Back to Annual Meeting Page		American Public Health Association 133rd Annual Meeting & Exposition December 10-14, 2005 Philadelphia, PA

Abstract #109560

Mary-Margaret Driskell, MPH, Leanne Mauriello, PhD, and Sara S. Johnson, PhD. Pro-Change Behavior Systems, Inc., P.O. Box 755, West Kingston, RI 02892, 404-375-9937, mmdriskell@prochange.com

Limiting sedentary behavior, particularly TV time, is advocated as an essential element of interventions that address the obesity epidemic among children and adolescents. As part of the development of a Transtheoretical Model (TTM) based multiple behavior obesity prevention intervention, measures of stage of change, decisional balance (pros and cons), and self-efficacy (confidence) for limiting TV time were developed. A nationally representative sample of 422 students in grades 9-12 (60% Caucasian, 53% female) completed in-class surveys assessing the TTM constructs. Almost half of students (48.5%) reported that they watch more than 2 hours of TV daily, and were classified into pre-action stages based on their readiness to limit their TV time to 2 hours or less per day. Exploratory and confirmatory analyses showed that, for decisional balance, a 2-factor correlated model with 4 Pros and 4 Cons best fit the data (Χ²(19)=75.15, CFI=.90). For confidence, a 1-factor 6-item model fit best (Χ²(9)=19.89, CFI=.98). Internal consistency for these measures ranged from .76 to .88. Examining the measures across the stages of change demonstrated construct validity. The Pros (F(4,349)=10.12, p<.001) and confidence (F(4,358)=26.05, p<.001) measures showed significant differences across the stages; in general, the scores in Precontemplation were lower than those in the later stages. Overall, the patterns of the newly developed measures across the stages support their validity and the applicability of the TTM to this behavior. These valid, reliable measures will enable researchers to adequately assess and provide appropriately tailored feedback to students as part of population-based obesity prevention interventions.

Learning Objectives: Participants will be able to

(
• Describe the application of the Transtheoretical Model to adolescent obesity prevention; (
• Discuss the association between stage of change and other Transtheoretical Model constructs for limiting TV time; and (
• Recognize the importance of tailoring obesity prevention interventions for adolescents.

Keywords: Obesity, Adolescent Health

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

I wish to disclose that I have NO financial interests or other relationship with the manufactures of commercial products, suppliers of commercial services or commercial supporters.

Recorded presentation