Randall Starling

Randomized Trials on Consider This, a Tailored, Internet-Delivered Smoking Prevention Program for Adolescents

The Internet may be an effective medium for delivering smoking prevention to children. Consider This, an Internet-based program, was hypothesized to reduce expectations concerning smoking and smoking prevalence. Group-randomized pretest-posttest controlled trials were conducted in Australia (n = 2,077) and the United States (n = 1,234) in schools containing Grades 6 through 9. Australian children using Consider This reported reduced 30-day smoking prevalence. This reduction was mediated by decreased subjective norms. The amount of program exposure was low in many classes, but program use displayed a dose-response relationship with reduced smoking prevalence. American children only reported lower expectations for smoking in the future. Intervening to prevent smoking is a challenge, and this data suggest small benefits from an Internet-based program that are unlikely to be of practical significance unless increased by improved implementation. Implementation remains the major challenge to delivering interventions via the Internet, both for health educators and researchers.

Randomized Trial on the 5 a Day, the Rio Grande Way Website, A Web-based Program to Improve Fruit and Vegetable Consumption in Rural Communities

The Internet is a new technology for health communication in communities. The 5 a Day, the Rio Grande Way website intended to increase fruits and vegetables (FV) consumption was evaluated in a rural region enrolling 755 adults (65% Hispanic, 9% Native American, 88% female) in a randomized pretest–posttest controlled trial in 2002–2004. A total of 473 (63%) adults completed a 4-month follow-up. The change in daily intake on a food frequency questionnaire (control: mean = − 0.26 servings; intervention: mean = 0.38; estimated difference = 0.64, SD = 0.52, t(df = 416) = 1.22, p = 0.223) and single item (13.9% eating 5 + servings at pretest, 19.8% posttest for intervention; 17.4%, 13.8% for controls; odds ratio (OR) = 1.84, 95% CI = 1.07, 3.17) was in the expected direction but significant only for the single item. Website use was low and variable (logins: M = 3.3, range = 1 to 39.0; total time: M = 22.2 minutes, range = 0 to 322.7), but it was associated positively with fruit and vegetable intake (total time: Spearman r = 0.14, p = 0.004 for food frequency; Spearman r = 0.135, p = 0.004 for single item). A nutrition website may improve FV intake. The comparison on the food frequency measure may have been undermined by its high variability. Websites may be successful in community settings only when they are used enough by adults to influence them.

Beta-Test Results for an HPV Information Web Site: GoHealthyGirls.org—Increasing HPV Vaccine Uptake in the United States

A Web site, GoHealthyGirls, was developed to educate and inform parents and their adolescent daughters about human papillomavirus (HPV) and HPV vaccines. This article provides an overview of web site development and content followed by the results of a beta-test of the Web site. Sixty-three New Mexican parents of adolescent girls tested the site. Results indicated that GoHealthyGirls was a functioning and appealing Web site. During this brief educational intervention, findings suggest that the Web site has the potential to increase HPV vaccine uptake. This research supports the Internet as a valuable channel to disseminate health education and information to diverse populations.

Gambling Trends in the State of New Mexico: 1996–1998

New Mexico experienced a surge in the gaming industry during the mid-1990s with the initiation of a state lottery and other new gaming opportunities, as well as the development of many Indian gaming establishments. This paper explores patterns associated with gambling in two random samples of the adult population (N = 2674) in the entire State of New Mexico in 1996 and 1998. Specifically, the purpose of this paper is to describe the relationship between gambling and such variables as age, gender, and ethnicity. Overall, an increase occurred in the number of people who reported having ever gambled, from 86.4% in 1996 to 92.5% in 1998. From 1996 to 1998, respondents’ reports of their past month gambling showed that certain forms of gambling (e.g., playing cards and betting on animals for money) decreased, while other forms of gambling either remained unchanged or increased in frequency (e.g., sports and investment gambling). The relationship of gender and age to gambling was also examined. Survey results indicated that while males and females reported many similar gambling habits, there are gender differences, particularly with regard to investment gambling. Specifically, females show a greater increase in investment gambling from 1996 to 1998, than do males. Overall results indicate a small positive correlation between age and dollar amount spent on gambling in the past month. In addition, ethnicity and age-specific patterns for certain forms of gambling are described.