Comparing the impact of educational messages based on an extended parallel process model on solid waste separation behaviors in female students: A four-group randomized trial.

BACKGROUND: The increase in non-separated solid waste is a threat to environmental health. People may be motivated to reduce the destructive effects of waste accumulation in the environment by receiving educational messages and learning the proper methods of waste separation. This study aimed to determine the effect of educational messages on waste separation in dormitory students based on Extended Parallel Process Model (EPPM). METHODS: This randomized controlled trial was performed on 320 students categorized into four groups from October to December 2019. After installing waste separation tags on separate containers, three types of messages were presented to encourage and educate waste separation in the following four groups: threat messages; efficacy messages; threat/efficacy messages; and control group. Data were collected prior to and one week after training by a self-reported valid and reliable questionnaire. They were analyzed in SPSS21. RESULTS: In the efficacy group and threat/efficacy group, not only the mean scores of "perceived threat associated with non-segregation and waste accumulation", "attitude" and "intention" but also the mean score of "efficacy" and "waste separation behavior" were improved (P < 0.05). In both groups, the mean score of "perceived barriers" for waste separation was lower than the other two groups (P < 0.001). DISCUSSION: Use of efficacy-based massages alone or in combination with the threat component was proposed to promote waste separation. No specific study has documented the effectiveness of messages based on EPPM on solid waste separation behaviors. The current study highlighted the effectiveness of using EPPM to promote waste-separation behavior in practice, not in theory.

Development and psychometric evaluation of waste separation beliefs and behaviors scale among female students of medical sciences university based on the extended parallel process model.

BACKGROUND: The increasing production of un-recycled waste is a great threat to public health. Therefore, assessment and measurement of people's beliefs and perceptions with regard to these threats can contribute to the development of suitable educational messages promoting waste separation behaviors. This study aimed to carry out the scale development and psychometric evaluation of behaviors and beliefs associated with waste separation among female students. METHOD: This methodological research was performed in 2019. The primary questionnaire was developed based on the assessment of waste separation beliefs and behaviors based on the extended parallel process model. Afterwards, to confirm the content and face validity of the research tool, the opinions of 14 faculty members and certain students were asked for, respectively. In order to assess the construct validity of the questionnaire, exploratory factor analysis was performed based on the data collected from 386 female students in Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Iran. The internal and external reliability of the tool was determined through estimating Cronbach's alpha and test-retest based on intraclass correlation (ICC) index, respectively. RESULTS: The mean age and academic semester of the students were 22 ± 1.9 years and 5.58 ± 2.6, respectively. The primary version of the questionnaire was designed with 65 items; one item was omitted during the content validity process. Construct validity with factor analysis technique yielded nine dimensions including 64 items with a factor loading above 0.3. The overall reliability of the research tool was confirmed at Cronbach's alpha of 0.87. Furthermore, the ICC of the entire questionnaire was 0.89. CONCLUSION: According to the results of the study, the final 64-item questionnaire could be used by various researchers to assess waste separation beliefs and behaviors considering suitable psychometric features.