Newer health behavior trials did not show stronger effects
A synthesis examined whether intervention effects improved over decades. Effects showed no detectable upward trend, and some were smaller in more recent trials.
Based on the published abstract. The full paper may contain additional methods, results and limitations.
The 30-second takeaway
Across the behavior domains examined, the researchers found no evidence that intervention effects grew stronger over publication time. Some domains showed smaller effects in newer studies. This addresses progress across a research literature, rather than whether a particular intervention helps an individual, and the association with publication year does not explain why effects differed.
Publication-year associations cannot establish what caused the trends. This abstract-based account also cannot determine how the pooled patterns apply to a particular program, despite the reported adjustments for potential confounding factors.
What researchers found
Publication year versus intervention effect size
For physical activity, weight loss and smoking cessation, newer versus earlier studies across 30+ years showed no detectable relationship. This concerns trends in effects, not whether individual interventions worked.
Where effects were smaller
More recent dietary trials and digital or brief alcohol-reduction trials had smaller intervention effects. Accounting for factors such as study bias, intervention dosage and sample characteristics did not change the reported pattern.
What the analysis compared
The researchers used publication year to examine changes in intervention effect sizes across studies. Their analysis combined information from existing meta-analyses covering several health behaviors, so its central question concerned trends across the research literature.
The original publication
Are we making progress? Testing whether interventions to promote key health behaviors improved over the past 30 years.
Sheeran P, Pei Y, Rothman AJ
Soc Sci Med · 2025
- PubMed ID
- 40816220
- Record checked
AI-assisted research and writing. This explains one selected publication; it is not a complete review of everything known. Our approach.
One more question, understood.
Keep track of the research you’ve explored.