who were experiencing cancer-related fatigue were randomised to intervention or control group. The intervention group worked with a lifestyle coach for 6 months during twelve sessions to stepwise increase adherence to the World Cancer Research Fund/American Institute of Cancer Research cancer prevention guidelines on healthy diet and physical activity. The control group did not receive lifestyle coaching. Changes in cancer-related fatigue from baseline to 6 months were assessed with the FACIT (Functional Assessment of Chronic Illness Therapy) – Fatigue Scale. As a secondary outcome, we assessed changes in health-related quality of life (HRQoL). Higher scores indicate less fatigue and better HRQoL. Eighty participants were randomised to the intervention group; eighty-one to the control group. Baseline characteristics were similar: mean age 64·1 (sd 10·9) years; 55·3 % were women; and 72 % had colon cancer. There were favourable changes in dietary behaviours and physical activity in the intervention group; the control group did not show changes to the same extent. The programme did not result in statistically significant differential changes over time between intervention and control group in cancer-related fatigue (0·8; 95 % CI −1·6, 3·2) or HRQoL (1·3; 95 % CI −2·2, 4·8). A person-centred lifestyle programme improved the lifestyle of CRC survivors, but the programme was not effective in reducing cancer-related fatigue or in improving HRQoL.

In different parts of the world the claim is increasingly being made that continuous confinement of pet cats (Felis catus) is beneficial for both wildlife conservation and cat welfare. The first part of the claim is almost incontrovertible, but the second is misleading. The assertion that confined animals have superior welfare is rooted in thinking pre-dating the 1960s that equates welfare with physical health. By contemporary accounts of animal welfare, confinement of animals presents major welfare risks, and this recognition has been a major driver of refinement in livestock industries, e.g. moves towards free-range systems. Yet, these risks have not been widely acknowledged in debates over pet cat management. We argue that the current pervasive rhetoric from conservationists and some regulators that cat confinement is beneficial for wildlife and cats is, at best, confusing health with welfare. At worst, it is a deliberate attempt to mislead the public through portraying a win-win scenario where, instead, a trade-off must be navigated. Failure to recognise this trade-off undermines conservation goals three-fold. First, it limits the efficacy of behaviour change interventions to increase confinement. Second, it erodes public trust in organisations perceived as knowingly misleading the public. Finally, it reduces the incentive to make the one decision yielding long-term benefits for both cats and ecosystems; ceasing to own cats at all. Policy-makers should be wary of the allure of false win-win narratives when tackling contentious issues that require trade-offs to be made.

There is a growing attention towards personalised digital health interventions such as health apps. These often depend on the collection of sensitive personal data, which users generally have limited control over. This work explores perspectives on data sharing and health apps in two different policy contexts, London and Hong Kong. Through this study, our goal is to generate insight about what digital health futures should look like and what needs to be done to achieve them. Using a survey based on a hypothetical health app, we considered a range of behavioural influences on personal health data sharing with the Capability, Opportunity, Motivation model of Behaviour (COM-B) to explore some of the key factors affecting the acceptability of data sharing. Results indicate that willingness to use health apps is influenced by users’ data literacy and control, comfort with sharing health and location data, existing health concerns, access to personalised health advice from a trusted source, and willingness to provide data access to specific parties. Gender is a statistically significant factor, as men are more willing to use health apps. Survey respondents in London are statistically more willing to use health apps than respondents in Hong Kong. Finally, we propose several policy approaches to address these factors, which include the co-creation of standards for using artificial intelligence (AI) to generate health advice, innovating app design and governance models that allow users to carefully control their data, and addressing concerns of gender-specific privacy risks and public trust in institutions dealing with data.

This paper introduces Setting-Driven Design (SDD) and supporting tool – the Behaviour Setting Canvas (BSC) – which together address a critical gap in behavioural design by shifting the focus from individual behaviour to the broader context in which behaviour occurs. Rooted in behaviour setting theory, SDD is a powerful approach to behavioural design that offers an end-to-end structure for understanding and intervening in a behavioural design challenge. The process comprises three iterative phases: scoping the behavioural challenge, understanding the setting and intervention development. The process structure revolves around the BSC, a tool for mapping key contextual elements such as roles, motives, norms and routines. While SDD is particularly effective for behaviour change interventions, its utility extends to other design challenges, including introducing new products, shifting social norms and enhancing existing systems where behaviour remains constant. The approach integrates a theory of change to guide intervention development, prototyping and evaluation, ensuring alignment with behavioural objectives and contextual realities. A case study on handwashing in low-income Tanzanian households illustrates the method’s utility, culminating in the creation of Tab Soap, a single-use, biodegradable soap designed to improve hygiene behaviours. The study demonstrates how SDD facilitates insight generation and iterative refinement and complements user-centred design. SDD advances behavioural design by combining theoretical rigour with practical application, offering a scalable and adaptable framework for addressing complex design challenges across diverse fields.

Overconsumption of unhealthy, discretionary, foods and beverages are associated with an increased risk of weight gain and non-communicable diseases, including diabetes, heart disease, and cancer. This cross-sectional study explored preferences for setting goals to reduce discretionary food and beverage consumption. The online survey included items about discretionary food and beverage intake, goal setting preferences to reduce intake, habit strength, personality traits, and demographic characteristics. A total of 2664 Australian adults completed the survey. The sample was mostly female (65.9%), half (52.8%) were aged between 30–49 years, and the median intake of discretionary food and beverages was 4.9 (IQR: 3.6 to 7.2) serves per day. Multinomial logistic regression and ordinal logistic regression models were used to explore demographic and psychological predictors of the helpfulness of long-term and short-term goals, elimination and gradual goals, specific food goals, specific eating occasion and food goals, self-set goals, collaboratively set goals, and assigned goals. The results showed participants with higher habit strength had greater odds of finding short-term (OR 1.40, 95% CI 1.06–1.86), gradual (OR 1.14, 95% CI 1.01–1.29), specific (OR 1.35, 95% CI 0.84–1.76), assigned (OR 1.38, 95% CI 1.14–1.66) and collaborative goals (OR 1.24, 95% CI 1.01–1.53) helpful. The results also indicated that age and gender were important predictors of goal setting preferences, particularly for long-term goals, elimination goals, broad goals, and collaborative goals. Interventions to reduce discretionary food and beverage intake are needed and consideration of goal setting preferences could be a novel way to developing more tailored and effective dietary interventions.