High Attrition Research Articles

How Successfully Do We Educate Tourism, Hospitality, and Events Graduates?

ABSTRACT This study examines perceptions of university-level tourism, hospitality and events (THE) graduates with regards to whether the degree prepared them for a successful career. “Success” is a highly nuanced term that can be interpreted narrowly as producing job ready graduates or more broadly as producing graduates who have a quality and enjoyable education that equips them with a desire for lifelong learning, a positive value set, and the skills to develop their careers in a dynamic work environment. Listening to the graduates’ voices reveals that a successful educational experience involves far more than making them job ready and instead involves creating passionate future employees who want the chance for personal development and who feel valued in the workplace. However, some issues did arise relating to a relatively high attrition rate from the sector and concern over the degree of practical training provided. The study findings help inform curriculum of programmes.

1.N. Workshop: Improving the wellbeing of the health workforce in Europe: Issues and lessons from Ireland

Abstract Health systems have been subject to a series of crises over the last fifteen years from economic austerity to the COVID-19 pandemic and now the cost of living crisis. At the same time many high-income countries have bolstered their own deficient supply of health workers by importing skilled health professionals from other countries. The health workforce has borne the brunt of each of these shocks and it is no surprise that there is demotivation, burnout and high attrition across staff cadres across Europe. Not enough is known about the root causes of these phenomena and therefore what can be done to effectively enhance workforce wellbeing and engagement and also assist health systems to deal effectively with the legacy of pent up demand from the pandemic which is threatening to overwhelm services. This session seeks to identify and evaluate the different factors that have led to disengagement of staff and assess strategies to improve staff wellbeing, retention and health system recovery, based on quantitative and qualitative research. Three case studies from Ireland distinguish different elements of the problem: 1) an investigation of the dimensions of disengagement and their underlying causes after austerity across staff cadres with particular focus on bullying and discrimination 2) an evaluation of turnover amongst nurses post COVID and the factors which are linked to this, and 3) an examination of racial attitudes and discrimination towards non-Irish health professionals in Irish hospitals. Each study highlights particular factors which have caused disengagement and evaluates their consequences and causes. Together they paint a powerful picture of a health system and its workforce struggling to cope with crisis after crisis, mismanagement and ambitious change programmes. A fourth presentation will compare and contrast this picture with analysis from other high-income countries and examine optimal investment strategies to solve the heath workforce problems. This high-level analysis places the Irish case studies in perspective and allows a more thorough evaluation of key factors and strategies to turn round the situation across Europe. Each presenter will be given a strict deadline of 10 minutes each by the chair and then the audience will be invited to debate the problems identified and strategies proposed to discuss: (i) the appropriate course of action for health systems in Europe at this time, (ii) the conditions under which strategies will achieve the desired results for the health workforce and (iii) how and whether a coordinated approach across Europe would be more effective. Key messages • This session will improve understanding of the causes of burnout, disengagement and high turnover amongst the health workforce in order to address these problems. • Strategies for investing in the education, protection and wellbeing of the European health workforce will be evaluated to assist with our readiness for future shocks.

Mutate and Conjugate: A Method to Enable Rapid In-Cell Target Validation.

Target validation remains a challenge in drug discovery, which leads to a high attrition rate in the drug discovery process, particularly in Phase II clinical trials. Consequently, new approaches to enhance target validation are valuable tools to improve the drug discovery process. Here, we report the combination of site-directed mutagenesis and electrophilic fragments to enable the rapid identification of small molecules that selectively inhibit the mutant protein. Using the bromodomain-containing protein BRD4 as an example, we employed a structure-based approach to identify the L94C mutation in the first bromodomain of BRD4 [BRD4(1)] as having a minimal effect on BRD4(1) function. We then screened a focused, KAc mimic-containing fragment set and a diverse fragment library against the mutant and wild-type proteins and identified a series of fragments that showed high selectivity for the mutant protein. These compounds were elaborated to include an alkyne click tag to enable the attachment of a fluorescent dye. These clickable compounds were then assessed in HEK293T cells, transiently expressing BRD4(1)WT or BRD4(1)L94C, to determine their selectivity for BRD4(1)L94C over other possible cellular targets. One compound was identified that shows very high selectivity for BRD4(1)L94C over all other proteins. This work provides a proof-of-concept that the combination of site-directed mutagenesis and electrophilic fragments, in a mutate and conjugate approach, can enable rapid identification of small molecule inhibitors for an appropriately mutated protein of interest. This technology can be used to assess the cellular phenotype of inhibiting the protein of interest, and the electrophilic ligand provides a starting point for noncovalent ligand development.

Can a volunteer-based befriending service reduce loneliness and social isolation and improve mental health in older people? A quasi-experimental effectiveness study of existing non-governmental befriending services in Denmark

Abstract Befriending services are a widespread intervention that is mainly implemented in community and residential settings to counter social disconnectedness in older adults. The services involves a structured relationship (e.g. weekly visits and agreed upon in-house or out-of-house activities) between a befriender, who is most often a volunteer, and a befriendee, who lack social connections or experience loneliness. Social and humanitarian non-governmental organisations are the primary provider of these services, playing a vital role in supporting and connecting older adults worldwide. Previous research on befriending services has been limited by non-controlled study designs, small sample sizes, high attrition rates, and poor measurement. Additionally, befriendees often face vulnerabilities related to their physical and mental health, which pose significant barriers for research in this field. These limitations highlight that befriending services remain poorly understood, particularly regarding their effectiveness in improving social connections and reducing loneliness. This presentation provides a brief overview of current knowledge on befriending services for older adults, leading to the introduction of an ongoing nationwide effectiveness study of the befriending services provided by two Danish social and humanitarian non-governmental organisations. The quasi-experimental, pragmatic study design will be thoroughly introduced, discussing opportunities and challenges when evaluating large-scale volunteer-driven interventions in a real-world setting. This will involve reflecting on critical methodological decisions, such as the study design, selection of outcome measures, and implementation of procedural steps to minimize attrition.

Best Practices for Human Resource Leaders Struggling to Manage the ‘’Japa Syndrome’’ in Nigerian Organisations

In recent times, HR professionals have tried to identify the best employee strategy. This is because of the mass resignation witnessed globally, or the ‘Japa’ Syndrome, notably in Nigeria which has led to high staff attrition rate especially among tech talent to overseas locations. As a result, HR professionals have been inundated with constant hiring, re-hiring and identifying best practices to retain talent to avoid operational gaps and achieve the bottom-line.

Effects of pay rate and instructions on attrition in crowdsourcing research.

Researchers in social sciences increasingly rely on crowdsourcing marketplaces such as Amazon Mechanical Turk (MTurk) and Prolific to facilitate rapid, low-cost data collection from large samples. However, crowdsourcing suffers from high attrition, threatening the validity of crowdsourced studies. Separate studies have demonstrated that (1) higher pay rates and (2) additional instructions-i.e., informing participants about task requirements, asking for personal information, and describing the negative impact of attrition on research quality-can reduce attrition rates with MTurk participants. The present study extended research on these possible remedies for attrition to Prolific, another crowdsourcing marketplace with strict requirements for participant pay. We randomly assigned 225 participants to one of four groups. Across groups, we evaluated effects of pay rates commensurate with or double the US minimum wage, expanding the upper range of this independent variable; two groups also received additional instructions. Higher pay reduced attrition and correlated with more accurate performance on experimental tasks but we observed no effect of additional instructions. Overall, our findings suggest that effects of increased pay on attrition generalize to higher minimum pay rates and across crowdsourcing platforms. In contrast, effects of additional instructions might not generalize across task durations, task types, or crowdsourcing platforms.

Roger That: Russia’s Coup-Proofed Army and Its Combat Effectiveness, 2022–2023

ABSTRACT Contrary to expectations, Russia failed to overrun the Ukrainian defense despite its apparent preparations for the 2022 invasion. This paper delves into the unexpected outcome, attributing it to the Russian army’s inadequate combat effectiveness. It, in turn, was triggered by President Vladimir Putin’s coup-proofing strategies, namely granting large payrolls and funding for the military; tolerating lucrative dealings and corruption; establishing military fiefdoms; counterbalancing; rotation and purges of politically disloyal officers; and micromanaging military campaigns. Cumulatively, these policies curtailed military autonomy, accelerated promotions of inept loyalists, limited interbranch cooperation, provoked high attrition rates, and spread norms of coercion toward military personnel, making the Russian army’s performance suboptimal during combat. Discussing the issue, the article advances four plausible explanations for why Putin resorted to coup-proofing.

Treatment Patterns, Clinical Outcomes, Health Care Resource Utilization and Costs in Older Patients With Metastatic Castration-Resistant Prostate Cancer in the United States: An Analysis of SEER-Medicare Data.

Prostate cancer (PC) is more likely to develop in men ≥65 years old than in those <65 years old. This study aimed to generate real-world evidence on treatment patterns, clinical outcomes, health care resource utilization (HCRU), and costs among older patients with metastatic castration-resistant PC (mCRPC). A claims algorithm based on treatments expected for mCRPC was used to identify men ≥65 years old with mCRPC in the SEER-Medicare data between 2007 and 2019. The index date was defined as the date of the start of first-line therapy (1L). Treatment patterns and all-cause and PC-specific HCRU and costs were measured in the 12 months preindex period and the postindex follow-up period. Time to next treatment or death (TNTD) and overall survival (OS) were assessed in the follow-up period. A total of 4758 patients met the eligibility criteria and received 1L treatment. Among these 1L patients, 57.4% subsequently received second-line (2L) treatment; among patients receiving 2L treatment, 49.3% subsequently received third-line (3L) treatment. Abiraterone, enzalutamide, and docetaxel were most common regimens in 1L (41.9%, 22.0%, 22.0%, respectively), 2L (33.3%, 32.7%, 13.6%, respectively), and 3L (17.9%, 25.1%, 22.3%, respectively). On average, patients had 1.2 inpatient admissions, 1.1 emergency room visits, and 27.6 outpatient visits per year during follow-up. The mean total all-cause and PC-related costs during the follow-up period were $111,060 and $99,540 per-patient-per-year, respectively. Median TNTD was 9.3, 6.5, and 5.7 months for 1L, 2L, and 3L, respectively. Median OS from the start of 1L treatment for mCRPC was 21.5 months. Among older patients with mCRPC, high attrition from 1L to subsequent lines of therapy was observed. Median TNTD was <1 year and median OS was <2 years. These results highlight a need to introduce more effective mCRPC therapies in 1L to improve clinical outcomes for older patients.

Understanding the Effectiveness and Feasibility of a Family Navigator Program for Parents of Children With Autism.

Systems navigation can be difficult, especially for low-resourced families (i.e., families who are "low income" or meet one of the following indicators: mother has a high school diploma or less; primary caregiver is unemployed; or the family receives governmental assistance). Navigators may help families access services; however, the training of navigators is unclear. The purpose of this study was to determine the effectiveness and feasibility of Supporting Parents to Access and Navigate Services (SPANS), a program to develop navigators. Altogether, 19 low-resourced parents of children with autism participated in SPANS. Participants demonstrated significantly improved knowledge about autism services and perceived advocacy for other families and systemic change. There was high attendance, low attrition, high acceptability, and high fidelity. Implications are discussed.

Emulating underdogs: Tactical drones in the Russia-Ukraine war

ABSTRACT Early studies on state drone proliferation argued that it would be temperate, constrained by high financial, technical, and infrastructural requisites and fielded according to the logic of scarce, exquisite airpower. While this rationale has held for limited conflicts, the high attrition and massive demand of a total war compelled strong standing armies to follow a different model of adoption: emulating weaker violent nonstate actors leveraging low-cost commercial platforms. The Russia-Ukraine war has captured this trend. Despite earlier expectations of armies maintaining advanced airpower for strategic ends, underdog Ukraine, followed by Russia have developed heavy reliance on commercial drone technologies for tactical aims. Framing this in military and battlefield innovation literature and drawing on studies on commercial drone use among violent nonstate actors, we argue that this constitutes a new trajectory involving mixed military arsenals enhanced with dual-use commercial platforms.

Is separating obstetrics from gynaecology the way forward? A UK perspective

A recent editorial in this Journal argued that increasing surgical complexity coupled with more limited training calls for separating obstetrics from gynaecology. The speciality suffers manpower challenges and high attrition rates. There is an apparent gulf in approach between researchers focussing on the views of UK graduates or trainees and workforce planners who address the problem through overseas recruitment. Whilst available literature provides scant, if any, indication as to how to address current challenges, it is important that advocates for women’s health assess and mitigate potential drawbacks when exploring the way forward.

Organizational Justice and Employee Retention: A Theoretical Framework for Malaysian and Indonesian Higher Learning Institutions

Employee retention has emerged as a pressing concern within knowledge-based organizations due to the non-substitutability of individual abilities and their substantial influence on organizational achievements. Therefore, the retention of proficient staff is a crucial strategic approach, particularly for Malaysian and Indonesian Higher Learning Institutions (HLIs). Thus, this study seeks to understand the antecedents that could influence HLIs’ workforce retention. To achieve the objective, a content analysis approach is used to discover potential antecedents of fairness that affect HLIs’ workforce retention. The Organizational Justice Theory is then employed as the theoretical foundation to examine and synthesize the antecedents. Three antecedents are addressed during the examination and discussion: distributive justice, procedural justice, and interactional justice. Through this, three organizational justice propositions are offered, and the framework developed in this conceptual study highlights the retention practices and instigators. This study's conceptual nature provides preliminary insights into the employees’ retention experience in the Malaysian and Indonesian HLI context. This study contributes to the body of knowledge by illuminating the antecedents that promote employee retention, resulting in a practical framework that can be used by the HLIs to formulate strategies and policies to reduce the financial and business risk due to the high employee attrition rate. Subsequently, achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals of good health and well-being (Goal 3) and quality education (Goal 4).

Work Life Balance Challenges and Solutions for Special References to ITs &amp; BPOs

An experienced several significant trends and shifts as a response to the changing global landscape and technological advancements. Here are some essential specifics related to the IT and Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) sector India in 2020 contributed to 8% of India's Gross Domestic Product (GDP). As of March 2021, the combined IT-BPM sector provides employment to around 4.5 million individuals. Notably, the Indian IT-BPM industry experiences a notably high employee attrition rate. As this sector progresses, there is growing concern that the advent of intelligent machines (AI) might lead to substantial automation, potentially impacting job opportunities in the upcoming years. It's worth noting that the United States is the destination for two-thirds of India's IT services exports.

Turning data into research-ready data

ObjectivesGovernments acquire extensive data holdings and face increasing pressure to make these available as record-level microdata for research. However, turning data into research-ready data (RRD) is not a straightforward exercise. We demonstrate how even in simple cases researcher involvement can bring substantial rewards for effective RRD development.&#x0D; MethodsThis paper reports on an ADRUK-funded project to take a dataset originally collected by the Office for National Statistics for official statistics (the UK Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings, ASHE), formally review its microanalytical characteristics, link it to Census 2011 data, and prepare a new ‘research ready dataset’ with appropriate documentation and coding. This should have been straightforward as the datasets had already been widely used as research microdata. However, the involvement of academic researchers in the production of research-ready data led to many important new insights.&#x0D; ResultsThe research programme had 3 aims: testing assumptions about the data; reviewing data quality; and adding value.&#x0D; Because of its sampling model, ASHE is assumed to have random non-response both longitudinally and in cross section. The research team showed that was untrue: there was higher attrition than expected, and both longitudinal and cross-sectional non-response appeared non-random..&#x0D; The data quality review showed further concerns about the accuracy of some geographical indicators, and some variables of opaque provenance; in contrast, we confirmed the accuracy of administrative variables created by ONS.&#x0D; As well as being important for researchers, these findings have the potential for significant effects on official statistics produced from the source data, enhancing the value of the source data.&#x0D; Finally, value was added from new variables which reflected the team’s wide research interests&#x0D; ConclusionOften in government the assumption is that creating RRDs is a matter of creatign files and giving access to the researchers. Insights from our work show that the deep involvement of the research community can bring rewards for both data holders and researchers. For RRDs, researcher-led construction is vital.

Acceptability, feasibility and short-term outcomes of temperament based therapy with support (TBT-S): a novel 5-day treatment for eating disorders

BackgroundTemperament Based Therapy with Support (TBT-S) aims to target the mechanisms underlying the aetiology and maintenance of eating disorders, and was developed as an adjunct to treatment as usual. There is limited research investigating acceptability, feasibility and possible benefits of TBT-S. Therefore, the primary aim of the current study was to assess treatment feasibility and acceptability at a tertiary specialized eating disorders service in Norway, with a secondary aim to explore possible benefits in clinical outcome.MethodsForty-one patients (mean age 25.3, range 18–43) and 58 supports were assessed pre- and post TBT-S. The majority of the patients were diagnosed with either anorexia nervosa or atypical anorexia nervosa. Participants completed an 18-item Patient and Support Satisfaction Questionnaire, in addition to a questionnaire assessing the usefulness of the different intervention components and strategies utilised in TBT-S, as well as a 4-item treatment satisfaction questionnaire. Measures of treatment efficacy were completed at both time-points, whereas treatment acceptability was only assessed post-treatment.ResultsFindings reveal that TBT-S is a feasible treatment with high client satisfaction. Preliminary outcome data were also encouraging, and in line with previous studies. There were no voluntary drop-outs. All participants, both patients and supports, reported that TBT-S helped them deal more effectively with their challenges. After completing treatment, there was a significant decrease in patients’ self-reported eating disorder psychopathology, psychosocial impairment and state anxiety, while trait anxiety remained unchanged. Patients also reported significantly improved social relationships, whereas supports reported a significant increase in (own) psychological health. There were no differences in family functioning.ConclusionsTBT-S is a promising new treatment for eating disorders with high acceptability scores and low treatment attrition. Future studies should aim to explore methods which can most appropriately measure the effect of TBT-S and the usefulness of the different components of this treatment. Randomised controlled trials are needed to assess treatment efficacy of TBT-S.

Therapeutic potential of the genus Zanthoxylum phytochemicals: A theoretical ADME/Tox analysis

Natural products (NPs) are essential in the search for new drugs to treat a wide range of diseases, including infectious and malignant disorders. However, despite the discovery of many bioactive NPs, they often do not make it to market as drugs due to toxicity and other challenges. The development of NPs into drugs is a long and expensive process, and many promising compounds are abandoned along the way. These molecules require in silico ADMET profiling in order to speed up their development into drugs lower costs, and the high attrition rate. The objective of this work was to produce thorough ADMET profiles of secondary metabolites from several classes that were isolated from Zanthoxylum species. The genus has a long history of therapeutic use, including treating tumours, hypertension, gonorrhea, coughs, bilharzia, chest pains, and toothaches. The study used a dataset of 406 compounds from the genus for theoretical ADMET analysis. The findings revealed that 81% of the compounds met Lipinski's rule of five, indicating good oral bioavailability. The drug-likeness criteria were taken into account, with percentages ranging from 66.2 to 88.1 percent. Additionally, 9.2% of the compounds were predicted to be lead-like, demonstrating their potential as promising drug development candidates. Interestingly, none of the compounds inhibited hERG I, while 33% inhibited hERG II, potentially having cardiac implications. Additionally, 30% of the compounds exhibited AMES toxicity inhibition, while 23.6% were identified as hepatotoxic and 22.2% would cause skin sensitivity. Moreover, 81.8% of the compounds demonstrated high intestinal absorption, making them desirable for oral drugs. In conclusion, these findings highlight the diverse properties of the investigated compounds and their potential for drug development.

Potential Factors for Retention and Intent to Drop-out in Brazilian Computing Programs

Motivation : Enrollments in Brazilian computing degrees are at an all-time high, but graduation numbers have not increased at the same rate. Moreover, enrollment growth has mainly attracted male students, steadily expanding the gender gap in Brazilian computing programs. Such high attrition rates have a great economic impact and may disproportionately affect women and students of color. Previous works investigated reasons for student drop-out and retention in specific courses or barriers to entrance in computing programs in narrower contexts or in a single institution. Objectives : We investigate potential actionable factors for intent to drop out in computing programs and what factors might lead students to remain in a computing program in several Brazilian institutions. We investigated how such factors may be affected by students’ race/ethnicity, gender, and socioeconomic status. Method : We analyzed Likert-style answers from an online survey with 3,193 students currently enrolled in Brazilian computing programs. Results : The results show that students value salary/job-related factors as the most important factors to potentially remain in a computing program. The excess of theoretical courses and the difficulty of programming and mathematics courses are the top-ranked factors by students to potentially abandon a computing degree. However, while there is little effect of gender, race/ethnicity, or socioeconomic status in retention factors, potential drop out factors such as a the fact that it is a male-dominated field, harassment, and the difficulty of courses were rated as more important by women. Also, costs and the difficulty of courses are relevant factors for the intent to drop out when analyzing students’ race/ethnicity and socioeconomic status. Discussion : We explore the implications of our findings for Computing programs, particularly (but not restricted to) the Brazilian context. We conjecture reasons for such students’ perspectives regarding intent to drop out and retention factors and provide recommendations of actions for instructional designers, curriculum developers, and other key stakeholders to address issues related to gender, students’ wellness, perceived authenticity of courses, and other relevant factors. Since we only observed small interactions between race/ethnicity and retention and intent to drop out factors, which may indicate a lack of sensitivity from the instrument, we present suggestions to address such limitations in future work.

Systematic review and meta-analysis use in the field of spinal cord injury research: A bibliometric analysis

Objective To subvert issues of low sample sizes and high attrition rates and generate epidemiologically-sound evidence, collaborative research—through international consortia and multi-centric studies—and meta-analysis approaches are encouraged in spinal cord injury (SCI) research. We investigated the use of systematic reviews and meta-analyses (SRMA) methodology in SCI research and evaluated the quality of evidence across publications we identified. Methods We searched the Web of Science Core Collection database by topic without time or language restrictions through 16 December 2022. We identified additional relevant articles through Embase.com. SRMA including human and animal SCI populations were eligible for inclusion. We analyzed data using Bibliometrix and VOSviewer. We used the JBI tool (former Joanna Briggs Institute) to assess methodological quality of a subset of 50 randomly selected articles. Results We based our analysis on data from 1'224 documents authored by 5'237 scholars and published in 424 sources between 1985 and 2022. The use of SRMA methodology in the field gained momentum in 2009 and a steady increase followed with an annual growth rate of ≈15%. Our findings indicate major research themes in the field include recovery, SCI management, rehabilitation, and quality of life. Over the past 30 years there has been a shift from SRMA concerning functional recovery, secondary health complications, and quality of life toward biomarkers and neuro-regeneration. The major methodological issues across articles we evaluated included opaquely described search strategies, poorly reported critical appraisals, and insufficiently addressing publication bias. In addition, only one-fifth of articles reported review protocol registration. Conclusions : Our bibliometric analysis clearly shows a rapid increase of SRMA applications in SCI research. We discuss the most important methodological concerns we identified among a randomly selected set of articles and provide guidance for improving adherence to methodological and reporting SRMA guidelines.

Attrition rate and predictors of a monitoring mHealth application in adolescents with obesity.

Integrating mobile health (mHealth) into paediatric obesity treatment can provide opportunities for more personalized and lifetime treatment. However, high attrition rates pose a significant challenge. The current study attempts to better understand attrition by exploring (1) attrition rates of a monitoring mHealth application for usage over 14 days and (2) testing predictors of attrition in adolescents with obesity. Participants were 69 adolescents between 12 and 16 years old who engaged in a multidisciplinary obesity treatment centre (either outpatient or inpatient) in two countries (Belgium and France). To assess the attrition rates, frequency distributions were used. To test the predictors of attrition, zero-inflated negative binomial regression was performed. Attrition rates were high, in the outpatient group, more than half of the participants (53.3%) used the app for only 0-7 days. In the inpatient group, this percentage was 24.1%. Only deficits in initiating (a component of executive functions) were a negative predictor of attrition, indicating that deficits in initiating lead to lower attrition rates. This study provides evidence for high attrition rates in mHealth interventions for adolescents with obesity and was the first to investigate psychological predictors of attrition to an mHealth monitoring tool in adolescents with obesity in treatment. Findings regarding predictors of attrition should be approached with caution due to the small sample size.

Recruiting families using social media versus pediatric obesity clinics: A secondary analysis of the Aim2Be RCT

BackgroundRecruitment of participants continues to be a challenge that researchers must overcome to yield successful study results. Over the past decade, there has been a dramatic increase in the use of social media platforms to recruit research participants. We conducted a secondary analysis of the Aim2Be randomized controlled trial (RCT) to examine if there was variability between participants recruited via social media versus pediatric obesity clinics. MethodsParents and their children living with overweight or obesity were recruited through social media (i.e., Facebook advertisements) (n = 119) or pediatric obesity management clinics (n = 95) to participate in the Aim2Be RCT. We compared recruitment costs, recruitment rate, participant retention, intervention engagement, obesity-related risk factors, and behavioral habits. ResultsFacebook recruitment resulted in more participant contacts, but higher attrition during ‘high effort’ stages of the recruitment process. Group differences emerged regarding costs (Facebook: $407 versus clinics: $699). There were no group differences in participant retention or intervention engagement. Families recruited from Facebook were younger parents (42.6 versus 46.0 years; p < 0.001) and children (12.2 versus 13.9 years; p < 0.001), a higher percentage male children, and fewer had previously participated in a pediatric weight management program. Parents recruited from Facebook self-reported greater screen time for themselves, and their children reported lower physical activity levels and higher caloric and sugar intake. ConclusionsSocial media and clinical site recruitment are complementary strategies that appear to draw in families with different profiles, but regardless of how they were recruited, all families had the potential to benefit from pediatric obesity management.