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

NCT07803380 | Not Yet Recruiting DMC

• 1 other identifier: Nutrition Misinformation Trial
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 330
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

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.

Conditions

Health Misinformation; Misinformation; Digital Health Literacy; Health Communication

Keywords

Inoculation theory; Cognitive inoculation; Emotional inoculation; Nutrition misinformation; Misinformation; Young adults; Social media; Health literacy

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (2)

• Perceived Credibility of Nutrition-Related Misinformation

  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).

• Manipulation-Technique Recognition Accuracy

  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).

Secondary Outcomes (7)

• Intention to Share Nutrition-Related Misinformation

  Baseline (T0), immediate post-intervention (T1), and 2-week follow-up (T2).

• Intention to Fact-Check Nutrition-Related Information

  Baseline (T0), immediate post-intervention (T1), and 2-week follow-up (T2).

• Perceived Manipulativeness

  Baseline (T0), immediate post-intervention (T1), and 2-week follow-up (T2).

• Perceived Emotional Manipulation

  Baseline (T0), immediate post-intervention (T1), and 2-week follow-up (T2).

• Perceived Threat

  Baseline (T0), immediate post-intervention (T1), and 2-week follow-up (T2).

Other Outcomes (1)

• Critical and Electronic Health Literacy

  Baseline (T0) and 2-week follow-up (T2).

Study Arms (3)

Cognitive Inoculation

EXPERIMENTAL

Cognitive Game-Based Inoculation

Behavioral: Cognitive Game-Based Inoculation.

Affective Inoculation

EXPERIMENTAL

Emotional Game-Based Inoculation

Behavioral: Emotional Game-Based Inoculation.

General Nutrition Education

ACTIVE COMPARATOR

General Nutrition Health Education

Behavioral: General Nutrition Health Education.

Interventions

Cognitive Game-Based Inoculation. BEHAVIORAL

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.

Cognitive Inoculation

Emotional Game-Based Inoculation. BEHAVIORAL

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.

Affective Inoculation

General Nutrition Health Education. BEHAVIORAL

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.

General Nutrition Education

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 18 Years - 30 Years
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: No
• Age Groups: Adult (18-64)

You may qualify if:

• 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.

You may not qualify if:

• 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.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Beijing Normal University: lead

Study Sites (1)

Beijing Normal University

Zhuhai, Guangdong, 519087, China

Location

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Communication

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Behavior

Study Officials

• Xue Weng

  Beijing Normal University

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

Central Study Contacts

Xue Weng

CONTACT

3621259; xueweng@bnu.edu.cn

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Masking: SINGLE
• Who Masked: OUTCOMES ASSESSOR
• Purpose: PREVENTION
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: SPONSOR

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: August 31, 2026
• First Posted: September 3, 2026
• Study Start: September 1, 2026
• Primary Completion (Estimated): December 30, 2026
• Study Completion (Estimated): June 30, 2027
• Last Updated: September 9, 2026

Record last verified: 2026-09

Data Sharing

• IPD Sharing: Will not share

Locations

CN (1)