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Exploring Refinements in Targeted Behavioral Medicine Intervention to Advance Public Health

  • Original Article
  • Published:
Annals of Behavioral Medicine

Abstract

Background

Similar to other fields, a targeted behavioral medicine perspective can aid decision-making related to participant–intervention matching.

Purpose

To present one potentially useful definition of intervention targeting activity; describe potential targeting domains of particular relevance to behavioral medicine; discuss different statistical approaches to aid the targeted intervention development process; and discuss the challenges and opportunities accompanying the incorporation of targeted intervention development methods into behavioral randomized clinical trial (RCT) research.

Methods

Drawing from recent conceptual work by the MacArthur group and other scientists in the field, methods and approaches to undertaking moderator analysis are discussed.

Results

Examples of moderator analyses are provided which reflect the different statistical methods and variable domains that may serve as moderators of intervention success.

Conclusions

The recommended exploratory work can help to make the most efficient use of RCTs to identify the best paths for subsequent RCT development in a resource-constrained era.

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Acknowledgments

This work was funded in part by Public Health Service Grant #R01AG021010 from the National Institute on Aging awarded to Dr. King. The views expressed in this paper represent those of the authors and not of the National Cancer Institute.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Stanford Prevention Research Center, Department of Medicine and Department of Health Research & Policy, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA, 94305, USA

    Abby C. King Ph.D. & David F. Ahn Ph.D.

  2. Division of Cancer Control and Population Sciences, Behavioral Research Program, Health Promotion Research Branch, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA

    Audie A. Atienza Ph.D.

  3. Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Science, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA, 94305, USA

    Helena C. Kraemer Ph.D.

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  1. Abby C. King Ph.D.
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  2. David F. Ahn Ph.D.
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  3. Audie A. Atienza Ph.D.
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  4. Helena C. Kraemer Ph.D.
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Correspondence to Abby C. King Ph.D..

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King, A.C., Ahn, D.F., Atienza, A.A. et al. Exploring Refinements in Targeted Behavioral Medicine Intervention to Advance Public Health. ann. behav. med. 35, 251–260 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12160-008-9032-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12160-008-9032-0

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