Trial reportBMC public health2018
A randomized controlled trial testing a social network intervention to promote physical activity among adolescents.
Trial report in BMC public health, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 37 papers, 7 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
37 citing papers in PubMed, 7 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Digital Tools' Effectiveness on Physical Activity Outcomes in Children and Adolescents: Umbrella Review.JMIR public health and surveillance · 2026Pooled it
- Effectiveness and promising behavioral change techniques in interventions aimed at promoting physical activity in adolescents: a systematic review.BMC public health · 2026Pooled it
- Meta-analyses of randomized controlled trials assessing the effect of digital tools on step count and moderate-to-vigorous physical activity in healthy children and adolescents.Frontiers in digital health · 2026Pooled it
- Social and Religious Networks with Respect to the Health Behaviors of African American Women: A Systematic Review.Journal of religion and health · 2025Pooled it
- Effectiveness of Intervention Strategies to Increase Adolescents' Physical Activity and Reduce Sedentary Time in Secondary School Settings, Including Factors Related to Implementation: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Sports medicine - open · 2024Pooled it
- mHealth Interventions to Reduce Physical Inactivity and Sedentary Behavior in Children and Adolescents: Systematic Review and Meta-analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials.JMIR mHealth and uHealth · 2022Pooled it
- A Systematic Literature Review of Peer-led Strategies for Promoting Physical Activity Levels of Adolescents.Health education & behavior : the official publication of the Society for Public Health Education · 2022Pooled it
- Physical Activity and Psychosocial Characteristics of the Peer Supporters in the PLAN-A Study-A Latent Class Analysis.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2020Trial
- User Engagement and Attrition in an App-Based Physical Activity Intervention: Secondary Analysis of a Randomized Controlled Trial.Journal of medical Internet research · 2019Trial
- Staying in Place, Staying Connected: Exploring Tie-Retention to Inform Network-Based Health Interventions in Public Housing Communities.Journal of urban health : bulletin of the New York Academy of Medicine · 2026Article
- Multi-Context Strategies and Opportunities for Increasing Levels of Physical Activity in Children and Young People: A Literature Review.Children (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Review
- Effect of Centrality on Physical Activity in Late Childhood: A 1-Year Prospective Cohort Study.Children (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Article
- Just-in-time adaptive interventions for adolescent and young adult health and well-being: protocol for a systematic review.BMJ open · 2024Article
- Association of physical activity and screen time with cardiovascular disease risk in the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development Study.BMC public health · 2024Article
- Implementation processes of social network interventions for physical activity and sedentary behavior among children and adolescents: a scoping review.BMC public health · 2024Article
- Social epidemiology of Fitbit daily steps in early adolescence.Pediatric research · 2023Article
- The status of active after-school clubs among primary school children in England (UK) after the COVD-19 lockdowns: implications for policy and practice.The international journal of behavioral nutrition and physical activity · 2023Article
- Association of Physical Activity and Screen Time With Body Mass Index Among US Adolescents.JAMA network open · 2023Article
- Conducting Physical Activity Research on Racially and Ethnically Diverse Adolescents Using Social Network Analysis: Case Studies for Practical Use.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022Article
- A Theory-Informed, Personalized mHealth Intervention for Adolescents (Mobile App for Physical Activity): Development and Pilot Study.JMIR formative research · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundThe current study examined the effectiveness of a social network intervention to promote physical activity among adolescents. Social network interventions utilize peer influence to change behavior by identifying the most influential individuals within social networks (i.e., influence agents), and training them to promote the target behavior.
methodA total of 190 adolescents (46.32% boys; M age = 12.17, age range: 11-14 years) were randomly allocated to either the intervention or control condition. In the intervention condition, the most influential adolescents (based on peer nominations of classmates) in each classroom were trained to promote physical activity among their classmates. Participants received a research smartphone to complete questionnaires and an accelerometer to measure physical activity (steps per day) at baseline, and during the intervention one month later.
resultsA multilevel model tested the effectiveness of the intervention, controlling for clustering of data within participants and days. No intervention effect was observed, b = .04, SE = .10, p = .66.
conclusionThis was one of the first studies to test whether physical activity in adolescents could be promoted via influence agents, and the first social network intervention to use smartphones to do so. Important lessons and implications are discussed concerning the selection criterion of the influence agents, the use of smartphones in social network intervention, and the rigorous analyses used to control for confounding factors.
trial registrationDutch Trial Registry (NTR): NTR6173 . Registered 5 October 2016 Study procedures were approved by the Ethics Committee of the Radboud University (ECSW2014-100614-222).
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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.