title: Effects of incentives in web-based prevention for adolescents: Results of an exploratory field study.
abstract: This study examines if the willingness of adolescents to participate in a web-based prevention program can be increased by providing an incentive for participation. Eighth graders (n = 166) were instructed to work on an online stress-prevention program via the internet from home. A subgroup of n = 80 subjects from three school classes were told that they would take part in a raffle if they completed the program. The remaining n = 86 participants (again three classes) served as a control group. The school classes were randomly allocated to the training conditions. During the 8-week intervention period, compliance rates were recorded by means of an online tracking system. In addition, self-reported compliance and training acceptance were assessed. The application of an incentive had considerable effects on retention rates, on training acceptance and self-assessed effectiveness of the intervention. Adolescents in the 'incentive condition' completed three times as many program lessons as control subjects did, and-as their self-reports suggest-they worked as attentively. Validity of self-reported compliance was higher among participants of the incentive group and they reported significantly higher program acceptance. As a consequence, the application of incentive systems is recommended for future implementation of web-based prevention programs targeting adolescents.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Bielefeld, Germany. mirko@fridrici.de
authors.forename: Mirko
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Fridrici
authors.forename: Arnold
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Lohaus
authors.forename: Christian
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Glass
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D005260:Female; D005858:Germany; D006293:Health Promotion / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D020407:Internet; D008297:Male; D009042:Motivation; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000517:prevention & control