Vezzoli Michela, Carfora Valentina, Catellani Patrizia
DISTUM, Department of Humanities, University of Urbino Carlo Bo, 61029 Urbino, Italy.
Department of Psychology, Catholic University of the Sacred Heart, 20123 Milan, Italy.
Nutrients. 2025 Mar 6;17(5):928. doi: 10.3390/nu17050928.
Improving food safety practices among young adults is critical to public health, but effective communication strategies are under-researched. This study investigated the effectiveness of a 12-day message-based intervention to promote safe food handling practices using a randomised controlled trial. A total of 588 participants (aged 18 to 35 years) were randomly assigned to one of four experimental conditions or to a control group. Participants in the intervention groups received daily messages via a mobile app, while the control group received no messages. The intervention combined belief-based content to raise awareness with skill-based content to teach practical food handling, framed by either positive or negative emotional appeals. The experimental conditions differed in message congruence, with belief-based and skill-based content framed either consistently (both positive or both negative) or inconsistently (one positive, one negative). To assess the impact of the intervention, self-reported adherence to food safety practices, food safety awareness, and self-efficacy were measured at baseline and post-intervention. The results showed that the intervention significantly improved food safety practices, especially when the messages were congruent in valence. Pre-intervention self-efficacy moderated the effects, with higher self-efficacy increasing receptivity to certain messages, while lower self-efficacy benefited from a different framing. Self-efficacy, but not awareness, mediated behaviour change, highlighting its key role in the success of the intervention. These results emphasise the importance of message valence congruence and individual self-efficacy levels in designing effective food safety interventions. Future research should investigate long-term intervention effects, adaptive mHealth strategies, and tailored communication approaches to maximise engagement and sustained behaviour change.
改善年轻人的食品安全行为对公众健康至关重要，但有效的沟通策略尚未得到充分研究。本研究采用随机对照试验，调查了一项为期12天的基于信息的干预措施对促进安全食品处理行为的有效性。共有588名参与者（年龄在18至35岁之间）被随机分配到四个实验条件之一或对照组。干预组的参与者通过移动应用程序每天接收信息，而对照组则不接收信息。该干预措施将基于信念的内容（以提高意识）与基于技能的内容（以教授实际食品处理方法）相结合，并以积极或消极的情感诉求为框架。实验条件在信息一致性方面有所不同，基于信念和基于技能的内容要么一致（均为积极或均为消极），要么不一致（一个积极，一个消极）。为了评估干预措施的影响，在基线和干预后测量了自我报告的食品安全行为依从性、食品安全意识和自我效能感。结果表明，该干预措施显著改善了食品安全行为，尤其是当信息在效价上一致时。干预前的自我效能感起到了调节作用，自我效能感较高时对某些信息的接受度增加，而自我效能感较低时则受益于不同的框架。自我效能感而非意识介导了行为改变，突出了其在干预成功中的关键作用。这些结果强调了信息效价一致性和个体自我效能感水平在设计有效的食品安全干预措施中的重要性。未来的研究应调查长期干预效果、适应性移动健康策略以及量身定制的沟通方法，以最大限度地提高参与度和实现持续的行为改变。
