Mobile health applications (apps) often employ behaviour change techniques (BCTs). BCTs aim to change behaviour by targeting psychological mechanisms. There are many types of BCTs that may be helpful in bringing about change. The aim of this study was to identify the types of BCTs used by current health mobile apps aimed at problem gambling. The researchers identified 40 apps that were free, in English, available in the United Kingdom, and targeted towards changing problem gambling behaviours. Around 95% of these apps used at least one type of BCT. The number of BCTs used by the apps ranged from 0 to 9. In total, there were 32 types of BCTs used across the 40 apps. However, this only represented about 35% of the types of BCTs that had been identified in research.
The authors suggested that app developers of these types of apps should consider implementing BCTs not already used by existing apps. They should also implement more than one type of BCT in their app. The authors also suggested that app developers work with health experts in behaviour change when developing the app.
