Objective
weight loss, overweight or obesity
SECONDARY
This study aimed to address this gap by evaluating a multitheoretical approach to engaging African American families in a tailored web-based weight loss program, including a novel focus on positive parenting practices. The Family Systems Theory highlights the importance of nurturance and positive parenting practices for promoting positive family interactions [Another approach to improving engagement among African American families is through deep-level cultural tailoring. Previous research has demonstrated that interventions that are culturally adapted lead to improved health outcomes among racial minority groups [This study expands upon past web-based tailored interventions by integrating several novel tailoring components, including positive parenting (parenting style, monitoring, and communication), deep-level cultural tailoring variables (ethnic identity, spirituality, cultural, and personal values), and other constructs (autonomy support, motivation, and social support). Specifically, drawing from this novel multitheoretical framework, this study seeks to better understand the effects of engagement with different types of tailored behavioral content (eg, PA vs diet-related content). Increasingly, researchers find that engagement (eg, total log-in duration and dose) is related to the efficacy of web-based interventions [This study presents the secondary findings from the Families Improving Together (FIT) for weight loss trial, which compared a parent-focused 8-week web-based tailored intervention and a web-based health education program among African American families with adolescent children with overweight or obesity [Thus, the primary aim of this study was to evaluate whether engagement with different types of tailored behavioral sessions from our multitheoretical web-based tailored intervention (eg, PA vs diet) was associated with changes in MVPA among African American parents and their adolescent children. We hypothesized that there would be a behavior-specific pathway such that engagement with tailored PA-related content would be associated with greater MVPA after the web-based intervention.