Selective attrition in longitudinal studies: effective processes for Facebook tracing

ABSTRACT

Participant attrition is a significant challenge for longitudinal studies, particularly those involving disadvantaged populations. We attempted to re-engage n = 990 families in a five-year follow-up of a randomised controlled trial of an early childhood parenting intervention. Tracing was attempted for n = 90/990 (9.1%) uncontactable participants. Evidence for the identification of a matching Facebook profile was classified as strong, moderate or weak. A private message was sent to those with strong evidence (n = 63/90, 70.0%), of which 32 responded, 22 agreed to participate and 19 provided data. Compared to participants engaged using traditional methods, those re-engaged through Facebook were more likely at initial recruitment to have a younger child (p =.02), to be a single parent (p =.04), less educated (p <.001), lower income (p =.01) and in an unemployed household (p <.001). Findings suggest that social media can be an effective engagement tool, helping to minimise overall and selective attrition in longitudinal studies, particularly for hard-to-reach populations.

KEYWORDS:

• Facebook
• social media
• longitudinal
• tracing
• parents
• attrition
• selective attrition

Acknowledgments

We thank all participating parents, children and teachers; the EHLS at School staff including Méabh Cullinane, Andisheh Vahedi, Anna Fragkoudi, Lisa Pascoe, Stacey Hokke, Laura Biggs and Ellen Koutsodimitropoulos; and the many staff involved with the original EHLS, including the Maternal and Child Health nurses, site coordinators, group facilitators, and home coaches, and staff from the Parenting Research Centre and the Victorian Government. The Early Home Learning Study (2009-2013) was commissioned and funded by the Victorian Government Department of Education and Early Childhood (now the Department of Education and Training) and was designed and conducted by the Parenting Research Centre. The authors acknowledge the contributions of the original study investigators: Honorary Professor Warren Cann, Doctor Naomi Hackworth, Associate Professor Jan Matthews, Professor Donna Berthelsen, and Professor Jan Nicholson. The views reported in this paper are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the views of the Victorian Government or NHMRC.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the National Health and Medical Research Council (GNT1076857) and the Victorian Government Department of Education and Training. The collaboration was supported by the NHMRC Centre of Research Excellence in Child Language (GNT1023493). SB, JL, NH, EW, CB, and JN were supported by the Roberta Holmes Transition to Contemporary Parenthood Program (Coronella sub-fund) at La Trobe University. PL was supported by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Sklodowska-Curie grant agreement No. 705044. FM was supported by a NHMRC Career Development Fellowship (CDF 1111160) and MCRI operational support.

Notes on contributors

Shannon K. Bennetts

Dr Shannon K. Bennetts is a Research Fellow at the Judith Lumley Centre, La Trobe University, and Coordinator of the EHLS at School Study.

Jasmine Love

Ms Jasmine Love is a Research Officer at the Judith Lumley Centre, La Trobe University.

Naomi J. Hackworth

Dr Naomi J. Hackworth is a Senior Project Manager at the Parenting Research Centre.

Fiona K. Mensah

Dr Fiona K. Mensah is a Senior Research Fellow in Epidemiology and Biostatistics within the Intergenerational Health Group at the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute.

Elizabeth M. Westrupp

Dr Elizabeth M. Westrupp is a Senior Lecturer and Clinical Psychologist at Deakin University.

Donna Berthelsen

Professor Donna Berthelsen is an Adjunct Professor within the Faculty of Education, School of Early Childhood and Inclusive Education at Queensland University of Technology.

Penny Levickis

Dr Penny Levickis is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow in the Melbourne Graduate School of Education at The University of Melbourne.

Clair Bennett

Dr Clair Bennett is a Research Scientist at Columbia University in the United States, and formerly a Research Assistant at the Judith Lumley Centre, La Trobe University.

Jan M. Nicholson

Professor Jan M. Nicholson is Director of the Judith Lumley Centre at La Trobe University and Chief Investigator of the EHLS at School Study.