Smokers with past major depressive disorder participating in a smoking cessation treatment study were interviewed at 6, 26, and 29 weeks postquit to retrospectively assess their smoking behavior using the timeline follow-back (TLFB) method. Participants also completed calendars by self-monitoring the number of cigarettes smoked each day for two 4-week periods over the 26-week follow-up. The 3-and 20-week test-retest reliabilities of the smoking TLFB interview were high. Agreement between participants' daily monitored smoking calendars and their self-reports from the TLFB interview was also high, providing strong evidence for the validity of the TLFB method for smoking. A smoking TLFB interview provides the opportunity to assess patterns of change in smoking and cessation longitudinally over extended time frames.The assessment of smoking behavior is of critical importance to smoking cessation research. Recent directions in smoking research have emphasized that quitting smoking is a process taking place over a period of time rather than an absolute outcome. Understanding the natural history of smoking and the natural

Results suggest that both telephone and print enhance the adoption of physical activity among sedentary adults; however, print interventions may be particularly effective in maintaining physical activity in the longer term.

Background: Physical activity interventions tailored to individual characteristics and delivered via print produce greater increases in activity compared with nontailored interventions and controls. Using the Internet to deliver a tailored physical activity intervention offers an alternative to print that might be available to larger populations at a lower cost. Methods: Participants (N = 249 adults; mean [SD] age, 44.5 [9.3] years; and mean [SD] body mass index [calculated as weight in kilograms divided by height in meters squared], 29.4 [6.1]) were randomized to 1 of 3 physical activity interventions: (1) motivationally tailored Internet (tailored Internet, n=81), (2) motivationally tailored print (tailored print, n=86); and (3) 6 researcher-selected Web sites available to the public (standard Internet, n=82). Participants in the tailored Internet and tailored print arms received the same tailored intervention content. Participants were assessed at baseline and at 6 and 12 months. Results: At 6 months, participants in the tailored print arm reported a median of 112.5 minutes of physical ac-tivity per week, those in the tailored Internet arm reported 120.0 minutes, and those in the standard Internet arm reported 90.0 minutes (P=.15). At 12 months, the physical activity minutes per week were 90.0, 90.0, and 80.0 for those in the tailored print, tailored Internet, and standard Internet arms, respectively (P=.74). Results indicated no significant differences between the 3 arms.Conclusions: The use of tailored Internet, tailored print, and standard Internet as part of a behavior change program increased physical activity behavior similarly. Because the use of the Internet was not different from the print-based intervention, this may be an opportunity to reach more sedentary adults in a more cost-effective way.

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Using a multivariate extension of the Baron and Kenny (1986) mediation framework, we examined the simultaneous effect of psychosocial variables hypothesized to mediate the relationship between a motivationally-tailored physical activity intervention, and 6-month physical activity behavior in 239 healthy, under-active adults (mean age=47.5; 82% women). Participants were randomly assigned to 1) Print-based feedback; 2) Telephone-based feedback; or 3) Contact Control. All mediation criteria were satisfied for both intervention arms. In terms of effect size, a moderate indirect effect of Print (0.39, 95% CI=0.21, 0.57) was due to increases in behavioral processes (0.54, 95% CI= 0.29, 0.80) being attenuated by decreases due to cognitive processes (-0.17, 95%CI= -0.31,-.03). A moderate indirect effect was observed for Telephone (0.47, 95% CI=0.28, 0.66), with increases due to behavioral processes (0.61, 95% CI=0.34, 0.87) attenuated by decreases due to cognitive processes (0.15, 95% CI=-0.27, -0.02); self-efficacy and decisional balance mediational paths did not attain statistical significance. These findings highlight the importance of studies that deconstruct the theoretical components of interventions to determine which combination produces the greatest behavior changes at the lowest cost.