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Cognitive and Emotional Inoculation Against Nutrition-Related Misinformation in Young Adults

4 september 2026 bijgewerkt door: Beijing Normal University

Cognitive and Emotional Inoculation Against Nutrition-Related Misinformation in Young Adults: A Randomized Controlled Trial

This study aims to examine the effects of cognitive and emotional inoculation interventions on young adults' ability to identify and respond to nutrition-related misinformation on social media. The study will compare two game-based inoculation approaches-a cognitive inoculation intervention and an emotional inoculation intervention-with a control condition. Outcomes will be assessed at baseline, immediately after the intervention, and 2 weeks later.

Studie Overzicht

Toestand

Nog niet aan het werven

Conditie

Interventie / Behandeling

Gedetailleerde beschrijving

Nutrition-related misinformation is increasingly disseminated through social media and may influence how young adults perceive and make decisions about food, diet, and health. Such misinformation may rely not only on inaccurate or unsupported claims but also on persuasive communication techniques, including appeals to authority, unrealistic promises, fear appeals, conspiracy narratives, and absolute or dichotomous framing. These techniques may influence judgments by eliciting trust, desire, anxiety, anger, or decision-related pressure.

This three-arm randomized controlled trial will compare two game-based inoculation interventions-a cognitive inoculation intervention and an emotional inoculation intervention-with a control condition. Participants will encounter common persuasive techniques used in nutrition-related misinformation and receive condition-specific feedback. The cognitive intervention is designed to promote recognition of misleading techniques and verification of supporting evidence. The emotional intervention is designed to promote recognition of emotional cues associated with manipulative messages and reflection on how such cues may influence judgment. The study will assess participants' responses to nutrition-related social media posts at baseline, immediately after the intervention, and 2 weeks later to examine both immediate and sustained effects.

Studietype

Ingrijpend

Inschrijving (Geschat)

330

Fase

  • Niet toepasbaar

Contacten en locaties

In dit gedeelte vindt u de contactgegevens van degenen die het onderzoek uitvoeren en informatie over waar dit onderzoek wordt uitgevoerd.

Studiecontact

Studie Locaties

  • China
    • Guangdong
      • Zhuhai, Guangdong, China, 519087
        • Beijing Normal University

Deelname Criteria

Onderzoekers zoeken naar mensen die aan een bepaalde beschrijving voldoen, de zogenaamde geschiktheidscriteria. Enkele voorbeelden van deze criteria zijn iemands algemene gezondheidstoestand of eerdere behandelingen.

Geschiktheidscriteria

Leeftijden die in aanmerking komen voor studie

  • Volwassen

Accepteert gezonde vrijwilligers

Nee

Beschrijving

Inclusion Criteria:

  1. Aged 18 to 30 years.
  2. Able to read and understand Chinese.
  3. Able to access and independently complete the online intervention game and study questionnaires.
  4. Has access to WeChat for study communication and follow-up reminders.
  5. Provides electronic informed consent.

Exclusion Criteria:

  1. Younger than 18 years or older than 30 years.
  2. Unable to read Chinese or independently complete the online study procedures.
  3. Does not provide electronic informed consent.

Studie plan

Dit gedeelte bevat details van het studieplan, inclusief hoe de studie is opgezet en wat de studie meet.

Hoe is de studie opgezet?

Ontwerpdetails

  • Primair doel: Preventie
  • Toewijzing: Gerandomiseerd
  • Interventioneel model: Parallelle opdracht
  • Masker: Enkel

Wapens en interventies

Deelnemersgroep / Arm
Interventie / Behandeling
Experimenteel: Cognitive Inoculation
Cognitive Game-Based Inoculation
Gedragsmatig: Cognitive Game-Based Inoculation.
Participants will complete a five-level interactive game designed to build resistance to nutrition-related misinformation on social media. In each level, participants act as a health-content creator and choose between an original social media post and alternative titles that may use misleading persuasive techniques. The game addresses five techniques: fake authority, impossible expectations, fear appeals, conspiracy framing, and false dichotomies. After each decision, participants receive cognitive feedback explaining how the misleading technique operates, the linguistic cues that may indicate its use, and how to evaluate whether the claim is supported by verifiable evidence.
Experimenteel: Affective Inoculation
Emotional Game-Based Inoculation
Gedragsmatig: Emotional Game-Based Inoculation.
Participants will complete a five-level interactive game designed to build resistance to nutrition-related misinformation on social media. The game uses the same scenarios and addresses the same five misleading techniques as the cognitive inoculation intervention: fake authority, impossible expectations, fear appeals, conspiracy framing, and false dichotomies. After each decision, participants receive emotional feedback designed to help them recognize and reflect on the emotional cues triggered by manipulative messages, including unwarranted reassurance, desire, anxiety, anger, and pressure to make extreme choices. The feedback explains how these emotional responses may influence judgment of nutrition-related information.
Actieve vergelijker: General Nutrition Education
General Nutrition Health Education
Gedragsmatig: General Nutrition Health Education.
Participants will read eight brief sections of general nutrition health education adapted from the Chinese Dietary Guidelines (2022). This condition provides credible healthy-diet information without instruction about nutrition-related misinformation, persuasive techniques, evidence verification, fact-checking, or emotional manipulation cues. The sections cover dietary variety; energy balance and physical activity; fruit and vegetable intake; animal-source foods; limiting salt, oil, sugar, and alcohol; regular meals and adequate hydration; food selection, label reading, and food hygiene; and sustainable dietary practices.

Wat meet het onderzoek?

Primaire uitkomstmaten

Uitkomstmaat
Maatregel Beschrijving
Tijdsspanne
Manipulation-Technique Recognition Accuracy
Tijdsspanne: Baseline (T0), immediate post-intervention (T1), and 2-week follow-up (T2).
Change from baseline in the accuracy of recognizing manipulation techniques in nutrition-related social-media information will be assessed using simulated posts containing both misleading and accurate content. Participants will identify the persuasion or manipulation technique used in each post, or indicate that no misleading technique is present. Higher scores indicate better recognition accuracy.
Baseline (T0), immediate post-intervention (T1), and 2-week follow-up (T2).
Perceived Credibility of Nutrition-Related Misinformation
Tijdsspanne: Baseline (T0), immediate post-intervention (T1), and 2-week follow-up (T2).
Change from baseline in perceived credibility of nutrition-related misinformation will be assessed using simulated social-media posts about diet and health. Participants will rate the perceived credibility of each post using a 7-point Likert scale ranging from 1 (not at all credible) to 7 (extremely credible). Higher scores indicate greater perceived credibility of nutrition-related misinformation, representing a worse outcome. Lower scores indicate lower perceived credibility of nutrition-related misinformation.
Baseline (T0), immediate post-intervention (T1), and 2-week follow-up (T2).

Secundaire uitkomstmaten

Uitkomstmaat
Maatregel Beschrijving
Tijdsspanne
Intention to Share Nutrition-Related Misinformation
Tijdsspanne: Baseline (T0), immediate post-intervention (T1), and 2-week follow-up (T2).
Change from baseline in willingness to share nutrition-related misinformation will be assessed using simulated social-media posts about diet and health. Participants will rate their willingness to share the information with others on a 7-point Likert scale ranging from 1 (very unlikely) to 7 (very likely). Higher scores indicate greater intention to share nutrition-related misinformation and represent a worse outcome.
Baseline (T0), immediate post-intervention (T1), and 2-week follow-up (T2).
Intention to Fact-Check Nutrition-Related Information
Tijdsspanne: Baseline (T0), immediate post-intervention (T1), and 2-week follow-up (T2).
Change from baseline in intention to verify nutrition-related information will be assessed using simulated social-media posts about diet and health. Participants will rate the extent to which they would check whether the information is accurate or supported by reliable evidence on a 7-point Likert scale ranging from 1 (very unlikely) to 7 (very likely). Higher scores indicate greater intention to fact-check nutrition-related information and represent a better outcome.
Baseline (T0), immediate post-intervention (T1), and 2-week follow-up (T2).
Perceived Manipulativeness
Tijdsspanne: Baseline (T0), immediate post-intervention (T1), and 2-week follow-up (T2).
Change from baseline in perceived manipulativeness will be assessed by participants' ratings of the extent to which nutrition-related social-media posts are perceived as deliberately attempting to influence or guide their judgment. Ratings will be made on a 7-point Likert scale ranging from 1 (not at all manipulative) to 7 (extremely manipulative). Higher scores indicate greater perceived manipulativeness.
Baseline (T0), immediate post-intervention (T1), and 2-week follow-up (T2).
Perceived Emotional Manipulation
Tijdsspanne: Baseline (T0), immediate post-intervention (T1), and 2-week follow-up (T2).
Change from baseline in perceived emotional manipulation will be assessed in response to nutrition-related social-media posts. Participants will rate the extent to which the posts rely on emotional appeals rather than factual information.Ratings will be made on 7-point Likert scale ranging from 1 (not at all) to 7 (extremely). Higher scores indicate greater perceived emotional manipulation.
Baseline (T0), immediate post-intervention (T1), and 2-week follow-up (T2).
Perceived Threat
Tijdsspanne: Baseline (T0), immediate post-intervention (T1), and 2-week follow-up (T2).
Change from baseline in perceived threat will be assessed in response to nutrition-related social-media posts. Participants will rate the extent to which the posts evoke concerns about personal health.Ratings will be made on 7-point Likert scale ranging from 1 (not at all) to 7 (extremely).Higher scores indicate greater perceived threat.
Baseline (T0), immediate post-intervention (T1), and 2-week follow-up (T2).
Counterarguing in Response to Nutrition-Related Misinformation
Tijdsspanne: Baseline (T0), immediate post-intervention (T1), and 2-week follow-up (T2).
Change from baseline in counterarguing will be assessed by participants' self-reported tendency to generate thoughts that question, challenge, or critically evaluate the claims made in nutrition-related social-media posts. Responses will be rated on a 7-point Likert scale ranging from 1 (strongly disagree) to 7 (strongly agree). Higher scores indicate greater counterarguing and represent a better outcome.
Baseline (T0), immediate post-intervention (T1), and 2-week follow-up (T2).
Misinformation-Detection Self-Efficacy
Tijdsspanne: Baseline (T0) and 2-week follow-up (T2).
Change from baseline in confidence in detecting false, exaggerated, or insufficiently supported nutrition-related information and in verifying its source will be assessed using self-report items rated on 7-point Likert scale ranging from 1 (not at all confident) to 7 (extremely confident). Higher scores indicate greater misinformation-detection self-efficacy.
Baseline (T0) and 2-week follow-up (T2).

Andere uitkomstmaten

Uitkomstmaat
Maatregel Beschrijving
Tijdsspanne
Critical and Electronic Health Literacy
Tijdsspanne: Baseline (T0) and 2-week follow-up (T2).
Change from baseline in critical and electronic health literacy will be assessed using self-report items addressing participants' ability to find, evaluate, and apply online diet- and health-related information, including the ability to identify omissions, exaggeration, or weak evidence. Responses will be rated on 7-point Likert scale ranging from 1 (strongly disagree) to 7 (strongly agree). Higher scores indicate higher critical and electronic health literacy.
Baseline (T0) and 2-week follow-up (T2).

Medewerkers en onderzoekers

Hier vindt u mensen en organisaties die betrokken zijn bij dit onderzoek.

Sponsor

Beijing Normal University

Onderzoekers

  • Hoofdonderzoeker: Xue Weng, Beijing Normal University

Studie record data

Deze datums volgen de voortgang van het onderzoeksdossier en de samenvatting van de ingediende resultaten bij ClinicalTrials.gov. Studieverslagen en gerapporteerde resultaten worden beoordeeld door de National Library of Medicine (NLM) om er zeker van te zijn dat ze voldoen aan specifieke kwaliteitscontrolenormen voordat ze op de openbare website worden geplaatst.

Bestudeer belangrijke data

Studie start (Geschat)

1 september 2026

Primaire voltooiing (Geschat)

30 december 2026

Studie voltooiing (Geschat)

30 juni 2027

Studieregistratiedata

Eerst ingediend

31 augustus 2026

Eerst ingediend dat voldeed aan de QC-criteria

31 augustus 2026

Eerst geplaatst (Werkelijk)

3 september 2026

Updates van studierecords

Laatste update geplaatst (Werkelijk)

9 september 2026

Laatste update ingediend die voldeed aan QC-criteria

4 september 2026

Laatst geverifieerd

1 september 2026

Meer informatie

Termen gerelateerd aan deze studie

Trefwoorden

Aanvullende relevante MeSH-voorwaarden

Andere studie-ID-nummers

  • Nutrition Misinformation Trial

Plan Individuele Deelnemersgegevens (IPD)

Bent u van plan om gegevens van individuele deelnemers (IPD) te delen?

NEE

Informatie over medicijnen en apparaten, studiedocumenten

Bestudeert een door de Amerikaanse FDA gereguleerd geneesmiddel

Nee

Bestudeert een door de Amerikaanse FDA gereguleerd apparaatproduct

Nee

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