title: Evaluating the ParticipACTION "Think Again" Campaign.
abstract: Introduction ParticipACTION's 2011 "Think Again" campaign aimed to draw parents', and specifically mothers', attention to the amount of physical activity (PA) their children do relative to the national guidelines (physical activity guidelines [PAG]). Purpose To evaluate ParticipACTION's "Think Again" campaign in the context of the hierarchy of effects model. Methods Data were drawn from "Think Again" campaign evaluations conducted among two cohorts of parents with children ages 5 to 11 years (3 months postcampaign launch [T1], n = 702; 15 months postlaunch [T2], n = 670). Results At T2, campaign awareness was weakly associated with parents agreeing that their children were not active enough (p = .01, d = .18). Parents who were aware of the campaign showed greater knowledge of PAG (ps < .01, ϕs > .14), had higher outcome expectations about their children engaging in PA (p < .01, d = .16), had stronger intentions to help their child meet the guidelines (p < .01, d = .18), and engaged in more parental support behaviors (p < .001, d = .31) as compared with parents who were not aware. At T1, parents aware of the campaign had greater perceived behavioral control (PBC) to influence their child's PA participation (p < .01, d = .22), whereas parents not aware of the campaign had greater PBC to find practical ways to help their child be active (p < .01, d = .26). Parental awareness of the campaign was not associated with children meeting the PAG at either time point (ps > .05). Conclusions The campaign appeared marginally effective for increasing parental knowledge of PAG and for creating realistic awareness of children's PA levels. Additional intervention strategies are needed to produce larger effects and to change parental behavior.
authors.affiliation: University of British Columbia, Kelowna, British Columbia, Columbia heather.gainforth@ubc.ca.
authors.forename: Heather L
authors.initials: HL
authors.lastname: Gainforth
authors.affiliation: Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada Health Promotion, Chronic Disease and Injury Prevention, Public Health Ontario, Ontario, Canada.
authors.forename: Jocelyn W
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Jarvis
authors.affiliation: University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.
authors.forename: Tanya R
authors.initials: TR
authors.lastname: Berry
authors.affiliation: ParticipACTION, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
authors.forename: Tala
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Chulak-Bozzer
authors.affiliation: University of Lethbridge, Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada.
authors.forename: Sameer
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Deshpande
authors.affiliation: University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
authors.forename: Guy
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Faulkner
authors.affiliation: University of Victoria, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada.
authors.forename: Ryan E
authors.initials: RE
authors.lastname: Rhodes
authors.affiliation: University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.
authors.forename: John C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Spence
authors.affiliation: CHEO Research Institute, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
authors.forename: Mark S
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Tremblay
authors.affiliation: Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada.
authors.forename: Amy E
authors.initials: AE
authors.lastname: Latimer-Cheung
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001364:Awareness; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D015331:Cohort Studies; D015444:Exercise / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006293:Health Promotion / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009035:Mothers; D010287:Parent-Child Relations; D010290:Parents / Q000523:psychology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
keywords: ParticipACTION; hierarchy of effects; mass media; parents; physical activity