A web-based, health promotion program for adolescent girls and their mothers who reside in public housing

•Developed and tested a brief, family- and web-based health promotion program•Designed for adolescent girls and their mothers who reside in public housing•Focused on dietary intake, physical activity, and substance use risks•Findings indicate the potential to improve multiple health behaviors.

This study tested a brief web-based, family-involvement health promotion program aimed at drug use, physical activity, and nutrition for adolescent girls, aged 10 to 12 years, who reside in public housing. Separately, girls (n = 67) and their mothers (n = 67) completed baseline measures online. Following baseline, 36 randomly assigned mother–daughter dyads jointly completed a 3-session, health promotion program online. Subsequently, all girls and mothers separately completed posttest and 5-month follow-up measures. Attrition at posttest and 5-month follow-up measures was 3% and 9%, respectively. At posttest, intervention-arm girls, relative to control-arm girls, reported greater mother–daughter communication and parental monitoring. Intervention-arm mothers reported greater mother–daughter communication and closeness as well as increased vegetable intake and physical activity. At 5-month follow-up, intervention-arm girls and mothers, relative to those in the control arm, reported greater levels of parental monitoring. Intervention-arm girls also reported greater mother–daughter communication and closeness, reduced stress, greater refusal skills, and increased fruit intake. Findings indicate the potential of a brief, web-based program to improve the health of low-income girls and their mothers.