Get in the GROOVE! (GROOVE)

Get in the GROOVE (Girls Realizing Options Through OpenSim Virtual Experiences)!

Get in the GROOVE! will address health disparities impacting underserved youth. Given the alarming rate of overweight and obesity among high school minority youth, the project will focus on middle school with the primary aim of reaching middle school girls before unhealthy habits become firmly ingrained.

The primary aim of the research project is to investigate the impact of two types of summer science enrichment programs (that focus on health and wellness) on middle school girls' self-efficacy, health knowledge, health behaviors, and interest in science. One program will present the curriculum by conventional means (GROOVE condition) while the second program will include the addition of a closed 3-D virtual world environment to reinforce concepts (GROOVE+ condition).

The following hypotheses will be tested in the randomized controlled trial:

1. Upon completion of the summer program, the enhanced summer program GROOVE+ relative to the conventional summer program will result in a) increased self-efficacy for adopting healthy behavior change; b) increased health knowledge; c) enhanced science self-concept; and e) more positive behavior change (e.g., improved nutrition, increased physical activity).
2. At follow-up, the enhanced summer program relative to the conventional summer program will result in further and/or sustained improvements in positive behavior health behaviors and attitudes.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Prevention Harmful Effects; Health Behavior
• Intervention / Treatment: Other: Summer science wellness program emphasizing health education pertaining to nutrition, physical activity, and healthy lifestyle.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 375
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• United States
  • Florida
    • Miami, Florida, United States, 33129
      • Patricia and Phillip Museum of Science
  • New York
    • Queens, New York, United States, 11368
      • New York Hall of Science

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 11 years to 14 years (Child)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No
• Genders Eligible for Study: Female

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Girls 11-14 years old

Exclusion Criteria:

Girls are excluded if they are:

• not fluent in English
• enrolled in a special education program at school (other than gifted program) that would interfere with ability to master the material
• have a condition that would preclude their participation in the dance activities of the summer program

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Prevention
• Allocation: Randomized
• Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
• Masking: Single

Number of Arms

2

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Active Comparator: Summer wellness program - nutrition & physical activity; The GROOVE condition uses conventional means to address health-related activities and content within the context of a science museum summer enrichment program. The emphasis is on nutrition, physical activity, and healthy lifestyle.	Other: Summer science wellness program emphasizing health education pertaining to nutrition, physical activity, and healthy lifestyle.; The enhanced virtual world education (GROOVE+) will be compared to conventional approach (GROOVE). Each program is Monday-Friday, 9:30-3:30, for 3 weeks in the summer.
Experimental: Summer program plus virtual world technology; The GROOVE+ condition enhances the conventional approach to address health-related activities and content within the context of a science museum summer enrichment program by employing technology and a 3-D virtual world as a key educational strategy. The emphasis is on nutrition, physical activity, and healthy lifestyle.	Other: Summer science wellness program emphasizing health education pertaining to nutrition, physical activity, and healthy lifestyle.; The enhanced virtual world education (GROOVE+) will be compared to conventional approach (GROOVE). Each program is Monday-Friday, 9:30-3:30, for 3 weeks in the summer.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
change in Health Knowledge	Multiple choice questionnaire used to assess participants' health knowledge pertaining to nutrition, physical activity, weight, and lifestyle. The measure will test for the content of the summer program.	pretreatment ( Day1-2) and post treatment (end of 3 week summer session)

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
change in Self-efficacy - physical activity	The physical activity self-efficacy support seeking and barriers subscales developed by Saunders, Pate, Felton et al.'s (1997, Preventive Medicine, vol. 26, 241-247) will be used.	pretreatment ( Day1-2) and post treatment (end of 3 week summer session)
change in Self-efficacy - fruit and vegetable consumption	The food-related self-efficacy scale items comes from the work of Reynolds et al. ( 2002, Health Psychology, vol. 21, 51-60) and addresses fruit and vegetable consumption.	pretreatment ( Day1-2) and post treatment (end of 3 week summer session)
change in Self-efficacy - science	Science self-efficacy assesses confidence to master the GROOVE program science components.	pretreatment ( Day1-2) and post treatment (end of 3 week summer session)

Other Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
change in health behaviors	eating habits and physical activity habits	pretreatment ( Day1-2), post treatment (end of 3 week summer session), and up to a year follow-up
change in Science attitudes and aspirations	This measure consist of items drawn from Louise Archer et al.'s (2013, Journal of Education Policy, 1-28, http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/02680939.2013.790079#.UbDmUuARtm1) ASPIRES project. Participants are asked to make ratings reflecting science attitudes, aspirations, and interests.	pretreatment ( Day1-2), post treatment (end of 3 week summer session), and up to a year follow-up
change in Family and participant habits	Assesses family and participant activities and habits and ratings of participant health and interests.	pretreatment ( Day1-2), post treatment (end of 3 week summer session - for participant only), and up to a year follow-up
change in Pedometer activity	Pedometers will be used daily to assess physical activity.	Participants will be given a pedometer to wear during the 3 week summer program period
Change in eating behavior	The Eating Behavior Scale consists of 28 items; all 20 items from Fahlman et al. (2013, American Journal of Health Education, vol. 43, 165-171) and 8 additional items from the 2009-2010 School Physical Activity and Nutrition Project (https://sph.uth.edu/content/uploads/2011/12/SPAN_2009-10_8th-11thStudentSurveyEnglish_FINAL.pdf). The measure asks participants to indicate how many times they consumed an item on the day before (e.g., fruits, vegetables, candy, etc). A subsample of students will complete up to three 24-hour dietary recalls to examine the validity of the self-report items in the study's participants.	Up to 4 assessments will occur over the 3 week program.
change in Presence	The presence scale consists of 11 items influenced by the work of Fox et al. (2009, Presence Vol. 18,294-303) will be completed by the participants in the GROOVE+ condition. The scale assesses the extent to which the participant feels present in the 3-D virtual world.	up to 3 times during the GROOVE+ condition

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: University of Miami
• Collaborators: National Institutes of Health (NIH); Patricia and Phillip Frost Museum of Science (formerly known as Miami Science Museum); New York Hall of Science
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Patrice G Saab, Ph.D., University of Miami

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start: May 1, 2013
• Primary Completion (Actual): September 1, 2016
• Study Completion (Actual): January 1, 2017

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: June 30, 2014
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: July 10, 2014
• First Posted (Estimate): July 11, 2014

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): February 23, 2017
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: February 20, 2017
• Last Verified: February 1, 2017

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Other Study ID Numbers: 20111081; 5R25OD010525 (U.S. NIH Grant/Contract)

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No
• product manufactured in and exported from the U.S.: No