In this meta-analysis, we sought to examine the ‘active ingredients’ (or behavior change techniques; BCTs) used within theory-based physical activity interventions compared to interventions with no stated theory. We retrieved 171 peer-reviewed studies (224 total interventions) that used a controlled experimental design from 68 previous reviews of physical activity interventions. Data from each intervention were coded with regard to their use of theory and inclusion of 16 BCT clusters within the physical activity intervention. There were no significant differences in the overall effect sizes between theory-based (k = 148, d = 0.48) and no-stated-theory (k = 77, d = 0.37) interventions. Theory-based interventions incorporated a greater number of BCT clusters on average (6.1) compared to no-stated-theory interventions (4.5). Significant effects were shown for interventions that incorporated at least three BCT clusters (d = 0.48) but not for those that used one or two (d = 0.20). Several BCT clusters were more likely to be present in theory-based interventions than no-stated-theory interventions. Significant effects on physical activity were also shown for theory-based interventions that incorporated any of the 16 BCT clusters coded, but only for 9 out of 11 no-stated-theory interventions in this regard (for which effect sizes could be calculated). Taken together, these findings suggest that although the overall effects on physical activity do not differ significantly between theory-based and no-stated-theory interventions, these interventions often differ in their composition of BCTs. Moreover, for interventions utilizing certain BCT clusters (namely, ‘self-belief’ and ‘association’), theory may be necessary to derive significant effects.

中文翻译：

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研究以理论为基础而不是没有陈述的理论为基础的体育活动干预措施的有效成分：一项荟萃分析

在这项荟萃分析中，我们试图检查与没有陈述理论的干预措施相比，基于理论的体育锻炼干预措施中使用的“有效成分”（或行为改变技术； BCT）。我们从68项体育锻炼干预措施的先前评估中检索了171项经同行评审的研究（共224项干预措施），这些研究使用了受控实验设计。每种干预措施的数据均按照其理论运用和在体育活动干预措施中纳入16个BCT簇的方式进行了编码。在基于理论的（k  = 148，d  = 0.48）和没有陈述的理论（k  = 77，d）之间，总体效果大小没有显着差异。 = 0.37）干预。与没有陈述理论的干预措施（4.5）相比，基于理论的干预措施平均包含更多的BCT集群（6.1）。对于包含至少三个BCT群集的干预措施，其干预效果显着（d  = 0.48），而对于使用一两个群集的干预措施则没有显着效果（d = 0.20）。与基于非陈述理论的干预相比，基于理论的干预中更有可能存在多个BCT集群。对于基于理论的干预措施（包括已编码的16个BCT集群中的任何一个），也显示出对体育锻炼的显着影响，但在这方面，只有11种无理论干预措施中的9种（可以计算出影响的大小）。综上所述，这些发现表明，尽管基于理论的干预和没有陈述的干预对身体活动的总体影响没有显着差异，但这些干预的BCT组成常常不同。此外，对于利用某些BCT集群（即“自信”和“协会”）的干预措施，可能需要理论来得出重大影响。