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Abstract
Web-based tailored intervention programs show considerable promise in effecting health-promoting behaviors and improving health outcomes across a variety of medical conditions and patient populations. This meta-analysis compares the effects of tailored versus nontailored web-based interventions on health behaviors and explores the influence of key moderators on treatment outcomes. Forty experimental and quasi-experimental studies (N =20,180) met criteria for inclusion and were analyzed using meta-analytic procedures. The findings indicated that web-based tailored interventions effected significantly greater improvement in health outcomes as compared with control conditions both at posttesting, d =.139 (95% CI = .111, .166, p <.001, k =40) and at follow-up, d =.158 (95% CI = .124, .192, p <.001, k =21). The authors found no evidence of publication bias. These results provided further support for the differential benefits of tailored web-based interventions over nontailored approaches. Analysis of participant/descriptive, intervention, and methodological moderators shed some light on factors that may be important to the success of tailored interventions. Implications of these findings and directions for future research are discussed.
Notes
Note. The behavioral theories sum to more than 100 because some studies used more than one theory.
Note. n =number of studies, d =sample size-weighted mean effect size.
*p < .05. **p < .01. ***p < .001.
Note. n =number of studies, d =sample size-weighted mean effect size.
a This variable was tested using the follow-up data (n = 21) to allow enough time for baseline versus iterative assessment to have an effect.
*p < .05. **p < .01. ***p < .001.
Note. n =number of studies, d =sample size-weighted mean effect size.
*p < .05. **p < .01. ***p < .001.