From Insight to Action: Psychological Foundations and Behavioral Interventions for Change

Dear Colleagues,

This Special Issue explores the critical link between psychological understanding, research, and practical strategies aimed at promoting behavioral change across the lifespan. Drawing from foundational theories in cognitive, developmental, clinical, and social psychology, the Special Issue will highlight how original psychological research leads to useful insights and how psychological insight can inform and enhance interventions that aim to shift behaviors in meaningful, measurable ways.

We aim to bring together empirical and theoretical contributions that showcase how psychological principles—such as motivation, learning, self-regulation, and social influence—can be translated into action through structured behavioral interventions. These may take place in clinical, educational, community, or familial settings and may address both individual and group-level change. Additionally, observational research that assesses family or societal dynamics and behaviors that offer valuable conclusions that may inform future interventions are also a priority of this Special Issue.

This Special Issue welcomes interdisciplinary perspectives that integrate psychology with behavioral science, education, public health, or technology to address current challenges in mental health, child development, parenting, parenting styles, psychological resilience, psychopathology in special populations, emotion regulation, and more.

Areas of interest include, but are not limited to, the following topics:

• Evidence-based parenting programs and family interventions;
• Behavioral and cognitive-behavioral interventions in children, adolescents, or adults;
• Role-play, simulation, or experiential techniques in psychological practice;
• Digital or game-based tools for behavioral change;
• Emotion regulation and social skills training programs;
• School-based behavior management or socio-emotional learning initiatives;
• Motivation and behavior change theories applied in real-world settings;
• Preventive interventions for at-risk populations;
• Evaluations of intervention effectiveness (e.g., RCTs, mixed-methods, or case studies);
• Theoretical frameworks linking psychological insight with behavioral outcomes.

Types of Studies Accepted:

• Original empirical research (quantitative, qualitative, or mixed-methods);
• Interventions and RCTs;
• Systematic reviews or meta-analyses;
• Theoretical or conceptual papers with applied implications;
• Program evaluations or implementation science studies;
• Case studies or design-based research exploring intervention processes;
• Cross-cultural or comparative studies on behavior change strategies.

Dr. Georgia Pistolla
Dr. Dimitra Sifaki-Pistolla
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Behavioral Sciences is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2200 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• behavioral change interventions
• psychological foundations
• interdisciplinary approaches