“Girls on the Move” intervention protocol for increasing physical activity among low-active underserved urban girls: a group randomized trial

Abstract Background Increasing moderate to vigorous physical activity among urban girls of low socioeconomic status is both a challenge and a public health priority. Physical activity interventions targeting exclusively girls remain limited, and maintenance of moderate to vigorous physical activity during the post-intervention period has been difficult to maintain. The main aim of the 5-year “Girls on the Move” group randomized trial is to evaluate the efficacy of a comprehensive school-based intervention in increasing girls’ minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity and improving cardiovascular fitness, body mass index, and percent body fat immediately post-intervention (after 17 weeks) and at 9-month post-intervention follow-up (9 months after end of intervention). Methods/Design A total of 24 urban middle schools in the Midwestern U.S. will be randomized to either receive the intervention or serve as a control (N = 1200 girls). The intervention, based on the Health Promotion Model and Self-Determination Theory, will include: (1) two face-to-face motivational, individually tailored counseling sessions with a registered nurse, one at the beginning and the other at the end of the intervention period; (2) an interactive Internet-based session during which each girl receives individually tailored motivational and feedback messages via iPad at 11 weeks (shortly after midpoint of intervention); and (3) a 90-minute after-school physical activity club. Racially diverse, low-active, 10- to 14-year-old 5th to 8th-grade girls will complete questionnaires and physical measures at baseline and post-intervention (n = 50 per school). Minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity will be assessed with accelerometers. Cardiovascular fitness will be assessed by estimating VO2 max with PACER (Progressive Aerobic Cardiovascular Endurance Run) scores. Height and weight will be assessed to calculate body mass index. Percent body fat will be estimated with a foot-to-foot bioelectric impedance scale. Linear mixed effects regression analyses will be performed to assess intervention effects. Discussion This multi-component approach is expected to improve girls’ moderate to vigorous physical activity and related physical outcomes. Trial Registration ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier NCT01503333http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/112470/1/12889_2013_Article_5394.pd

Girls on the Move” intervention protocol for increasing physical activity among low-active underserved urban girls: a group randomized trial

Background: Increasing moderate to vigorous physical activity among urban girls of low socioeconomic status is both a challenge and a public health priority. Physical activity interventions targeting exclusively girls remain limited, and maintenance of moderate to vigorous physical activity during the post-intervention period has been difficult to maintain. The main aim of the 5-year “Girls on the Move” group randomized trial is to evaluate the efficacy of a comprehensive school-based intervention in increasing girls’ minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity and improving cardiovascular fitness, body mass index, and percent body fat immediately post-intervention (after 17 weeks) and at 9-month post-intervention follow-up (9 months after end of intervention). Methods/Design: A total of 24 urban middle schools in the Midwestern U.S. will be randomized to either receive the intervention or serve as a control (N = 1200 girls). The intervention, based on the Health Promotion Model and Self-Determination Theory, will include: (1) two face-to-face motivational, individually tailored counseling sessions with a registered nurse, one at the beginning and the other at the end of the intervention period; (2) an interactive Internet-based session during which each girl receives individually tailored motivational and feedback messages via iPad at 11 weeks (shortly after midpoint of intervention); and (3) a 90-minute after-school physical activity club. Racially diverse, low-active, 10- to 14-year-old 5th to 8th-grade girls will complete questionnaires and physical measures at baseline and post-intervention (n = 50 per school). Minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity will be assessed with accelerometers. Cardiovascular fitness will be assessed by estimating VO2 max with PACER (Progressive Aerobic Cardiovascular Endurance Run) scores. Height and weight will be assessed to calculate body mass index. Percent body fat will be estimated with a foot-to-foot bioelectric impedance scale. Linear mixed effects regression analyses will be performed to assess intervention effects. Discussion: This multi-component approach is expected to improve girls’ moderate to vigorous physical activity and related physical outcomes

OMG Do Not Say LOL: Obese Adolescents' Perspectives on the Content of Text Messages to Enhance Weight Loss Efforts

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/93769/1/oby.2011.266.pd

Personalized behavior change program for glaucoma patients with poor adherence: a pilot interventional cohort study with a pre-post design

Abstract Background About half of people with glaucoma do not adhere to their recommended medications. Interventions for other chronic conditions have successfully utilized reminder systems and motivational interviewing (MI)-based counseling. This study was designed to pilot a personalized intervention that leverages these strategies to assess their impact on medication adherence in glaucoma patients. Methods Glaucoma patients taking ≥ 1 medication will be pre-screened by telephone survey for adherence to their medication(s). Those who self-report poor adherence will be enrolled in a 3-month monitoring period to measure medication adherence using electronic medication monitors. Participants who are non-adherent (take </=80% of their medication doses) over the 3-month run in phase will be eligible for the study. We plan to enroll 57 participants who are non-adherent to their medications. Participants’ adherence will then be continuously measured with electronic medication monitors, by self-report, and via pharmacy refill data over 2 years, during which two successively more resource-intensive components of an intervention aimed to improve medication adherence will be administered. The first component is a 3-month period of reminders (audio and/or visual) and text message or automated phone call if a dose of medication is not taken within a pre-specified time frame. The second component is a 6-month MI-based counseling program with a trained glaucoma counselor. This component uses the eyeGuide, a computer-based personalized behavior change program that enables para-professional staff to provide personalized education and counseling for glaucoma. The primary outcome is change in medication adherence. The secondary outcomes include changes in clinical outcomes (intraocular pressure, IOP, and IOP fluctuation) and psychosocial mediators of adherence (e.g., competence, energy for change and satisfaction). Participants will undergo semi-structured interviews at 12 months to give feedback about the counseling program in order to improve it. Discussion This pilot study will provide insight into ways to deliver more personalized health care to non-adherent glaucoma patients in order to better support them in managing their chronic disease. Trial registration Retrospectively registered with ClinicalTrials.gov ( NCT03159247 ).https://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/145182/1/40814_2018_Article_320.pd

Effects of the Girls on the Move randomized trial on adiposity and aerobic performance (secondary outcomes) in low-income adolescent girls

Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/151987/1/ijpo12559_am.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/151987/2/ijpo12559.pd

Treatment experiences of Latinas after diagnosis of breast cancer

Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/138310/1/cncr30702.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/138310/2/cncr30702_am.pd

Effects of self-transcendence on neural responses to persuasive messages and health behavior change

Self-transcendence refers to a shift in mindset from focusing on self-interests to the well-being of others. We offer an integrative neural model of self-transcendence in the context of persuasive messaging by examining the mechanisms of self-transcendence in promoting receptivity to health messages and behavior change. Specifically, we posited that focusing on values and activities that transcend the self can allow people to see that their self-worth is not tied to a specific behavior in question, and in turn become more receptive to subsequent, otherwise threatening health information. To test whether inducing self-transcendent mindsets before message delivery would help overcome defensiveness and increase receptivity, we used two priming tasks, affirmation and compassion, to elicit a transcendent mindset among 220 sedentary adults. As preregistered, those who completed a self-transcendence task before health message exposure, compared with controls, showed greater increases in objectively logged levels of physical activity throughout the following month. In the brain, self-transcendence tasks up-regulated activity in a region of the ventromedial prefrontal cortex, chosen for its role in positive valuation and reward processing. During subsequent health message exposure, self-transcendence priming was associated with increased activity in subregions of the ventromedial prefrontal cortex, implicated in self-related processing and positive valuation, which predicted later decreases in sedentary behavior. The present findings suggest that having a positive self-transcendent mindset can increase behavior change, in part by increasing neural receptivity to health messaging

Effects of a methodological infographic on research participants\u27 knowledge, transparency, and trust

OBJECTIVE: Given participants\u27 research literacy is essential for clinical trial participation, evidence-based strategies are needed that improve literacy and easily accessed online. We tested whether an infographic letter-that illustrated how dropouts can distort study conclusions-improved participant knowledge about the impact of dropouts relative to a control letter. METHOD: In three distinct online samples purposely recruited to assess reproducibility, young ethnically diverse adults were randomized to read an infographic letter or control letter in a hypothetical scenario. Secondary outcomes included participants\u27 perceived transparency of the research organization, perceived value of retention, and perceived trust of the organization. We purposely included two discriminant items, perceived value for the trial outcome and keeping commitments in general, both hypothesized not to change. RESULTS: Across samples, ∼20% more infographic participants correctly answered how dropouts affected study conclusions than control participants. For example (Experiment 3), nearly 90% of infographic participants correctly answered versus only two thirds of controls (88.7% vs. 66.7%, absolute percentage difference 22.0%, p \u3c .0001). Infographic participants had substantially higher transparency, perceived value for retention, and trust (Cohen\u27s ds = 0.4-1.0, ps \u3c .0001), yet importantly did not value the study outcome or report keeping commitments more than control participants (Cohen\u27s ds = 0.0-0.1, ps \u3e .10). CONCLUSIONS: Promisingly, this transparent, visually powerful methodological infographic improved knowledge and trust. Future trials could embed and experimentally test whether such low-cost online infographics improve not only research literacy, but also trial retention, especially among populations with less initial trust about research

Validation of Three Food Frequency Questionnaires and 24Hour Recalls with Serum Carotenoid Levels in a Sample of African-American Adults

Abstract: The validity of self-reported fruit and vegetable intake in minority populations has not been adequately established. In this study, the authors examined the association of three food frequency questionnaires (FFQs) and 24-hour dietary recalls with serum carotenoid levels. Approximately 1,000 African-American adults recruited from 15 churches in Atlanta, Georgia (199

Intervention to increase physical activity and healthy eating among under-represented adolescents: GOAL trial protocol

Introduction To reduce obesity-related disparities, reaching economically disadvantaged and/or minority status adolescents to assist them in meeting physical activity (PA) and nutrition recommendations is important. To address the problem, a 16-week intervention called Guys/Girls Opt for Activities for Life (GOAL) was designed. The purpose of this randomised controlled trial is to evaluate any effect of the intervention, compared with a control condition, on improving: (1) adolescents’ % body fat (primary outcome), moderate-to-vigorous PA (MVPA), diet quality and cardiorespiratory fitness from 0 to 4 months; (2) body mass index (BMI), overweight/obesity percentage and quality of life from 0 to 4 months and to 13 months; and (3) perceived social support, self-efficacy and motivation from 0 to 4 months with evaluation of any mediating effect on adolescent PA and diet quality. An exploratory aim is to evaluate any effect of the intervention, compared with the control, on improving parents’/guardians’ home environment, MVPA and diet quality from 0 to 4 months; and BMI from 0 to 4 months and to 13 months.Methods and analysis Adolescents (fifth to eighth grade) in 14 schools located in underserved urban communities are randomly assigned to the intervention or usual school offerings. One parent per adolescent is enrolled (882 dyads total). Cohort 1 includes four schools (2022–2023). Cohorts 2 and 3 include 5 schools in 2023–2024 and 2024–2025, respectively. The 16-week intervention has three components: (1) after-school GOAL club for adolescents to engage in PA and healthy eating/cooking activities; (2) three parent–adolescent meetings to empower parents to assist adolescents; and (3) GOAL social networking website for parents to share how they helped their adolescent.Ethics and dissemination The Michigan State University Biomedical Institutional Review Board provided ethical approval for the study. Findings will be shared via the trial registration database, peer-reviewed publications, conferences and community-oriented strategies.Trial registration number NCT04213014