Action planning and coping planning for long-term lifestyle change: Theory and assessment

By Falko Sniehotta, Ralf Schwarzer, Urte Scholz, Benjamin Schüz. 2005

952 citations recorded by the source corpus.

Planning is regarded as highly valuable in the process of health behaviour change. It bridges the gap between behavioural intentions and health behaviour. To further develop this concept, a distinction is made between action planning and coping planning. The latter refers to the mental simulation of overcoming anticipated barriers to action. Action planning and coping planning for physical exercise were examined in a longitudinal study with 352 cardiac patients. They were approached during rehabilitation treatment and followed up at two and four months after discharge. Both planning cognitions were psychometrically identified, and it was found that they operated differently in the behavioural change process. Action plans were more influential early in the rehabilitation process, whereas coping plans were more instrumental later on. Participants with higher levels of coping planning after discharge were more likely to report higher levels of exercise four months after discharge. It is suggested to include both kinds of planning in interventions at different stages in health behaviour change.

Subfields: Applied Psychology, Experimental and Cognitive Psychology, Social Psychology

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/7005994ec98623d64477f4abd328889f10ee38b0

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Citations in the corpus

Self-regulation: an important construct in health psychology research and practice (2010, background): “Often changing behaviour requires individuals to invest considerable effort and planning to engage in self-regulatory action (Hagger, Wood, Stiff, & Chatzisarantis, 2010 ; Sniehotta, Schwarzer, Scholz, & Schuz, 2005 ).”
Mechanisms of health behavior change in persons with chronic illness or disability: the Health Action Process Approach (HAPA). (2011, background): “Action control can be assessed with a 6-item scale comprising three facets of the action control process (Sniehotta et al., 2005): self-monitoring (Items a and b), awareness of standards (Items c and d), and self-regulatory effort (Items e and f): (1) “I consistently monitored myself whether I…”
Promoting habit formation (2013, methodology): “‘Coping planning’ involves anticipating difficulties that might hinder action, and forming concrete plans to deal with these situations (Sniehotta et al., 2005), such as, when dieting, planning how to cope with a social situation in which high-calorie foods will be offered.”
Theoretical explanations for maintenance of behaviour change: a systematic review of behaviour theories (2016, background): “Action planning is considered to be more important during behaviour initiation, whereas coping planning is hypothesised to facilitate behaviour change maintenance (Sniehotta et al., 2005).”