Implications for practice and research

• The study confirms previous research findings suggesting that behavioural interventions that encourage goal setting and frequent self-monitoring can result in significant, positive behavioural change, even in a population with fairly entrenched behavioural patterns.

• Non-targeted behaviours may be affected through a process of complementary behavioural change.

• Additional research is needed to better understand whether and how changes in non-targeted behaviours occur in adults, as this could lead to more efficient interventions.

• Use of mobile technology to encourage self-monitoring has the potential to provide exceptionally rich data for researchers studying the behaviour change process. However, the relative advantage of such technology over low-technology self-monitoring methods in terms of participant …