An application of the theory of planned behavior—a randomized controlled food safety pilot intervention for young adults.

Abstract

Objective: Approximately 48 million Americans are affected by foodborne illness each year. Evidence suggests that the application of health psychology theory to food safety interventions can increase behaviors that reduce the incidence of illness such as adequately keeping hands, surfaces and equipment clean. This aim of this pilot study was to be the first to explore the effectiveness of a food safety intervention based on the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB). Methods: Young adult participants (N ϭ 45) were randomly allocated to intervention, general control or mere measurement control conditions. Food safety observations and TPB measures were taken at baseline and at 4-week follow-up. Within and between group differences on target variables were considered and regression analyses were conducted to determine the relationship between condition, behavior and the TPB intention constructs; attitude, subjective norm, perceived behavioral control (PBC). Results: TPB variables at baseline predicted observed food safety behaviors. At follow-up, the intervention led to significant increases in PBC (p ϭ .024) and observed behaviors (p ϭ .001) compared to both control conditions. Furthermore, correlations were found between observed and self-reported behaviors (p ϭ .008). Conclusions: The pilot intervention supports the utility of the TPB as a method of improving food safety behavior. Changes in TPB cognitions appear to be best translated to behavior via behavioral intentions and PBC. Further research should be conducted to increase effectiveness of translating TPB variables to food safety behaviors. The additional finding of a correlation between self-reported and observed behavior also has implications for future research as it provides evidence toward the construct validity of self-reported behavioral measures.

A real-time test of food hazard awareness

“…A recurring issue for observational studies is minimising the effect of observation (Clayton and Griffith, 2001;Evans, 2011) since people tend to behave differently if watched (Gill and Johnson, 1997;Redmond and Griffith, 2003a). Well-designed self-reporting studies are still capable of yielding valuable information; Milton and Mullan (2012) find positive correlations between self-reported and observed food safety behaviours.…”

Food hygiene knowledge in adolescents and young adults

“…For example, the theory of planned bheaviour has been effectively used to explain and change a range of food-related behaviours (Webb and Sheeran, 2006). In the area of food hygiene, Milton and Mullan (2012) recently conducted a Theory of Planned Behaviour based intervention designed to also improve knowledge, as well as attitudes, subjective norms, and perceived behavioural control. This intervention was effective in improving food hygiene behaviour in young adults, and therefore applying models such as the Theory of Planned Behaviour to food hygiene may create more effective interventions.…”

Active behaviour change safety interventions in the construction industry: A systematic review

“…Additional impetus for this work comes from research demonstrating that behaviour change interventions are more effective if they are based on a theoretical understanding of the behaviour, and are designed using theory to select the BCTs with which to target relevant factors (Webb et al, 2010). Indeed, several theory-based interventions in other health-related behaviours developed using this method have been shown to be effective (Kothe et al, 2012;Milton and Mullan, 2012;Sainsbury et al, 2013).…”