Engagement With Tailored Physical Activity Content: Secondary Findings From the Families Improving Together for Weight Loss Randomized Controlled Trial

Abstract

Background Web-based tailored interventions offer rich opportunities for improved access to and personalization of behavioral interventions. However, despite the promise of this approach, the engagement and underrepresentation of minority groups remain major issues. Objective This study evaluated whether engagement (log-in status and log-in duration) with different types of tailored behavioral content from the Families Improving Together for weight loss web-based intervention was associated with changes in moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA) among African American families with overweight or obesity. Methods Parent-adolescent dyads were randomized to a web-based tailored intervention or web-based health education comparison program. The web-based intervention (N=119) was completed by parents and targeted 6 weight-related behaviors to support their adolescent children’s weight loss goals (session contents included energy balance, fast food, fruits and vegetables, physical activity [PA], sedentary behavior, and sweetened beverages). MVPA was measured using accelerometers at baseline and after the intervention. Results Using a hierarchical approach, the log-in status and duration for each web-based session were used to evaluate the additive effects of engagement with different types of tailored behavioral content on MVPA after the web-based intervention. Among parents, logging in to the PA session was not associated with greater MVPA (B=−12.561, 95% CI −18.759 to −6.367), but MVPA increased with greater log-in duration for the PA (B=0.008, 95% CI 0.004-0.012) and sedentary behavior (B= 0.008, 95% CI 0.004-0.012) sessions. These results suggest that parents who logged in to the PA session had lower MVPA, but MVPA increased with greater log-in duration for the PA and sedentary behavior sessions. These associations remained even after accounting for engagement with other content sessions. However, these engagement effects did not translate to the adolescents. Conclusions The results of this study highlight the need to disentangle the impact of engagement with different tailored content to improve the efficacy of tailored web-based interventions, especially for promoting PA in African American families. Trial Registration ClinicalTrials.gov NCT01796067; https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT01796067