What do we want to know?

There is considerable policy interest in the use of incentives to promote positive behaviour in children and young people.  However, there is uncertainty about whether this approach works, and if so, what the underlying mechanisms are.  There is no recent evidence-based summary of the international research literature to inform policy decisions.  This review was a scoping exercise to identify the nature and extent of both international research studies evaluating incentive schemes and ongoing incentive schemes in the UK.

Who wants to know?

Policy makers, practitioners, researchers, parents, young people.

What did we find?  

There is a considerable body of international research evidence and a range of ongoing projects across the UK.

What are the implications?

This was the first stage of a full systematic review undertaken by the EPPI Centre team. The full review drew out the implications of the reliable studies.

This summary was prepared by the EPPI Centre

This report should be cited as: Kavanagh J, Trouton A, Oakley A, Harden A (2005) A scoping review of the evidence for incentive schemes to encourage positive health and other social behaviours in young people. London: EPPI Centre, Social Science Research Unit, Institute of Education, University of London.