Building habit strength: A pilot intervention designed to improve food-safety behavior

The purpose of this study was to firstly design an intervention to decrease cross-contamination in the home by the development of the habitual behavior of microwaving the dishcloth/sponge and secondly to determine if this behavior could be maintained over time. Participants were randomly assigned to...

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Main Authors: Mullan, Barbara, Allom, Vanessa, Fayn, K., Johnston, I.
Format: Journal Article
Published: Elsevier 2014
Subjects:
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/30543
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author Mullan, Barbara
Allom, Vanessa
Fayn, K.
Johnston, I.
author_facet Mullan, Barbara
Allom, Vanessa
Fayn, K.
Johnston, I.
author_sort Mullan, Barbara
building Curtin Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description The purpose of this study was to firstly design an intervention to decrease cross-contamination in the home by the development of the habitual behavior of microwaving the dishcloth/sponge and secondly to determine if this behavior could be maintained over time. Participants were randomly assigned to either a high-frequency or low-frequency reminder habit building condition or a control condition. Results indicated that for both habit building conditions, food-safety behavior significantly increased compared to the control group and these changes were maintained at follow-up. Additionally, improvement in behavior was mediated by anincrease in habit strength. The major conclusion of this study is that providing a cue to action and reminders builds food-safety habits that result in changes in food-safety behaviors. This has major implications for other food-safety interventions.
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publishDate 2014
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spelling curtin-20.500.11937-305432019-02-19T05:36:14Z Building habit strength: A pilot intervention designed to improve food-safety behavior Mullan, Barbara Allom, Vanessa Fayn, K. Johnston, I. Food-safety Behavior change Habit Food-hygiene Intervention The purpose of this study was to firstly design an intervention to decrease cross-contamination in the home by the development of the habitual behavior of microwaving the dishcloth/sponge and secondly to determine if this behavior could be maintained over time. Participants were randomly assigned to either a high-frequency or low-frequency reminder habit building condition or a control condition. Results indicated that for both habit building conditions, food-safety behavior significantly increased compared to the control group and these changes were maintained at follow-up. Additionally, improvement in behavior was mediated by anincrease in habit strength. The major conclusion of this study is that providing a cue to action and reminders builds food-safety habits that result in changes in food-safety behaviors. This has major implications for other food-safety interventions. 2014 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/30543 10.1016/j.foodres.2014.09.027 Elsevier fulltext
spellingShingle Food-safety
Behavior change
Habit
Food-hygiene
Intervention
Mullan, Barbara
Allom, Vanessa
Fayn, K.
Johnston, I.
Building habit strength: A pilot intervention designed to improve food-safety behavior
title Building habit strength: A pilot intervention designed to improve food-safety behavior
title_full Building habit strength: A pilot intervention designed to improve food-safety behavior
title_fullStr Building habit strength: A pilot intervention designed to improve food-safety behavior
title_full_unstemmed Building habit strength: A pilot intervention designed to improve food-safety behavior
title_short Building habit strength: A pilot intervention designed to improve food-safety behavior
title_sort building habit strength: a pilot intervention designed to improve food-safety behavior
topic Food-safety
Behavior change
Habit
Food-hygiene
Intervention
url http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/30543