Toward a theory-based analysis of behavioral maintenance

Intervention strategies that can produce successful rates of long-term beha vior change have proven elusive and indicate the need for new approaches to this vexing problem. However, the development of new intervention strategi es is constrained by our current conceptualization of behavioral maintenanc e. This article reviews how the dominant models of health behavior change h ave operationalized the psychological processes that guide the initiation a nd maintenance of a new pattern of behavior. In Light of this review, an al ternative framework is proposed based on the premise that the decision crit eria that lead people to initiate a change in their behavior are different from those that lead them to maintain that behavior. Decisions regarding be havioral initiation are predicted to depend on favorable expectations regar ding future outcomes, whereas decisions regarding behavioral maintenance ar e predicted To depend on perceived satisfaction with received outcomes. The implications of this framework for behavioral interventions are addressed.