Other Titles

Cognitive-behavioral skills building to promote healthy lifestyle behavior change in adolescents and their parents [Symposium]

Abstract

The purpose of this presentation is to delineate some practical factors inherent in conducting successful healthy lifestyle intervention research within school settings with adolescents. Implementation of the Creating Opportunities for Personal Empowerment (COPE) Healthy Lifestyles TEEN (Thinking, Emotions, Exercise and Nutrition) Program was challenged by a number of delivery and setting issues. The development of the COPE intervention components and delivery methodology are guided by Cognitive Theory (Beck, 1979) which postulates that cognitive distortions, learned misconceptions and/or exposure to unhealthy environments can negatively influence an individual's emotions and behaviors. Utilizing cognitive behavior skills building techniques, behavior change is supported by increasing the adolescent's evaluation of his or her own emotional responses and behavior and by correcting misconceptions to help guide the adolescent to choose more adaptive, realistic attitudes in response to negative thoughts, emotions and behavior. Therefore, it is vital that intervention researchers examine how the critical inputs of the planned intervention and theorized mediating processes are linked to selected measured outcomes and implementation processes in order to be able to explain the study's results (Braden, 1998). Major points for discussion will focus on implementation challenges that center on recruitment and training of high school teachers to deliver the intervention with fidelity; presence of the problems of interest in the participants at baseline (i.e., overweight and obesity; depressive and anxiety symptomology); the emphasis on intervention components that facilitate negative schema change (i.e., homework completion; problem solving utilizing case scenarios; creation of positive self-statements); the creation and delivery of the comparison group, Health for Teens, attention control intervention; techniques utilized to increase parent involvement; and adaptation of the study team to school and health class scheduling, semester breaks and obtaining student information from the school districts (i.e., attendance, grades, and number of in or out of "house" suspensions). Approaches found to be successful in resolving some of the dilemmas and challenges encountered will be discussed.

Description

43rd Biennial Convention 2015 Theme: Serve Locally, Transform Regionally, Lead Globally.

Author Details

Diana L. Jacobson, RN, PNP-BC

Sigma Membership

Beta Upsilon

Type

Presentation

Format Type

Text-based Document

Study Design/Type

Randomized Controlled Trial

Research Approach

N/A

Keywords:

Intervention Research, Adolescents, Methodology

Conference Name

43rd Biennial Convention

Conference Host

Sigma Theta Tau International

Conference Location

Las Vegas, Nevada, USA

Conference Year

2015

Rights Holder

All rights reserved by the author(s) and/or publisher(s) listed in this item record unless relinquished in whole or part by a rights notation or a Creative Commons License present in this item record.

All permission requests should be directed accordingly and not to the Sigma Repository.

All submitting authors or publishers have affirmed that when using material in their work where they do not own copyright, they have obtained permission of the copyright holder prior to submission and the rights holder has been acknowledged as necessary.

Acquisition

Proxy-submission

Download

Share

COinS
 

"Real world" adolescent intervention research meets randomized controlled trial methodology: Lessons learned

Las Vegas, Nevada, USA

The purpose of this presentation is to delineate some practical factors inherent in conducting successful healthy lifestyle intervention research within school settings with adolescents. Implementation of the Creating Opportunities for Personal Empowerment (COPE) Healthy Lifestyles TEEN (Thinking, Emotions, Exercise and Nutrition) Program was challenged by a number of delivery and setting issues. The development of the COPE intervention components and delivery methodology are guided by Cognitive Theory (Beck, 1979) which postulates that cognitive distortions, learned misconceptions and/or exposure to unhealthy environments can negatively influence an individual's emotions and behaviors. Utilizing cognitive behavior skills building techniques, behavior change is supported by increasing the adolescent's evaluation of his or her own emotional responses and behavior and by correcting misconceptions to help guide the adolescent to choose more adaptive, realistic attitudes in response to negative thoughts, emotions and behavior. Therefore, it is vital that intervention researchers examine how the critical inputs of the planned intervention and theorized mediating processes are linked to selected measured outcomes and implementation processes in order to be able to explain the study's results (Braden, 1998). Major points for discussion will focus on implementation challenges that center on recruitment and training of high school teachers to deliver the intervention with fidelity; presence of the problems of interest in the participants at baseline (i.e., overweight and obesity; depressive and anxiety symptomology); the emphasis on intervention components that facilitate negative schema change (i.e., homework completion; problem solving utilizing case scenarios; creation of positive self-statements); the creation and delivery of the comparison group, Health for Teens, attention control intervention; techniques utilized to increase parent involvement; and adaptation of the study team to school and health class scheduling, semester breaks and obtaining student information from the school districts (i.e., attendance, grades, and number of in or out of "house" suspensions). Approaches found to be successful in resolving some of the dilemmas and challenges encountered will be discussed.