Cognitive and Emotional Inoculation Against Nutrition-Related Misinformation in Young Adults
4. september 2026 oppdatert av: 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.
Studieoversikt
Status
Har ikke rekruttert ennå
Detaljert beskrivelse
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
Intervensjonell
Registrering (Antatt)
330
Fase
- Ikke aktuelt
Kontakter og plasseringer
Denne delen inneholder kontaktinformasjon for de som utfører studien, og informasjon om hvor denne studien blir utført.
Studiekontakt
- Navn: Xue Weng
- Telefonnummer: 3621259
- E-post: xueweng@bnu.edu.cn
Studiesteder
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Guangdong
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Zhuhai, Guangdong, Kina, 519087
- Beijing Normal University
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Deltakelseskriterier
Forskere ser etter personer som passer til en bestemt beskrivelse, kalt kvalifikasjonskriterier. Noen eksempler på disse kriteriene er en persons generelle helsetilstand eller tidligere behandlinger.
Kvalifikasjonskriterier
Alder som er kvalifisert for studier
- Voksen
Tar imot friske frivillige
Nei
Beskrivelse
Inclusion Criteria:
- Aged 18 to 30 years.
- Able to read and understand Chinese.
- Able to access and independently complete the online intervention game and study questionnaires.
- Has access to WeChat for study communication and follow-up reminders.
- Provides electronic informed consent.
Exclusion Criteria:
- Younger than 18 years or older than 30 years.
- Unable to read Chinese or independently complete the online study procedures.
- Does not provide electronic informed consent.
Studieplan
Denne delen gir detaljer om studieplanen, inkludert hvordan studien er utformet og hva studien måler.
Hvordan er studiet utformet?
Designdetaljer
- Primært formål: Forebygging
- Tildeling: Randomisert
- Intervensjonsmodell: Parallell tildeling
- Masking: Enkelt
Våpen og intervensjoner
Deltakergruppe / Arm |
Intervensjon / Behandling |
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Eksperimentell: Cognitive Inoculation
Cognitive Game-Based Inoculation
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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.
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Eksperimentell: Affective Inoculation
Emotional Game-Based Inoculation
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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.
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Aktiv komparator: General Nutrition Education
General Nutrition Health Education
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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.
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Hva måler studien?
Primære resultatmål
Resultatmål |
Tiltaksbeskrivelse |
Tidsramme |
|---|---|---|
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Manipulation-Technique Recognition Accuracy
Tidsramme: Baseline (T0), immediate post-intervention (T1), and 2-week follow-up (T2).
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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.
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Baseline (T0), immediate post-intervention (T1), and 2-week follow-up (T2).
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Perceived Credibility of Nutrition-Related Misinformation
Tidsramme: Baseline (T0), immediate post-intervention (T1), and 2-week follow-up (T2).
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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.
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Baseline (T0), immediate post-intervention (T1), and 2-week follow-up (T2).
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Sekundære resultatmål
Resultatmål |
Tiltaksbeskrivelse |
Tidsramme |
|---|---|---|
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Intention to Share Nutrition-Related Misinformation
Tidsramme: Baseline (T0), immediate post-intervention (T1), and 2-week follow-up (T2).
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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.
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Baseline (T0), immediate post-intervention (T1), and 2-week follow-up (T2).
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Intention to Fact-Check Nutrition-Related Information
Tidsramme: Baseline (T0), immediate post-intervention (T1), and 2-week follow-up (T2).
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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.
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Baseline (T0), immediate post-intervention (T1), and 2-week follow-up (T2).
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Perceived Manipulativeness
Tidsramme: Baseline (T0), immediate post-intervention (T1), and 2-week follow-up (T2).
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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.
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Baseline (T0), immediate post-intervention (T1), and 2-week follow-up (T2).
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Perceived Emotional Manipulation
Tidsramme: Baseline (T0), immediate post-intervention (T1), and 2-week follow-up (T2).
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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.
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Baseline (T0), immediate post-intervention (T1), and 2-week follow-up (T2).
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Perceived Threat
Tidsramme: Baseline (T0), immediate post-intervention (T1), and 2-week follow-up (T2).
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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.
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Baseline (T0), immediate post-intervention (T1), and 2-week follow-up (T2).
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Counterarguing in Response to Nutrition-Related Misinformation
Tidsramme: Baseline (T0), immediate post-intervention (T1), and 2-week follow-up (T2).
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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.
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Baseline (T0), immediate post-intervention (T1), and 2-week follow-up (T2).
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Misinformation-Detection Self-Efficacy
Tidsramme: Baseline (T0) and 2-week follow-up (T2).
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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.
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Baseline (T0) and 2-week follow-up (T2).
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Andre resultatmål
Resultatmål |
Tiltaksbeskrivelse |
Tidsramme |
|---|---|---|
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Critical and Electronic Health Literacy
Tidsramme: Baseline (T0) and 2-week follow-up (T2).
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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.
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Baseline (T0) and 2-week follow-up (T2).
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Samarbeidspartnere og etterforskere
Det er her du vil finne personer og organisasjoner som er involvert i denne studien.
Sponsor
Etterforskere
- Hovedetterforsker: Xue Weng, Beijing Normal University
Studierekorddatoer
Disse datoene sporer fremdriften for innsending av studieposter og sammendragsresultater til ClinicalTrials.gov. Studieposter og rapporterte resultater gjennomgås av National Library of Medicine (NLM) for å sikre at de oppfyller spesifikke kvalitetskontrollstandarder før de legges ut på det offentlige nettstedet.
Studer hoveddatoer
Studiestart (Antatt)
1. september 2026
Primær fullføring (Antatt)
30. desember 2026
Studiet fullført (Antatt)
30. juni 2027
Datoer for studieregistrering
Først innsendt
31. august 2026
Først innsendt som oppfylte QC-kriteriene
31. august 2026
Først lagt ut (Faktiske)
3. september 2026
Oppdateringer av studieposter
Sist oppdatering lagt ut (Faktiske)
9. september 2026
Siste oppdatering sendt inn som oppfylte QC-kriteriene
4. september 2026
Sist bekreftet
1. september 2026
Mer informasjon
Begreper knyttet til denne studien
Nøkkelord
Ytterligere relevante MeSH-vilkår
Andre studie-ID-numre
- Nutrition Misinformation Trial
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