Online Tailored Interventions & Relational Agents for Exercise and Sun Protection
Condition: Sedentary; Skin Cancer
MeSH terms: Skin Neoplasms
Study type: Interventional

Summary: 
      This study targets two major risk factors for cancer; is designed to treat the behaviors on a
      population basis, using proactive recruitment strategies; intervenes on multiple behaviors
      simultaneously, thereby producing greater impacts for cancer prevention; utilizes one of the
      most promising approaches to low cost population based interventions for health-related
      behavior change, namely the internet; and develops and tests a promising new approach to
      increasing the utilization and effectiveness of internet-based interventions, relational
      agents. The primary aims are: (1) To develop and assess the effectiveness of a tailored
      internet intervention on a national sample; (2) To develop and assess the effectiveness of
      the internet intervention enhanced by a relational agent; and (3) To determine if the
      intervention with the relational agent can outperform the regular tailored internet
      intervention.
    

Detailed description: 
      The overarching goal of this research project is to revise and enhance a multimedia
      computer-based multiple risk factor intervention for cancer prevention, using the internet to
      reach a general population. Two innovative, individualized, easily disseminated, low-cost,
      and interactive interventions, both for multiple behaviors (sun protection and exercise
      adoption), will be developed and evaluated in comparison to a control condition. The first
      intervention involves adapting our effective multimedia expert system interventions to the
      internet environment. The second intervention builds on the first with the additional
      inclusion of a Relational Agent, a recently developed computer-based approach to establishing
      a personal relationship typically missing on internet sites. Both systems will employ the
      same theoretical model of behavior change, the Transtheoretical Model, as the deep knowledge,
      and all systems will employ empirically based decision rules. The design is a 3 Group
      (Control, Internet, Internet plus Relational Agent) x 3 Occasions (0, 12, 24 • Months) with
      intervention occurring during the first 12 months. A representative national sample of 1639
      individuals at risk for both behaviors will be recruited. The primary aims are: (1) To
      develop and assess the effectiveness of a tailored internet intervention on a national
      sample; (2) To develop and assess the effectiveness of the internet intervention enhanced by
      a relational agent; and (3) To determine if the intervention with the relational agent can
      outperform the regular tailored internet intervention. The secondary aims are: (1) To
      determine if the two interventions are differentially effective with each behavior and with
      different subgroups, and (2) To determine if the relational agent intervention is utilized
      more often for increasing exercise than for sun protection. This study targets two major risk
      factors for cancer; is designed to treat the behaviors on a population basis, using proactive
      recruitment strategies; intervenes on multiple behaviors simultaneously, thereby producing
      greater impacts for cancer prevention; utilizes one of the most promising approaches to low
      cost population based interventions for health-related behavior change, namely the internet;
      and develops and tests a promising new approach to increasing the utilization and
      effectiveness of internet-based interventions, relational agents.
    

Intervention name(s): Tailored Internet Communication with Relational Agent; Tailored Internet Communications
Intervention type(s): Other; Other
Intervention description(s): The Tailored Internet Intervention will include a "relational agent" component, which is an animated conversational agent that builds a working relationship with subjects over time and uses this alliance to boost intervention effectiveness and retention to the Tailored Internet Communications web site.; Best practices for TTM tailored communications with two types of feedback: normative - compared to peers and ipsative - self compared to previous assessment.
Allocation: Randomized
Intervention model: Factorial Assignment
Masking: Single (Investigator)
Primary purpose: Prevention