A Web-Based Respondent Driven Sampling Pilot Targeting Young People at Risk for Chlamydia Trachomatis in Social and Sexual Networks with Testing: A Use Evaluation.

Background: With the aim of targeting high-risk hidden heterosexual young people for Chlamydia trachomatis (CT) testing, an innovative web-based screening strategy using Respondent Driven Sampling (RDS) and home-based CT testing, was developed, piloted and evaluated.

Methods: Two STI clinic nurses encouraged 37 CT positive heterosexual young people (aged 16-25 years), called index clients, to recruit peers from their social and sexual networks using the web-based screening strategy. Eligible peers (young, living in the study area) could request a home-based CT test and recruit other peers.

Identifying binge drinkers based on parenting dimensions and alcohol-specific parenting practices: building classifiers on adolescent-parent paired data.

Background: Most Dutch adolescents aged 16 to 18 engage in binge drinking. Previous studies have investigated how parenting dimensions and alcohol-specific parenting practices are related to adolescent alcohol consumption. Mixed results have been obtained on both dimensions and practices, highlighting the complexity of untangling alcohol-related factors.

Perceptions of Sudanese women of reproductive age toward HIV/AIDS and services for Prevention of Mother-to-Child Transmission of HIV.

Background: Access to antenatal HIV testing during pregnancy and the level of uptake of services for Prevention of Mother-to-Child Transmission (PMTCT) in Sudan are very low. This study aimed to obtain insights into the perceptions of Sudanese pregnant women toward HIV/AIDS and the use of PMTCT services.

Methods: Ten focus group discussions (FGDs) with women of reproductive age were conducted at community settings in Khartoum (N = 121).

Chlamydia trachomatis testing among young people: what is the role of stigma?

Background: To reach young people for Chlamydia trachomatis (CT) testing, new web-based strategies are used to offer testing via young people's sexual and social networks. The success of such peer-driven strategies depends on whether individuals disclose their own testing and encourage others to get tested. We assessed whether public- and self-stigma would hamper these behaviours, by comparing anticipations and experiences relating to these issues in young men and women who already tested or never tested for CT.

Web-based interventions to decrease alcohol use in adolescents: a Delphi study about increasing effectiveness and reducing drop-out.

Background: Web-based computer-tailored (CT) interventions have a high potential to reach a large number of people and effectively change health risk behaviors and their determinants. However, effect studies show small and variable effect sizes, and these interventions also suffer from high drop-out. In this study we explored how Web-based CT interventions can be used effectively to reduce binge drinking in 16- to 18-year-old adolescents.

Barriers to and facilitators of partner notification for chlamydia trachomatis among health care professionals.

Background: Partner notification (PN) is an essential case-finding tool in the management of sexually transmitted infections (STIs). Yet, data on the effectiveness and factors impacting implementation of PN in the Netherlands are lacking. With the aim of further exploring and improving the PN process, the current study assessed perceived barriers and facilitators among health care professionals in the STI clinical setting.

What can we learn from a failed trial: insight into non-participation in a chat-based intervention trial for adolescents with psychosocial problems.

Background: Psychosocial problems are highly prevalent among Dutch adolescents. We have conducted a trial to test whether offering chat-based consultations could be of added value within the context of Dutch Youth Health Care. This trial was ended prematurely because of recruitment issues.

No differential attrition was found in randomized controlled trials published in general medical journals: a meta-analysis.

Objective: Differential attrition is regarded as a major threat to the internal validity of a randomized controlled trial (RCT). This study identifies the degree of differential attrition in RCTs covering a broad spectrum of clinical areas and factors that are related to this.

Study Design And Setting: A PubMed search was conducted to obtain a random sample of 100 RCTs published between 2008 and 2010 in journals from the ISI Web of Knowledge(SM) category of medicine, general and internal.

Social presence and use of internet-delivered interventions: a multi-method approach.

Objective: Internet-delivered interventions can effectively change health risk behaviors and their determinants, but adherence to intervention websites once they are accessed is very low. This study tests whether and how social presence elements can increase website use.

Methods: A website about Hepatitis A, B, and C virus infections was used in a preparatory lab-based eye-tracking study assessing whether social presence elements attract participants' attention, because this is a prerequisite for affecting website use.

Validation of the four-dimensional structure of drinking motives among adults.

Background: In the motivational model of alcohol use, there are two dimensions underlying the classification of drinking motives resulting in four drinking motive categories: enhancement, social, coping, and conformity motives.

Methods: Using confirmatory factor analysis, the current study provides evidence on the best fitting factor structure in a large representative general population study among adults in the Netherlands (n = 2,440; two data waves separated by 3 months) using the DMQ-R (Drinking Motives Questionnaire Revised).

Results: The four-factor structure had the best fit at both time points in comparison with any other solution.

A Dutch panel study on the relation between structure of everyday life, daily hassles, and alcohol consumption.

Background: A widely held assumption within the general public is that one way in which people cope with their daily hassles is by drinking alcohol. Although the idea of drinking to compensate for daily hassles is intuit, empirical evidence is actually rather scarce. This study aimed to test whether structure of everyday life results in more daily hassles and has a protective effect regarding alcohol consumption (as predicted by classic role theory) or - in case the relation between daily hassles and alcohol consumption is positive (as predicted by tension reduction theories) - daily hassles would decrease the protective effect of having a more structured everyday life.

Drinking motives and drinking behavior over time: a full cross-lagged panel study among adults.

Drinking motives are among the most proximal factors for drinking behavior and serve as a mechanism through which more distal factors are mediated. However, it is less clear whether drinking motives are precursors of drinking or, in contrast, shaped by previous drinking experiences (reciprocal effects), or both. Moreover, in adults it is unclear whether drinking motives, usually shaped in adolescence, influence each other over time.

Public awareness and practical knowledge regarding Hepatitis A, B, and C: a two-country survey.

Aim: To assess the level of public awareness and practical knowledge regarding Hepatitis A, B, and C in two low-endemic countries (Germany and The Netherlands).

Methods: Two large-scale surveys (N=1989 and 668).

Results: Although public awareness was high, practical knowledge regarding differences in the mode of transmission, consequences, and prevention was very low in both countries, especially among those with a lower level of education.

Using Google Analytics as a process evaluation method for Internet-delivered interventions: an example on sexual health.

The study aimed to demonstrate the potential of Google Analytics as a process evaluation method for Internet-delivered interventions, using a website about sexual health as an example. This study reports visitors' behavior until 21 months after the release of the website (March 2009-December 2010). In total, there were 850 895 visitors with an average total visiting time (i.

An artificially intelligent chat agent that answers adolescents' questions related to sex, drugs, and alcohol: an exploratory study.

Purpose: The aim of this study was to investigate if and how an artificially intelligent chat agent (chatbot) that answers questions about sex, drugs, and alcohol is used and evaluated by adolescents, especially in comparison with information lines and search engines.

Methods: A sample of 929 adolescents (64% girls, mean age = 15), varying in urbanization level and educational level, participated in this study. Use of the chatbot was objectively tracked through server registrations (e.

Does social desirability compromise self-reports of physical activity in web-based research?

Background: This study investigated the relation between social desirability and self-reported physical activity in web-based research.

Findings: A longitudinal study (N = 5,495, 54% women) was conducted on a representative sample of the Dutch population using the Marlowe-Crowne Scale as social desirability measure and the short form of the International Physical Activity Questionnaire. Social desirability was not associated with self-reported physical activity (in MET-minutes/week), nor with its sub-behaviors (i.

Social desirability and self-reported health risk behaviors in web-based research: three longitudinal studies.

Background: These studies sought to investigate the relation between social desirability and self-reported health risk behaviors (e.g., alcohol use, drug use, smoking) in web-based research.

Intervening via chat: an opportunity for adolescents' mental health promotion?

Mental health problems are highly prevalent among adolescents, but a majority of adolescents is reluctant to seek help at mental health services because of shame and lack of anonymity. Intervening via chat (i.e.