The effectiveness of web-based interventions to promote health behaviour change in adolescents: a systematic review

• Type: Article in International Scientific Journal
• Date: 2022

Authors

Sousa, Daniela de (Author) Other; Fogel, Adriana (Author) Other; Azevedo, José (Author) FLUP; Padrão, Patrícia (Author) FCNAUP

Journal

Title: Nutrients

Vol. 14 No. 6

ISSN: 2072-6643

Publisher: MDPI

Indexing

ISI Web of Knowledge - 6 Citations

Scopus - 10 Citations

Worldcat OCLC

ProQuest

SHERPA/RoMEO

Google Scholar

EBSCO

DOAJ

Pubmed / Medline

Scientific classification

CORDIS: Health sciences

FOS: Medical and Health sciences

Other information

Authenticus ID: P-00W-B0E

DOI: 10.3390/nu14061258

Abstract (EN): Although web-based interventions are attractive to researchers and users, the evidence about their effectiveness in the promotion of health behaviour change is still limited. Our aim was to review the effectiveness of web-based interventions used in health behavioural change in adolescents regarding physical activity, eating habits, tobacco and alcohol use, sexual behaviour, and quality of sleep. Studies published from 2016 till the search was run (May-to-June 2021) were included if they were experimental or quasi-experimental studies, pre-post-test studies, clinical trials, or randomized controlled trials evaluating the effectiveness of web-based intervention in promoting behaviour change in adolescents regarding those health behaviours. The risk of bias assessment was performed by using the Effective Public Health Practice Project (EPHPP)-Quality Assessment Tool for Quantitative Studies. Fourteen studies were included. Most were in a school setting, non-probabilistic and relatively small samples. All had a short length of follow-up and were theory driven. Thirteen showed significant positive findings to support web-based interventions' effectiveness in promoting health behaviour change among adolescents but were classified as low evidence quality. Although this review shows that web-based interventions may contribute to health behaviour change among adolescents, these findings rely on low-quality evidence, so it is urgent to test these interventions in larger controlled trials with long-term maintenance.

Language: English

Type (Professor's evaluation): Scientific

No. of pages: 24