Process Evaluation and Investigation of Cultural Adaptations for an Online Parent-Based Intervention Using a...

Area of Science:

• Public Health
• Digital Health Interventions
• Parenting Interventions

Background:

• Limited research exists on the acceptability and adaptation of alcohol interventions for diverse populations.
• Parent-based interventions (PBIs) are crucial for addressing adolescent alcohol use.
• Web-app delivery offers a scalable platform for disseminating PBIs.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess participant responsiveness and implementation quality of FITSTART+, a web-app PBI for US parents of first-year college students.
• To gather feedback on adapting FITSTART+ for international parents and diverse cultural contexts.
• To identify areas for improvement in web-delivered PBIs for alcohol prevention.

Main Methods:

• US parents (N=109) of first-year college students completed surveys on FITSTART+ responsiveness and quality.
• Non-US parents (N=44) of adolescents (13-19) participated in focus groups to discuss app adaptation.
• Qualitative feedback explored cultural relevance and applicability for international contexts.

Main Results:

• US parents reported high intervention quality and responsiveness to FITSTART+ content.
• A subset of US parents did not engage with critical alcohol-related parenting resources.
• International parents provided diverse suggestions for cultural adaptation, highlighting context-specific needs.

Conclusions:

• FITSTART+ demonstrates potential as a high-quality, responsive web-app PBI for US parents.
• Underutilization of specific resources indicates a need for targeted engagement strategies.
• Cultural adaptation is essential for the global scalability and effectiveness of web-delivered PBIs.