Web-based Resource for Children and Adolescents About Clinical Research

The overall aims of this project are to: 1) create a developmentally appropriate interactive educational website for adolescents called DigiKnowIt News: Teen, and 2) examine the feasibility of DigiKnowIt News: Teen in a small randomized control trial with adolescents.

Youth (N=30) will be recruited to participate in the feasibility study. Parent permission and youth assent will be sought. Participants will be randomized into one of two study arms: intervention and wait-list control. All participants will complete a web-based pre-test questionnaire. Youth in the intervention group will then receive access to DigiKnowIt News: Teen for one week. Approximately one week after completing the pre-test questionnaire, all participants will complete a web-based post-test questionnaire (the post-test for youth in the intervention group will also include Consumer Satisfaction Questions). Youth in the wait-list control group will then receive access to DigiKnowIt News: Teen for one week. After one week, they will complete a Consumer Satisfaction Questionnaire.

The intervention is an educational website designed to teach youth (12-17 years) about pediatric clinical trials.

The wait-list control group did not receive the intervention between the pre-test and post-test assessments. After completing the post-test questionnaire, youth in the wait-list control group had the option to receive access to the intervention (DigiKnowIt News).

Teens will interact with a multimedia educational website that will teach them about pediatric clinical trials including topics such as participant rights and safety, benefits and costs to participating in a study, and different types of procedures used in trials.

Youth will respond to 25 questions that assess their factual knowledge about clinical research (e.g., Who is part of a clinical trial?). Questions are in multiple choice format and some questions have multiple correct answers. The correct responses were summed across the questions. The range of scores is from 0 to 46. Higher scores indicate more knowledge about clinical research.

Youth will be asked to respond to 6 questions that assess their positive attitudes about clinical trials (e.g., How do you feel about kids participating in clinical trials?; 1=Not good at all; 2=Not very good; 3=Not sure; 4=Good; 5=Very good). Responses to this scale were averaged and the minimum scale score was 1 and the maximum scale score was 5. Higher scores indicate more positive attitudes toward clinical trials.

Youth will be asked to respond to 5 questions that assess their beliefs about positive aspects of pediatric clinical research (e.g., I believe that clinical trials can help kids; 1=Strongly Disagree; 2=Disagree; 3=Unsure; 4=Agree; 5=Strongly Agree). Responses to this scale were averaged and the minimum scale score was 1 and the maximum scale score was 5. Higher scores indicate more positive beliefs about clinical research.

Youth will be asked to respond to 10 questions related to their self-efficacy for making decisions related to participation in clinical trials for communicating about clinical trials (e.g., Tell the researcher that I don't want to participate in the clinical trial, even if they really want me to do it; 1 = I cannot do it at all; 5 = I know I can do it.). Responses to this scale were averaged and the minimum scale score was 1 and the maximum scale score was 5. Higher scores indicate more self-efficacy about communicating about clinical trials.

Youth will be asked to respond to 9 questions related to their self-efficacy for making decisions related to participation in clinical trials for gathering information about clinical trials (e.g., How sure are you that you can do the following things: Ask my parents questions for more information about clinical trials?; 1 = I cannot do it at all; 5 = I know I can do it.). Responses to this scale were averaged and the minimum scale score was 1 and the maximum scale score was 5. Higher scores indicate more self-efficacy for gathering information about clinical trials.

Youth will be asked to respond to 3 questions to measure youths' confidence for participating clinical trials (e.g., I know what rights I have in a clinical trial. I know whom to ask if I need more information about a clinical trial.; 1=Strongly Disagree; 2=Disagree; 3=Unsure; 4=Agree; 5=Strongly Agree). Responses to this scale were averaged and the minimum scale score was 1 and the maximum scale score was 5. Higher scores indicate more confidence for participating in clinical trials.

Youth will be asked to respond to 4 questions related to their perceptions of fear or anxiety about different types of medical procedures, including getting a needle in the arm, injection in the leg, getting a scan, and taking new medicine, on a 5-point Likert scale (1 = Not at all afraid or anxious, 2 = Somewhat afraid or anxious, 3 = Moderately afraid or anxious, 4 = Very afraid or anxious, 5 = Extremely afraid or anxious). Responses to this scale were averaged and the minimum scale score was 1 and the maximum scale score was 5. Higher scores indicate more fears about medical procedures.

Youth will be asked to respond to one question about the likelihood of participating in a clinical trial (i.e., If you were asked to be in a clinical trial, how likely would you be to participate?) using a 5-point Likert scale (1 = Not likely; 5 = Extremely likely). The minimum scale score was 1 and the maximum scale score was 5. Higher scores indicate increased likelihood of participating in a clinical trial.

Youth will be asked to respond to one question about the likelihood of their fear preventing them from participating in a clinical trial (i.e., How likely is it that your fearful or anxious feelings could stop you from participating in a clinical trial in the future?) using a 5-point Likert scale (1 = Not likely; 5 = Extremely likely). The minimum scale score was 1 and the maximum scale score was 5. Higher scores indicate increased likelihood of fear preventing them from participating in a clinical trial.

Inclusion Criteria: Participants must be between the ages of 12 and 17 years. Participants must have access to a computer or tablet with Internet connection. Participants must be able to read and write in English fluently. Exclusion Criteria: Participants must NOT have previously participated in a clinical trial.