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LIT-1962: A meta-analysis of self-determination theory-informed intervention studies in the health domain: effects on motivation, health behavior, physical, and psychological health

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StatusActive — read in full 2026-11-03 (NOTE-1526), from the open-access PDF in White Rose eprints; worth reading as the experimental evidence that manipulating need support moves need satisfaction, autonomous motivation and health behaviour. It does not give what THEORY-052's promote_when asks: no need-frustration outcome, no mediation test, and a psychological-health effect that is gone at follow-up.
Version2
Tagsmotivation, well-being
Cited as “paper” byNOTE-1526 — Ntoumanis et al. — SDT-informed health interventions, a meta-analysis
Cited as “source” byTHEORY-1320 — In Ntoumanis et al.'s meta-analysis of 73 SDT-informed health interventions, mostly randomized, the interventions raised perceived need support (g = 0.64), autonomy and competence satisfaction (0.37, 0.31), autonomous motivation (0.30) and health behaviour (0.45) by the end of the intervention, but not relatedness, controlled motivation or amotivation, and their small effect on psychological health (0.29) was gone at follow-up (0.14, ns); need frustration was not an outcome and mediation was not tested

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Ntoumanis, N., Ng, J. Y., Prestwich, A., Quested, E., Hancox, J. E., Thøgersen-Ntoumani, C., et al. (2020). A meta-analysis of self-determination theory-informed intervention studies in the health domain: effects on motivation, health behavior, physical, and psychological health. Health Psychology Review, 15(2), 214-244. doi:10.1080/17437199.2020.1718529.

Key takeaways

Read in full on 2026-11-03 (NOTE-1526). THEORY-1320, Active, is filed from it.

Standing in the record

The intervention evidence: whether manipulating need support changes outcomes, which THEORY-052’s promote_when asks for in place of correlations of self-reports.

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