Prevention curricula rely on audience engagement to effectively communicate their messages. However, to date, measurement of engagement has primarily focused on self-report that is often an indicator of liking or satisfaction. Emerging technologies for intervention delivery hold promise not only for additional engagement indicators but also for dissemination outside of traditional vehicles such as classroom delivery. The present study, grounded in the theory of active involvement (Greene 2013), explores the role of engagement (as measured by self-report, program analytics, and observation) with short-term substance use prevention outcomes such as self-efficacy to counter-argue and descriptive and injunctive norms. The study tracks 4-H youth (N = 310) engaged with a media literacy focused e-learning substance prevention curriculum, REAL media. Results indicate that self-reports of engagement predicted self-efficacy to counter-argue, but a program-analytic indicator of dosage predicted lower injunctive and descriptive norms, all at 3 months. The observational indicator was correlated with self-efficacy to counter-argue but not significant in the predictive models. The implications and directions for future research regarding how engagement is measured in prevention and included in studying program effects are discussed. Clinical trial: NCT03157700, May 2017.
Keywords: E-learning; Engagement; Health messages; Involvement; Media literacy; Prevention; Substance use.