The National Cancer Institute developed the Family Life, Activity, Sun, Health, and Eating (FLASHE) Study to examine multiple cancer preventive behaviors within parent–adolescent dyads. The purpose ...of creating FLASHE was to enable the examination of physical activity, diet, and other cancer preventive behaviors and potential correlates among parent–adolescent dyads. FLASHE surveys were developed from a process involving literature reviews, scientific input from experts in the field, cognitive testing, and usability testing. This cross-sectional, web-based study of parents and their adolescent children (aged 12–17 years) was administered between April and October 2014. The nationwide sample consisted of 1,573 parent–adolescent dyads (1,699 parents and 1,581 adolescents) who returned all FLASHE surveys. FLASHE assessed parent and adolescent reports of several intrapersonal and interpersonal domains (including psychosocial variables, parenting, and the community and home environments). On a subset of example FLASHE items across these domains, responses of parents and adolescents within the same dyads were positively and significantly correlated ( r =0.32–0.63). Analyses were run in 2015–2016. FLASHE data present multiple opportunities for studying research questions among individuals or dyads, including the ability to examine similarity between parents and adolescents on many constructs relevant to cancer preventive behaviors. FLASHE data are publicly available for researchers and practitioners to help advance research on cancer preventive health behaviors.
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.
Introduction Autonomous motivation (motivation to engage in a behavior because of personal choice, interest, or value) is often associated with health behaviors. The present study contributes to ...research on motivation and eating behaviors by examining (1) how autonomous motivation is correlated within parent–adolescent dyads and (2) whether parent- and adolescent-reported autonomous motivation predicts the parent–adolescent correlation in fruit and vegetable (FV) intake frequency. Methods Data were drawn from the Family Life, Activity, Sun, Health, and Eating (FLASHE) Study, a cross-sectional U.S. survey of parent–adolescent dyads led by the National Cancer Institute and fielded between April and October 2014. In 2016, data were analyzed from dyads who had responses on a six-item self-report measure of daily frequency of FV consumption and a two-item self-report measure of autonomous motivation for consuming FVs. Results Parents’ and adolescents’ reports of autonomous motivation and FV intake frequency were positively correlated. Both parents’ and adolescents’ autonomous motivation predicted higher levels of their own FV intake frequency and that of their dyad partner ( p -values ≤0.001). These effects of autonomous motivation explained 22.6% of the parent–adolescent correlation in FV intake frequency. Actor effects (one’s motivation predicting their own FV intake frequency) were stronger than partner effects (one’s motivation predicting their partner’s FV intake frequency). Conclusions Parent–adolescent similarity in autonomous motivation for healthy eating may contribute to similarity in eating behaviors. Future research should further examine how individual-level health behavior correlates influence health behaviors within dyads.
Introduction The National Cancer Institute’s 2014 Family Life, Activity, Sun, Health, and Eating Study utilized a 27-item Dietary Screener tailored to adolescent eating patterns that assessed the ...frequency of intake of several foods and beverages in parent–adolescent dyads. This study estimated intake of fruits and vegetables (FVs), dairy, added sugars, and whole grains for screener respondents using existing, nationally representative, 24-hour dietary recall data. Methods Dietary Screener items were converted from frequency responses to daily intake. Intake (dependent variable) was estimated using regression coefficients and portion sizes of foods and beverages (independent variables) generated from the 2003–2006 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2-day 24-hour recall data set. Means (SDs) were used to examine daily dietary factor intake among parent and adolescents. Analysis was conducted in 2015–2016. The analytic sample consisted of 1,732 parents (aged ≥18 years) and their adolescent aged 12–17 years ( n =1,632). Results Male parents consumed 3.6 cups of FVs, 1.8 cups of dairy, 22.6 teaspoons of added sugars, and 2.1 ounces of whole grains daily; female parents consumed 2.8 cups of FVs, 1.3 cups of dairy, 14.8 teaspoons of added sugars, and 1.4 ounces of whole grains daily. Male adolescents consumed 2.2 cups of FVs, 1.9 cups of dairy, 17.9 teaspoons of added sugars, and 1.0 ounces of whole grains daily; female adolescents consumed 2.2 cups FVs, 1.6 cups of dairy, 14.2 teaspoons of added sugars, and 0.8 ounces of whole grains daily. Conclusions Utilizing a dietary screener tailored to adolescent eating patterns in parent–adolescent dyads provided estimated dietary factor intake, underscoring existing 24-hour dietary recall data can be used to calibrate dietary habits.
Introduction Less than a third of U.S. adolescents meet federal physical activity (PA) guidelines. Understanding correlates of PA at multiple levels of the Social Ecological Model could improve PA ...interventions among youth. This study examines (1) associations between factors across the Social Ecological Model including psychosocial factors, perceived neighborhood physical and social environment characteristics, and adolescent moderate to vigorous PA (MVPA) and (2) whether perceived neighborhood characteristics moderate associations between psychosocial factors and MVPA. Methods A national sample of adolescents (aged 12–17 years) in the 2014 Family Life, Activity, Sun, Health, and Eating Study was used to examine associations between psychosocial characteristics, perceived neighborhood social and physical characteristics, and self-reported weekly minutes of MVPA. Analyses were conducted in 2015. Interaction terms between psychosocial and neighborhood variables were added to multiple linear regression models to examine moderation hypotheses. Results Significant two-way interactions revealed that neighborhoods with features perceived as supportive of PA strengthened several psychosocial–MVPA associations. The positive associations between MVPA and friend norms, friend support, and attitudes were strengthened for adolescents living in neighborhoods with high versus low PA resource availability (all p <0.05). Furthermore, the association between controlled and autonomous motivation and MVPA was strengthened under conditions of shops/stores near (versus distant from) adolescents’ homes ( p <0.05). Conclusions The association between some psychosocial factors and adolescent MVPA may be environment dependent. Neighborhood physical and social environments supportive of PA are important to consider when developing targeted PA interventions and may strengthen the association between psychosocial-level factors and adolescent MVPA.
Introduction This study describes the calibration and validity of the Youth Activity Profile (YAP) for use in the National Cancer Institute’s Family Life, Activity, Sun, Health, and Eating (FLASHE) ...study. The calibrated YAP was designed to estimate minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA) and sedentary behavior (SB). Methods The YAP was calibrated/validated in adolescents (aged 12–17 years) using cross-sectional data from the FLASHE study. Participants wore a GT3X+ ActiGraph on the dominant wrist for 7 days and then completed the YAP. Calibration was conducted for school ( n =118); out of school ( n =119); weekend ( n =61); and SB ( n =116) subsections of the YAP and by regressing percentage time in MVPA/SB (%MVPA/%SB) on each respective YAP subsection score, age, and the interaction between these two. The final algorithms were applied to independent samples ( n =39–51) to examine validity (median absolute percentage error, equivalence testing). Results The final algorithms explained 15% (school); 16% (out of school); and 12% (weekend) of the variability in GT3X+ %MVPA and 7% of the variability in GT3X+ %SB. The calibrated algorithms were applied to independent samples and predicted GT3X+ minutes of MVPA/SB, with median absolute percentage error values ranging from 12.5% (SB section) to 32.5% (weekend section). Predicted values obtained from the YAP were within 10%–20% of those produced by the GT3X+. Conclusions The YAP-predicted minutes of MVPA/SB resulted in similar group estimates obtained from an objective measure. The YAP offers good utility for large-scale research projects to characterize PA/SB levels among groups of youth.
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