# Physical Activity Lifestyle Intervention for Emerging Adults with Congenital Heart Disease

> **NIH NIH R03** · RESEARCH INST NATIONWIDE CHILDREN'S HOSP · 2020 · $76,000

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT
Jamie L. Jackson, PhD, is an Assistant Professor in the Center for Biobehavioral Health at Nationwide
Children’s Hospital and Ohio State University. Her career goal is to become an independent clinician-scientist
with expertise in developing and implementing randomized behavioral clinical trials to improve self-
management among transition-aged survivors of congenital heart disease (CHD). Dr. Jackson received a K23
award to examine the feasibility and preliminary efficacy of a physical activity (PA) intervention to increase
moderate to vigorous PA engagement among adolescents with CHD. As CHD survivors enter adulthood, they
have a greater risk for developing acquired cardiovascular complications, such as hypertension, coronary
artery disease, and heart failure. These comorbidities are amenable to lifestyle changes, such as increasing
PA. Rates of PA among emerging adults with CHD in the U.S. are relatively unknown, but rates in the general
population decline during emerging adulthood. Therefore, for successful primary prevention of acquired
cardiovascular complications in this growing population of aging CHD survivors, both adolescence and
emerging adulthood may be optimal developmental stages to target for health behavior interventions. Given
that emerging adulthood is a unique developmental stage, the feasibility of a PA intervention cannot be
assumed and must be empirically determined. The proposed Small Grant Program for NHLBI K Recipients
(R03) aims to 1) evaluate the feasibility of the same PA intervention being conducted as part of Dr. Jackson’s
K23 award among emerging adult CHD survivors and 2) obtain qualitative feedback from participants on the
content of the intervention sessions and study procedures using focus groups. Participants will include 30
emerging adults (ages 19-25) with critical CHD who will be randomized to 1 of 2 arms: a 20-week
videoconferencing-administered PA intervention arm (8, 30 min sessions; tracking activity and setting goals
using Fitbit®) or a comparison arm that receives a Fitbit, but has no contact with a study interventionist. The
Theory of Planned Behavior underpins the intervention content such that attitudes, normative beliefs, and
perceived behavioral control will be addressed. Participants randomized to the intervention arm will be invited
to participate in a focus group to provide further feedback. Objective and self-report measures of feasibility will
be collected, including recruitment rate, adherence to intervention sessions, retention rate, assessment
completion rate, and self-report of the intervention experience. Qualitative feedback will be audio recorded,
transcribed, and coded. In addition to contributing to Dr. Jackson’s independence as a clinician-scientist, the
results of the current study are expected to enhance the competitiveness of and inform the procedures for a
larger R01 study, which will establish efficacy and determine the long-term effects of this interve...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9994111
- **Project number:** 5R03HL148368-02
- **Recipient organization:** RESEARCH INST NATIONWIDE CHILDREN'S HOSP
- **Principal Investigator:** Jamie L. Jackson
- **Activity code:** R03 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $76,000
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2019-08-09 → 2022-07-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9994111

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9994111, Physical Activity Lifestyle Intervention for Emerging Adults with Congenital Heart Disease (5R03HL148368-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-29 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9994111. Licensed CC0.

---

*[NIH grants dataset](/datasets/nih-grants) · CC0 1.0*