BackgroundIncreasingly, social contact and knowledge of other people’s attitudes and behavior are mediated by online social media such as Facebook. The main research to which this recruitment study pertains investigates the influence of parents on adolescent alcohol consumption. Given the pervasiveness of online social media use, Facebook may be an effective means of recruitment and intervention delivery.ObjectiveThe objective of the study was to determine the efficacy of study recruitment via social networks versus paid advertising on Facebook.MethodsWe conducted a quasi-experimental sequential trial with response rate as the outcome, and estimates of cost-effectiveness. The target population was parents of 13-17 year old children attending high schools in the Hunter region of New South Wales, Australia. Recruitment occurred via: method (1) social recruitment using Facebook, email-based, social networks, and media coverage followed by method (2) Facebook advertising.ResultsUsing a range of online and other social network approaches only: method (1) 74 parents were recruited to complete a survey over eight months, costing AUD58.70 per completed survey. After Facebook advertising: method (2) 204 parents completed the survey over four weeks, costing AUD5.94 per completed survey. Participants were representative of the parents recruited from the region’s schools using standard mail and email.ConclusionsFacebook advertising is a cost-effective means of recruiting parents, a group difficult to reach by other methods.
The following case outlines the use of interpersonal psychotherapy (IPT) with integrated expressive art practices over 10 sessions in treatment of AF, a 62-year-old Caucasian female presenting with depression as a psycho-oncology outpatient. AF's presentation was in the context of a history of diagnosis and treatment of melanoma, several family losses to cancer, long-standing dysthymia and recurrent major depressive episodes, and relocation from interstate following marriage separation. IPT was delivered to address AF's identified core problem area of interpersonal sensitivities, while expressive art exercises played a role of creative self-reflection and exploration. At the conclusion of therapy, AF demonstrated not only elimination of clinical symptoms of depression and anxiety but also growth as a newly resilient and enlivened individual. Theoretical, research, and intervention implications for treatment of depression in broad and specific to psycho-oncology contexts are discussed.
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