Recruitment, Enrollment, and Response of Parent–Adolescent Dyads in the FLASHE Study

Abstract

Introduction In 2014, the National Cancer Institute conducted the Family Life, Activity, Sun, Health, and Eating Study (FLASHE). This parent and adolescent survey examines psychosocial, generational (parent–adolescent), and environmental (home and neighborhood) correlates of cancer-preventive behaviors, with a particular emphasis on diet and physical activity. This paper describes the FLASHE data collection methods and enrollment and response rates. Methods FLASHE data collection methods included web-based surveys delivered to dyads of parents and their adolescent children, and deployment of accelerometers to a subset of adolescents, to achieve study goals in a nationwide study sample. The National Cancer Institute contracted with Westat, Inc. to recruit, enroll, and collect the data using a consumer opinion panel. Results A total of 5,027 dyads were screened for eligibility, and 1,945 (38.7%) enrolled. Of fully enrolled dyads, 85.6% of those in the Survey-Only group completed all four surveys, and 58.7% of dyads in the Motion Study group completed all surveys and were compliant with the accelerometer protocol for adolescents. The overall study response rate was 29.4%; 1,479 dyads completed all study procedures. The majority of parents were female, whereas the adolescent sample was gender balanced. Data were analyzed in 2015–2016. Conclusions FLASHE recruited a large sample of parent–adolescent dyads. Although challenges for research in parent–adolescent dyads include enrolling a diverse sample and having multistep enrollment and consent processes, study completion rate was high among fully enrolled dyads. Future panel studies may consider approaches used in FLASHE to encourage study enrollment and completion.

The FLASHE Study: Survey Development, Dyadic Perspectives, and Participant Characteristics

“…Relatively even numbers of adolescents were recruited across ages and gender. 37 A total of 5,027 dyads met eligibility criteria (aged ≥18 years and living with an adolescent aged 12–17 at least 50% of the time) and were invited to participate, and 1,945 dyads fully enrolled. FLASHE was divided into four web-based, cross-sectional surveys.…”

“…Dyad-level weights were not computed. More information on data weighting is available in this issue 37 and the data users guide on the study webpage. To illustrate the dyadic design of FLASHE, two measures of dyadic non-independence (Pearson and intraclass (ICC) correlations [ICCs]) were computed on example survey items at each level of the FLASHE conceptual model.…”

Home Matters: Adolescents Drink More Sugar-Sweetened Beverages When Available at Home

“…This item was reviewed by scientific advisors for public relevance and consistency with existing validated measures and surveys. 12,13 Parents were asked the same question, and parental responses to this question were 73.4% in agreement with adolescent responses. Self-reported adolescent responses ranged from “never” to “always” on a 5-point Likert scale.…”

“…13,22 Descriptive statistics of all variables were computed. Given that the sugar-sweetened beverage consumption variable represented ordered values, ordinal logistic regression models estimated associations.…”

Surveillance of Youth Physical Activity and Sedentary Behavior With Wrist Accelerometry

“…Additional details on the methodology of FLASHE are reported in this journal issue. 15, 16 Briefly, parent participants were recruited from the Ipsos Consumer Opinion Panel. Eligibility criteria included being aged ≥18 years and living with at least one child aged 12–17 years for at least 50% of the time; one eligible adolescent from the household was randomly chosen.…”