Experimental and Clinical Psychopharmacology, Vol 34(3), Jun 2026, 217-223; doi:10.1037/pha0000841
Given the public health burden associated with health behaviors such as substance use, significant efforts are directed toward developing effective interventions to facilitate health behavior change. As digital technologies continue to advance at accelerating pace and integrate into people’s daily lives, researchers have a unique and significant opportunity to leverage these tools to advance theory and practice. Emerging tools, novel intervention targets, and technologies have great potential to improve health behavior change research to unburden individuals and communities impacted by substance use and related behaviors, though much work remains to be done to fully realize this potential. This article examines the current state of the health behavior change research highlighting recent innovations facilitated by digital transformations. Looking ahead, potential challenges and opportunities are discussed, along with a call for health behavior change researchers to become intentional interdisciplinary collaborators and innovation brokers toward the development of effective theory-informed digital tools and to maximize the field’s impact on public health outcomes. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved)