Abstract
Despite strong evidence that family programs are effective in preventing adolescent substance use, recruiting parents to participate in such programs remains a persistent challenge. This study explored the feasibility of using Facebook to recruit parents of middle school students to a self-directed family program to prevent adolescent drug use. The study used paid Facebook ads aiming to recruit 100 parents in Washington and Colorado using marijuana- or parenting-focused messages. All ad-recruited parents were also invited to refer others in order to compare Facebook recruitment to web-based respondent-driven sampling. Despite offering a $15 incentive for each successfully referred participant, the majority of the screened (70.4%) and eligible (65.1%) parents were recruited through Facebook ads. Yet, eligibility and consent rates were significantly higher among referred (76.6 and 57.3%, respectively) than Facebook-recruited parents (60.0 and 36.6%, respectively). Click-through rates on Facebook were higher for marijuana-focused than parenting-focused ads (0.72 and 0.65%, respectively). The final sample (54% Facebook-recruited) consisted of 103 demographically homogeneous parents (female, educated, non-Hispanic White, and mostly from Washington). Although Facebook was an effective and efficient method to recruit parents to a study with equal to better cost-effectiveness than traditional recruitment strategies, the promise of social media to reach a diverse population was not realized. Additional approaches to Facebook recruitment are needed to reach diverse samples in real-world settings and increase public health impact of family programs.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Akard, T. F., Wray, S., & Gilmer, M. J. (2015). Facebook advertisements recruit parents of children with cancer for an online survey of web-based research preferences. Cancer Nursing, 38, 155–161.
Akl, E. A., Oxman, A. D., Herrin, J., Vist, G. E., Terrenato, I., Sperati, F., . . . Schunemann, H. (2011). Framing of health information messages. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, CD006777.
Alley, S., Jennings, C., Plotnikoff, R. C., & Vandelanotte, C. (2016). An evaluation of web- and print-based methods to attract people to a physical activity intervention. JMIR Research Protocols, 5, e94.
Anderson, M. (2015). Technology device ownership: 2015. http://www.pewinternet.org/2015/10/29/technology-device-ownership-2015
Arcia, A. (2014). Facebook advertisements for inexpensive participant recruitment among women in early pregnancy. Health Education & Behavior, 41, 237–241.
Axford, N., Lehtonen, M., Kaoukji, D., Tobin, K., & Berry, V. (2012). Engaging parents in parenting programs: Lessons from research and practice. Children and Youth Services Review, 34, 2061–2071.
Batterham, P. J. (2014). Recruitment of mental health survey participants using internet advertising: Content, characteristics and cost effectiveness. International Journal of Methods in Psychiatric Research, 23, 184–191.
Bauermeister, J. A., Zimmerman, M. A., Johns, M. M., Glowacki, P., Stoddard, S., & Volz, E. (2012). Innovative recruitment using online networks: Lessons learned from an online study of alcohol and other drug use utilizing a web-based, respondent-driven sampling webRDS strategy. Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs, 73, 834–838.
Bold, K. W., Hanrahan, T. H., O'Malley, S. S., & Fucito, L. M. (2016). Exploring the utility of web-based social media advertising to recruit adult heavy-drinking smokers for treatment. Journal of Medical Internet Research, 18, e107.
Brown, E. C., Catalano, R. F., Fleming, C. B., Haggerty, K. P., & Abbott, R. D. (2005). Adolescent substance use outcomes in the Raising Healthy Children project: a two-part latent growth curve analysis. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 73, 699–710.
Buller, D. B., Meenan, R., Severson, H., Halperin, A., Edwards, E., & Magnusson, B. (2012). Comparison of 4 recruiting strategies in a smoking cessation trial. American Journal of Health Behavior, 36, 577–588.
Carlini, B. H., Safioti, L., Rue, T. C., & Miles, L. (2015). Using Internet to recruit immigrants with language and culture barriers for tobacco and alcohol use screening: a study among Brazilians. Journal of Immigrant and Minority Health, 17, 553–560.
Carter-Harris, L., Bartlett Ellis, R., Warrick, A., & Rawl, S. (2016). Beyond traditional newspaper advertisement: Leveraging Facebook-targeted advertisement to recruit long-term smokers for research. Journal of Medical Internet Research, 18, e117.
Caspe, M., & Lopez, M. E. (2006). Lessons from family-strengthening interventions: Learning from evidence-based practice. Cambridge, MA: Harvard Family Research Project.
Chu, J. L., & Snider, C. E. (2013). Use of a social networking web site for recruiting Canadian youth for medical research. Journal of Adolescent Health, 52, 792–794.
Doty, J., & Dworkin, J. (2014). Parents of adolescents use of social networking sites. Computers in Human Behavior, 33, 349–355.
Duggan, M., & Smith, A. (2015). Parents and social media. http://www.pewinternet.org/2015/07/16/parents-and-social-media
Dworking, J., Walker, S., Connell, J., & Doty, J. (2012). Parenting 2.0 Summary Report: Parents’ Use of Technology and the Internet. Department of Family Social Science. Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota.
Epstein, M., Oesterle, S., Haggerty, K. P. (in preparation) “Effectiveness of Facebook groups to boost a parenting intervention.”
Fagan, A. A., Hanson, K., Hawkins, J. D., & Arthur, M. W. (2009). Translational research in action: Implementation of the Communities That Care prevention system in 12 communities. Journal of Community Psychology, 37, 809–829.
Fenner, Y., Garland, S. M., Moore, E. E., Jayasinghe, Y., Fletcher, A., Tabrizi, S. N., et al. (2012). Web-based recruiting for health research using a social networking site: An exploratory study. Journal of Medical Internet Research, 14, 214–227.
Gilligan, C., Kypri, K., & Bourke, J. (2014). Social networking versus facebook advertising to recruit survey respondents: A quasi-experimental study. JMIR Research Protocols, 3, e48.
Gorman-Smith, D., Tolan, P. H., Henry, D. B., & Leventhal, A. (2002). Predictors of participation in a family-focused preventive intervention for substance use. Psychology of Addictive Behaviors, 16(4 Suppl), S55–S64.
Graham, A. L., Fang, Y., Moreno, J. L., Streiff, S. L., Villegas, J., Munoz, R. F., et al. (2012). Online advertising to reach and recruit Latino smokers to an internet cessation program: Impact and costs. Journal of Medical Internet Research, 14, e116.
Greenwood, S., Perrin, A., & Duggan, M. (2016). Social media update 2016. Facebook usage and engagement is on the rise, while adoption of other platforms holds steady. http://www.pewinternet.org/2016/11/11/social-media-update-2016/
Haggerty, K. P., MacKenzie, E. P., Skinner, M. L., Harachi, T. W., & Catalano, R. F. (2006). Participation in “Parents Who Care”: Predicting program initiation and exposure in two different program formats. The Journal of Primary Prevention, 27, 47–65.
Haggerty, K. P., Skinner, M. L., MacKenzie, E. P., & Catalano, R. F. (2007). A randomized trial of Parents who Care effects on key outcomes at 24-month follow-up. Prevention Science, 8, 249–260.
Haggerty, K. P., McGlynn-Wright, A., & Klima, T. (2013). Promising parenting programs for reducing adolescent problem behaviors. Journal of Children's Services, 8, 229–243.
Harachi, T. W., Catalano, R. F., & Hawkins, J. D. (1997). Effective recruitment for parenting programs within ethnic minority communities. Child and Adolescent Social Work Journal, 14, 23–39.
Hawkins, J. D., & Weis, J. G. (1985). The social development model: an integrated approach to delinquency prevention. The Journal of Primary Prevention, 6, 73–97.
Heinrichs, N., Bertram, H., Kuschel, A., & Hahlweg, K. (2005). Parent recruitment and retention in a universal prevention program for child behavior and emotional problems: Barriers to research and program participation. Prevention Science, 6, 275–286.
King, D. B., O’Rourke, N., & DeLongis, A. (2014). Social media recruitment and online data collection. a beginners guide and best practices for accessing low-prevalence and hard-to-reach populations. Canadian Psychology/Psychologie Canadienne, 55, 240–249.
Kosterman, R., Bailey, J. A., Guttmannova, K., Jones, T. A., Eisenberg, N., Hill, K. G., & Hawkins, J. D. (2016). Marijuana legalization and parents’ attitudes, use, and parenting in Washington State. Journal of Adolescent Health, 59, 450–456.
Lafferty, N. T., & Manca, A. (2015). Perspectives on social media in and as research: a synthetic review. International Review of Psychiatry, 27, 85–96.
Lohse, B. (2013). Facebook is an effective strategy to recruit low-income women to online nutrition education. Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior, 45, 69–76.
Mason, W. A., Kosterman, R., Hawkins, J. D., Haggerty, K. P., & Spoth, R. L. (2003). Reducing adolescents' growth in substance use and delinquency: Randomized trial effects of a preventive parent-training intervention. Prevention Science, 4, 203–312.
Mason, W. A., Hanson, K., Fleming, C. B., Ringle, J. L., & Haggerty, K. P. (2015). Washington State recreational marijuana legalization: Parent and adolescent perceptions, knowledge, and discussions in a sample of low-income families. Substance Use and Misuse, 50, 541–545.
Meek, J., Lillehoj, C. J., Welsh, J., & Spoth, R. (2004). Rural community partnership recruitment for an evidence-based family-focused prevention program: the PROSPER Project. Rural Mental Health, 29, 23–28.
Morgan, A. J., Jorm, A. F., & Mackinnon, A. J. (2013). Internet-based recruitment to a depression prevention intervention: Lessons from the Mood Memos study. Journal of Medical Internet Research, 15(2), e31.
Office of Financial Management. (2015). Estimates of April 1 population by age, sex, race and Hispanic origin. http://www.ofm.wa.gov/pop/asr/default.asp
Park, J., Kosterman, R., Hawkins, J. D., Haggerty, K. P., Duncan, T. E., Duncan, S. C., & Spoth, R. (2000). Effects of the “Preparing for the Drug Free Years” curriculum on growth in alcohol use and risk for alcohol use in early adolescence. Prevention Science, 1, 125–138.
Pedersen, E. R., Helmuth, E. D., Marshall, G. N., Schell, T. L., PunKay, M., & Kurz, J. (2015). Using Facebook to recruit young adult veterans: Online mental health research. JMIR Research Protocols, 4, e63.
Perrin, A., & Duggan, M. (2015). Americans’ Internet Access: 2000–2015. Washington, D.C: Pew Research Center.
Perrino, T., Coatsworth, J. D., Briones, E., Pantin, H., & Szapocznik, J. (2001). Initial engagement in parent-centered preventive interventions: A family systems perspective. The Journal of Primary Prevention, 22, 21–44.
Prinz, R. J., & Sanders, M. R. (2007). Adopting a population-level approach to parenting and family support interventions. Clinical Psychology Review, 27, 739–749.
Rainie, L. (2015). Digital Divides 2015. http://www.pewinternet.org/2015/09/22/digital-divides-2015/
Rait, M. A., Prochaska, J. J., & Rubinstein, M. L. (2015). Recruitment of adolescents for a smoking study: Use of traditional strategies and social media. Translational Behavioral Medicine, 5, 254–259.
Ramo, D. E., & Prochaska, J. J. (2012). Broad reach and targeted recruitment using Facebook for an online survey of young adult substance use. Journal of Medical Internet Research, 14, 228–237.
Ramo, D. E., Hall, S. M., & Prochaska, J. J. (2010). Reaching young adult smokers through the internet: Comparison of three recruitment mechanisms. Nicotine and Tobacco Research, 12, 768–775.
Ramo, D. E., Rodriguez, T. M., Chavez, K., Sommer, M. J., & Prochaska, J. J. (2014). Facebook recruitment of young adult smokers for a cessation trial: Methods, metrics, and lessons learned. Internet Interventions, 1, 58–64.
Skinner, M. L., Haggerty, K. P., Casey-Goldstein, M., Thompson, R. W., Buddenberg, L., & Mason, W. A. (2016). Focus groups of parents and teens help develop messages to prevent early marijuana use in the context of legal retail sales. Substance Use and Misuse, 52 351-358.
Spoth, R., & Redmond, C. (2000). Research on family engagement in preventive interventions: Toward improved use of scientific findings in primary prevention practice. The Journal of Primary Prevention, 21, 267–284.
Spoth, R. L., Redmond, C., & Shin, C. (2001). Randomized trial of brief family interventions for general populations: Adolescent substance use outcomes 4 years following baseline. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 69, 627–642.
Statista (2015). Number of Facebook users in the United States from 2014 to 2021 (in millions). http://www.statista.com/statistics/408971/number-of-us-facebook-users/
Stormshak, E. A., & Dishion, T. J. (2009). A school-based, family-centered intervention to prevent substance use: The Family Check-Up. The American Journal of Drug and Alcohol Abuse, 35, 227–232.
Topolovec-Vranic, J., & Natarajan, K. (2016). The use of social media in recruitment for medical research studies: A scoping review. Journal of Medical Internet Research, 18, e286.
Wansink, B., & Pope, L. (2015). When do gain-framed health messages work better than fear appeals? Nutrition Reviews, 73, 4–11.
Washington State Department of Health. (2014a). Healthy Youth Survey 2014: Report of results. Statewide results, grade 6. http://www.askhys.net/library/2014/StateGr06.pdf
Washington State Department of Health. (2014b). Healthy Youth Survey 2014: Report of results. Statewide results, grade 8. http://www.askhys.net/library/2014/StateGr08.pdf
Yoo, C. Y. (2011). Interplay of message framing, keyword insertion and levels of product involvement in click-through of keyword search ads. International Journal of Advertising, 30, 399–424.
Acknowledgements
This research was supported by a grant (R21DA039466) from the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA). The funding organization had no role in the design and conduct of the study; collection, analysis, or preparation of data; or preparation, review, or approval of the manuscript. The content of this paper is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of NIDA.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Conflict of Interest
The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.
Informed Consent
Informed consent was obtained from all study participants. All procedures in this study were approved by and in accordance with the ethical standards of the University of Washington institutional review board and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.
Human and Animal Studies
This article does not contain any studies with animals performed by any of the authors.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Oesterle, S., Epstein, M., Haggerty, K.P. et al. Using Facebook to Recruit Parents to Participate in a Family Program to Prevent Teen Drug Use. Prev Sci 19, 559–569 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11121-017-0844-7
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11121-017-0844-7