Research indicates that executive functioning may predict health behavior. This systematic review provides an overview of the relationship between domains of executive functioning and health behaviors associated with the leading causes of death in the United States. A total of 114 articles met the inclusion criteria (adult sample, published in English between 1990 and November 2016) and were reviewed and synthesized. Results indicated that although many studies had mixed findings, at least one executive function component was associated with every health behavior. Based on these results, health professionals should consider the role of executive functions in behavior change interventions.

BackgroundMental and emotional self-help apps have emerged as potential mental illness prevention and treatment tools. The health behavior theory mechanisms by which these apps influence mental health–related behavior change have not been thoroughly examined.ObjectiveThe objective of this study was to examine the association between theoretical behavior change mechanisms and use of mental and emotional self-help apps and whether the use of such apps is associated with mental health behaviors.MethodsThis study utilized a cross-sectional survey of 150 users of mental or emotional health apps in the past 6 months. Survey questions included theory-based items, app engagement and likeability items, and behavior change items. Stata version 14 was used to calculate all statistics. Descriptive statistics were calculated for each of the demographic, theory, engagement, and behavior variables. Multiple regression analysis was used to identify factors associated with reported changes in theory and separately for reported changes in actual behavior after controlling for potentially confounding variables.ResultsParticipants reported that app use increased their motivation, desire to set goals, confidence, control, and intentions to be mentally and emotionally healthy. Engagement (P<.001) was positively associated with the reported changes in theory items, whereas perceived behavior change was positively associated with theory (P<.001), engagement (P=.004), frequency of use of apps (P=.01), and income (P=.049).ConclusionsParticipants reported that app use increased their motivation, desire to set goals, confidence, control, and intentions to be mentally and emotionally healthy. This increase in perceptions, beliefs, and attitudes surrounding their mental and emotional health was considerably associated with perceived change in behavior. There was a positive association between the level of engagement with the app and the impact on theory items. Future efforts should consider the value of impacting key theoretical constructs when designing mental and emotional health apps. As apps are evaluated and additional theory-based apps are created, cost-effective self-help apps may become common preventative and treatment tools in the mental health field.