Yaremych Haley E, Persky Susan
Department of Psychology & Human Development, Vanderbilt University, PMB 552, 230 Appleton Place, Nashville, TN 37203-5721.
National Human Genome Research Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bldg 31 Rm B1B36, 31 Center Drive, Bethesda, MD 20892.
Parent Sci Pract. 2023;23(1):1-32. doi: 10.1080/15295192.2022.2036940. Epub 2022 Feb 25.
We evaluated eight recruitment methods (Craigslist, Facebook ads, Google AdWords, in-person, newspaper, parenting magazines, ResearchMatch, and direct mailing) in terms of their ability to accrue fathers of 3- to 7-year-old children into a laboratory-based behavioral trial for parents. The trial was related to child obesity risk and parental health behaviors.
Each recruitment method was implemented such that half its occurrences advertised for fathers only, and half advertised for mothers and fathers. Methods were evaluated in terms of number of fathers recruited, cost- and time-efficiency, response rates, and demographic characteristics of individuals recruited. We also assessed fathers' and mothers' motivations for participating in the study. 101 fathers and 260 mothers were recruited.
Father-targeted ads were essential for father recruitment; 79% of accruals from father-targeted ads were male, whereas only 14% of accruals from parent-targeted ads were male. Craigslist, ResearchMatch, and Facebook ads were the most cost-efficient for accruing fathers. A greater proportion of fathers was motivated by increasing fathers' representation in research (16%) compared to mothers who wished to increase mothers' representation in research (5.4%). Similar proportions of fathers and mothers were motivated by improving their parenting knowledge and improving their child's health.
Future researchers should employ father-targeted recruitment materials (rather than parent-targeted) that capitalize on fathers' unique motivations for participating in research.
我们评估了八种招募方法（克雷格列表网、脸书广告、谷歌关键词广告、面对面招募、报纸、育儿杂志、研究匹配平台和直接邮寄），看它们能否招募到3至7岁孩子的父亲参与一项针对父母的实验室行为试验。该试验与儿童肥胖风险和父母健康行为有关。
每种招募方法在实施时，一半的招募宣传只针对父亲，另一半则同时宣传父亲和母亲。从招募到的父亲数量、成本和时间效率、回复率以及招募对象的人口统计学特征等方面对这些方法进行评估。我们还评估了父亲和母亲参与该研究的动机。共招募到101名父亲和260名母亲。
针对父亲的广告对于招募父亲至关重要；来自针对父亲广告的招募对象中79%为男性，而来自针对父母广告的招募对象中只有14%为男性。克雷格列表网、研究匹配平台和脸书广告在招募父亲方面成本效益最高。与希望增加母亲在研究中代表性的母亲（5.4%）相比，有更大比例的父亲受提高父亲在研究中的代表性这一动机驱使（16%）。受提高育儿知识和改善孩子健康动机驱使的父亲和母亲比例相近。
未来的研究人员应采用针对父亲的招募材料（而非针对父母的），利用父亲参与研究的独特动机。
