Abstract
BACKGROUND: Similar to other fields, a targeted behavioral medicine perspective can aid decision-making related to participant-intervention matching. PURPOSE: To present one potentially useful definition of intervention targeting activity; describe potential targeting domains of particular relevance to behavioral medicine; discuss different statistical approaches to aid the targeted intervention development process; and discuss the challenges and opportunities accompanying the incorporation of targeted intervention development methods into behavioral randomized clinical trial (RCT) research. METHODS: Drawing from recent conceptual work by the MacArthur group and other scientists in the field, methods and approaches to undertaking moderator analysis are discussed. RESULTS: Examples of moderator analyses are provided which reflect the different statistical methods and variable domains that may serve as moderators of intervention success. CONCLUSIONS: The recommended exploratory work can help to make the most efficient use of RCTs to identify the best paths for subsequent RCT development in a resource-constrained era.