User Experiences With Digital Future-Self Interventions in the Contexts of Smoking and Physical Inactivity: Mixed...

Area of Science:

• Behavioral science
• Digital health interventions
• Health psychology

Background:

• Smoking and physical inactivity are major health risks, often tackled with interventions lacking long-term impact.
• Digital future-self interventions (FSIs) show promise for sustainable behavior change but user experiences are not well understood.

Purpose of the Study:

• To examine user experiences (behavioral, cognitive, affective) with digital FSIs for smoking cessation and physical activity (PA).
• To explore how user experiences differ based on behavior type, future self polarity (desired/undesired), and description modality (verbal/visual).

Main Methods:

• Secondary analysis of quantitative and qualitative data from three studies involving digital FSIs.
• Participants (N=677) completed or considered future-self tasks, with data collected on time spent, mental effort, and emotions.
• Integrated quantitative and qualitative findings for a comprehensive interpretation of user experiences.

Main Results:

• FSIs were time-efficient, with users spending less time on desired vs. undesired and verbal vs. visual future self tasks.
• Moderate mental effort was reported, with visualization and image-based descriptions being challenging.
• Desired future self tasks evoked positive emotions, while undesired tasks elicited confronting and negative emotions, yet some participants reported behavior changes.

Conclusions:

• Digital FSIs are a feasible, acceptable, and time-efficient method for strengthening identity to promote smoking cessation and PA.
• Findings support the continued use of digital FSIs, with recommendations for optimization and further research.