A Skills-based RCT for Physical Activity Using Peer Mentors

This approach will train peer mentors to deliver a culturally appropriate intervention and provide social support that is critical for facilitating and sustaining health behavior change. The objective is to compare the efficacy of an innovative healthy lifestyle skills mentoring program (Mentored Planning to be Active [MBA]) to a teacher led program (PBA) for increasing physical activity in Appalachian high school teens. MBA emphasizes the social determinants of health by using a social networking approach that trains peer mentors to support targeted teens

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Obesity; Motor Activity; Health Behavior
• Intervention / Treatment: Behavioral: Mentoring to be Active with Accelerometers; Behavioral: Planning to be Active with Accelerometers

Detailed Description

The goal of this study is to positively impact the physical activity patterns to improve health outcomes including the high rates of obesity in Appalachian teens. The approach will train peer mentors to deliver the culturally appropriate intervention and provide social support that is critical for facilitating and sustaining health behavior change. The primary objective is to compare the efficacy of an innovative healthy lifestyle skills mentoring program (Mentored Planning to be Active [MBA]) to a teacher led program (PBA) for increasing physical activity in Appalachian high school teens. MBA emphasizes the social determinants of health by using a social networking approach that trains peer mentors to support targeted teens. Refined over the course of 3 studies,2-4 PBA is a ten-lesson unit delivered over 10 weeks and designed to teach self-regulation of physical activity among teens. Expanding PBA to mentors via MBA has the potential to promote and sustain adoption of daily regular physical activity through self-regulation of physical activity in discretionary time. With MBA delivery, physical activity is tailored to personal interests, talents, and neighborhood environment. MBA empowers students to plan and evaluate their own personal activity plan. It is predicted that by serving as role models, peer mentors will improve their own lifestyle behaviors, providing a double-edged intervention. It is also predicted that providing intense and structured social support to teens via peer mentors will result in better health outcomes compared to teacher-based support alone (usual care). The plan is to conduct a group randomized controlled trial to evaluate the effects of a culturally and theoretically based behavioral intervention delivered by peer mentors (MBA) on adolescent healthy behaviors (daily physical activity, regular exercise, and sedentary behaviors) and physical health outcomes (BMI, body fat) compared to PBA delivered in a classroom setting by a teacher.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 571
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• United States
  • Ohio
    • Bidwell, Ohio, United States, 45614
      • River Valley High School
    • Chillicothe, Ohio, United States, 45601
      • Chillicothe High School
    • Chillicothe, Ohio, United States, 45601
      • Huntington Local High School
    • Chillicothe, Ohio, United States, 45601
      • Unioto High School
    • Chillicothe, Ohio, United States, 45601
      • Zane Trace High School
    • Coal Grove, Ohio, United States, 45638
      • Dawson-Bryant High School
    • Franklin Furnace, Ohio, United States, 45629
      • Green High School
    • Ironton, Ohio, United States, 45638
      • Ironton High School
    • Jackson, Ohio, United States, 45640
      • Jackson High School
    • Latham, Ohio, United States, 45646
      • Western High School
    • New Boston, Ohio, United States, 45662
      • New Boston High School
    • Oak Hill, Ohio, United States, 45656
      • Oak Hill High School
    • Piketon, Ohio, United States, 45661
      • Piketon High School
    • Portsmouth, Ohio, United States, 45662
      • Clay Local High School
    • Portsmouth, Ohio, United States, 45663
      • West Portsmouth High School
    • Racine, Ohio, United States, 45771
      • Southern Local High School
    • South Point, Ohio, United States, 45680
      • South Point High School
    • Stewart, Ohio, United States, 45778
      • Federal Hocking High School
    • Sugar Grove, Ohio, United States, 43155
      • Berne Union High School
    • Waverly, Ohio, United States, 45690
      • Waverly High School

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 14 years to 64 years (Child, Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• 9th or 10th grade students as participants
• 11th or 12th grade students as mentors
• Classroom teachers who instruct health education or physical education to 9th and 10th grade students.
• Not expected to move from school prior to conclusion of study
• Speaks English

Exclusion Criteria:

• Peer mentors with a BMI (for age and gender) above the 85th percentile or below the 5th percentile at the start of the study

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

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

Number of Arms

4

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Mentoring to be Active; Trained teen mentors will deliver the physical activity curriculum to high school students in a school setting. Physical activity will be measured with accelerometers.	Behavioral: Mentoring to be Active with Accelerometers; Trained high school mentors will deliver a 10 session curriculum targeting physical activity to younger teens.; Other Names: peer mentoring
Active Comparator: Planning to be Active; High school teachers will deliver the physical activity curriculum (usual care) to high school students enrolled in health education courses. Physical activity will be measured with accelerometers.	Behavioral: Planning to be Active with Accelerometers; Health education teachers will deliver the 10 session curriculum targeting physical activity to high school students enrolled in health courses.; Other Names: Teacher PBA
No Intervention: Peer Mentors; 11 and 12 grade-level trained mentors who lead the Mentoring to be Active (MBA) experimental group as peer mentors.
No Intervention: High School Teachers; High School teachers who taught the usual care healh classes for the Planning to be Active (PBA) active comparator group.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Change in Body Mass Index From T1 to T3	Body mass index is caculated as weight in kilograms divided by the square of height in meters. The measure is the change in BMI from baseline to 9 months post-baseline.	T1 (Baseline) to T3 (9 months-post baseline)
Change in Total Body Weight From T1 to T3	Change in total body weight from baseline to 9 months post-baseline.	T1 (baseline) to T3 (9-month post baseline)
Change in Pounds of Body Fat From T1 to T3	Body fat in pounds measured by Tanita Body Composition Analyzer. This equipment provides estimated values for each measured value of body fat percentage, fat mass, fat free mass, muscle mass and bone mass by the DXA method, estimated value for the total body water measured value by the dilution method and estimated value for the visceral fat rating by MRI method using the Bioelectrical Impedance Analysis (BIA method). The Tanita Body Composition Analyzer measures body composition using a constant current source with a high frequency current (6.25kHz, 50kHz, 90μA). The 4 electrodes are positioned so that electric current is supplied from the electrodes on the tips of the toes of both feet, and voltage is measured on the heel of both feet. Body weight measured with shoes and socks removed. Calculated to the nearest 0.2 pounds.	T1 ( Baseline) to T3 (9-months post baseline)

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Moderate Physical Activity (Daily)	Percentage of participants engaging in daily moderate physical activity. Measured by accelerometers; subjects to wear devices for 7 days at each data collection time point	9 months
Outcome Expectancies Scale	21 item, 6 -point Likert Summative Scale focusing on psychological determinants of physical activity. Higher values indicate higher (more positive) outcome expectancies. Range of scores are from 21-126 with a score of 63 or higher indicating more positive expectancy from engaging in physical activity.	9 months
Exercise Self-Efficacy Scale	14 item scale that asks participants to rank their own confidence in performing an exercise behavior from 0% confidence to 100 % confidence. Higher percentages indicate higher levels of self-efficacy to engage in physical activity. Each item may range from 0% to 100%. An item score of 51% indicates "positive" confidence. Eight or more items with at least 51% for each indicates overall" positive self-efficacy" to engage in exercise. The total scale may range from 0 (no confidence)-1400 (100% confidence on each item). A score of 408 or higher (at least 51% on a minimum of 8/14 items) indicates "positive" self-efficacy to engage in exercise.	9 months
Outcome Expectations Scale	40 item, 6-point Likert type scale that asks participants to rank their expectations of what physical activity will do their own health outcomes. Scores range from 40-240. Scores of 101 or above indicate more positive expectation of what physical activity can do to health outcomes (more positive health outcomes expected)	9 months
Social Support From Family and Friends to Exercise	12 item, 5 point Likert measure asking participants to rate each question twice: Once for family members and once for friends. Questions ask about the perceived social support to engage in physical activity within the past 3 months. Higher values indicate more social support to engage in physical activity. Values range from 12-60 for the Family Social Support and 12-60 for Friends Social Support. A total social support score is created by summing the scores for family and friends combined. A total score of 25 or above for indicates higher or more positive social support.	9 months
Vigorous Physical Activity	Percentage of participants engaging in vigorous physical activity during the data collection period measured by accelerometers.	9 months

Other Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Sessions Attended	Average number of sessions attended by participants	3 months

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Ohio State University
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Laureen H Smith, PhD, OSU College of Nursing; Principal Investigator: Rick L Petosa, PhD, Ohio State University

Publications and helpful links

General Publications

• Smith LH, Petosa RL. A Structured Peer-Mentoring Method for Physical Activity Behavior Change Among Adolescents. J Sch Nurs. 2016 Oct;32(5):315-23. doi: 10.1177/1059840516644955. Epub 2016 May 4.
• Smith LH, Petosa RL. Effective Practices to Improve Recruitment, Retention, and Partnerships in School-Based Studies. J Pediatr Health Care. 2016 Sep-Oct;30(5):495-8. doi: 10.1016/j.pedhc.2016.05.004. Epub 2016 Jun 16. No abstract available.
• Smith LH, Petosa RL, Shoben A. Peer mentor versus teacher delivery of a physical activity program on the effects of BMI and daily activity: protocol of a school-based group randomized controlled trial in Appalachia. BMC Public Health. 2018 May 16;18(1):633. doi: 10.1186/s12889-018-5537-z.

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): September 1, 2015
• Primary Completion (Actual): November 1, 2018
• Study Completion (Actual): November 1, 2018

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: December 17, 2014
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: December 30, 2014
• First Posted (Estimated): December 31, 2014

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): May 12, 2026
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: May 11, 2026
• Last Verified: May 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: exercise; obesity; health education; mentors
• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Nutrition Disorders; Overnutrition; Body Weight; Overweight; Pathological Conditions, Signs and Symptoms; Behavior; Nutritional and Metabolic Diseases; Signs and Symptoms; Treatment Adherence and Compliance; Patient Compliance; Patient Acceptance of Health Care; Adherence Interventions; Medication Adherence; Obesity; Motor Activity; Health Behavior; Health Education
• Other Study ID Numbers: 2014B0094