Carbon Evidence

Evidence map

Behaviour change: what the evidence base looks like

8 publications, 2 of them trials and 2 syntheses. This page describes the shape of that literature rather than summarising its conclusions.

Updated 3 min read 8 citations

What the evidence on behaviour change is made of Of 8 publications on this topic, the breakdown by study type: 2 meta-analysis, 2 randomised trial, 1 review, 3 other. 2213meta-analysis (2)randomised trial (2)review (1)other (3)
8 publications, by study type. Volume is not strength — the same count can be a settled question or a pile of commentary, and which one it is depends almost entirely on this breakdown. Harvested from PubMed and Crossref; publication type as recorded by the source.

What this literature is made of

The synthesis is ahead of the primary literature here — reviews and meta-analyses drawing on a modest number of underlying studies. Treat confident conclusions with the caution the sample size deserves.

The distinction that matters most is between synthesis and primary research. A meta-analysis pools trials and is the closest thing to a settled answer a field produces. A narrative review is one group's reading of the same material and can be selective without being dishonest. Counting them together, which most citation counts do, obscures exactly the thing you want to know.

When the behaviour change literature was published Publication years for the 8 papers on this topic, grouped into bands from before 2015 through to 2023 onwards. 2023 onwards5 papers2020-20223 papers
Still active. The most recent paper here is from 2025, so this is a field where an answer written today may not hold for long. Publication years as recorded by PubMed and Crossref.

How this page is built

Everything above is computed from the citations this site harvested from PubMed and Crossref, not written by hand. When the weekly harvest finds a new paper on this topic, these counts change and the characterisation changes with them. That is the point: a hand-written claim about how strong an evidence base is starts decaying the day it is written.

Publication type is taken as the source records it. That is imperfect — journals label inconsistently, and a paper indexed as a "review" may be a systematic one — so treat the bands as approximate. They are accurate enough to distinguish a trial literature from a commentary literature, which is the distinction that matters.

The strongest work on this topic

Ordered by study design first, then recency. The full set is listed in the references below.

  1. Identifying behaviour change techniques for sustainable food consumption: A systematic review using the BCTTv1 — Tirion ASC, D'Lima D, Terlet J et al., 2025, systematic review
  2. What Influences the Sustainable Food Consumption Behaviours of University Students? A Systematic Review — Aguirre Sánchez L, Roa-Díaz ZM, Gamba M et al., 2021, systematic review
  3. Video-Based Climate Change Program Boosts Eco-Cognizance, Emotional Response and Self-Efficacy in Rural Nursing Students: Randomised Controlled Trial — Eweida RS, O'Connell MA, Zoromba M et al., 2025, randomised controlled trial
  4. Tailored internet-delivered cognitive behavioral therapy for individuals experiencing psychological distress associated with climate change: A pilot randomized controlled trial — Lindhe N, Bengtsson A, Byggeth E et al., 2023, randomised controlled trial
  5. To select effective interventions for pro-environmental behaviour change, we need to consider determinants of behaviour — van Valkengoed AM, Abrahamse W, Steg L, 2022, review
  6. Does behaving green influence how we feel? pro-environmental behaviour and subjective well-being — Pinho M, 2025, journal article
  7. The impact of anxiety and intolerance of uncertainty on climate change distress, policy support, and pro-environmental behaviour — Goldwert D, Dev AS, Broos HC et al., 2024, journal article
  8. Pro-environmental health behaviour and educational needs among pregnant women: A cross-sectional survey — Jeong GH, Kim HK, 2020, journal article
How much research is there on behaviour change?
8 publications are indexed here, of which 2 are trials and 2 are syntheses.
Does more research mean a stronger conclusion?
No. Composition matters more than volume — five randomised trials support a claim far better than fifty commentaries, and citation counts do not distinguish between them.
How current is this?
The most recent paper indexed here is from 2025. The set is refreshed weekly from PubMed and Crossref.
Why does this page not tell me the answer?
Because summarising a literature into a conclusion requires reading it, and doing that automatically is how confident nonsense gets published. This page tells you how much weight a conclusion could bear; the articles on this site do the interpreting.

References

Every citation below links to the original peer-reviewed record on PubMed or via DOI. Nothing here is a substitute for medical advice.

  1. Identifying behaviour change techniques for sustainable food consumption: A systematic review using the BCTTv1 Tirion ASC, D'Lima D, Terlet J, et al. · Appetite · 2025 · Systematic review DOIPubMed 40383155
  2. What Influences the Sustainable Food Consumption Behaviours of University Students? A Systematic Review Aguirre Sánchez L, Roa-Díaz ZM, Gamba M, et al. · International journal of public health · 2021 · Systematic review DOIPubMed 34557062Full text
  3. Video-Based Climate Change Program Boosts Eco-Cognizance, Emotional Response and Self-Efficacy in Rural Nursing Students: Randomised Controlled Trial Eweida RS, O'Connell MA, Zoromba M, et al. · Journal of advanced nursing · 2025 · Randomised controlled trial DOIPubMed 40059412
  4. Tailored internet-delivered cognitive behavioral therapy for individuals experiencing psychological distress associated with climate change: A pilot randomized controlled trial Lindhe N, Bengtsson A, Byggeth E, et al. · Behaviour research and therapy · 2023 · Randomised controlled trial DOIPubMed 38006766
  5. To select effective interventions for pro-environmental behaviour change, we need to consider determinants of behaviour van Valkengoed AM, Abrahamse W, Steg L · Nature human behaviour · 2022 · Review DOIPubMed 36385176
  6. Does behaving green influence how we feel? pro-environmental behaviour and subjective well-being Pinho M · BMC psychology · 2025 · Journal article DOIPubMed 41189014Full text
  7. The impact of anxiety and intolerance of uncertainty on climate change distress, policy support, and pro-environmental behaviour Goldwert D, Dev AS, Broos HC, et al. · The British journal of clinical psychology · 2024 · Journal article DOIPubMed 37787079Full text
  8. Pro-environmental health behaviour and educational needs among pregnant women: A cross-sectional survey Jeong GH, Kim HK · Journal of advanced nursing · 2020 · Journal article DOIPubMed 32147877