Impact of media literacy education on knowledge and behavioral intention of adolescents in dealing with media messages according to stages of change

Introduction: Mass media influence the health behaviors ofadolescents. Evidence shows that traditional strategies suchas censorship or limitation are no longer efficient; therefore,teaching media literacy is the best way to protect adolescents fromharmful effects. The aim of this pilot study was to evaluate theeffects of a media literacy training program on knowledge andbehavioral intention of a sample of female students according tothe stages of change in dealing with media messages.Methods: The study was conducted based on a pre-test and posttestcontrol group design. Some 198 female students including 101in the intervention group and 97 in the control group participatedin this study. The educational program was run using interactiveteaching-learning techniques. Data collection was performedusing a validated and reliable self-administered questionnaire inthree phases including a pre-test, post-test, 1 and post-test, 2. Theresearch data was analyzed through SPSS statistical software,version 14 using both descriptive and inferential statistics.Results: The results of the study showed a significant increase(p=0.001) in the intervention group’s knowledge mean scoresafter the training program. On the other hand, the difference wasnot significant in the control group (p=0.200). A considerablepercentage of the participants, in the intervention and controlgroups, were in pre contemplation and contemplation stagesin the pre-test (64 and 61, respectively). After the intervention,however, a significant improvement (p=0.001) was observed inthe intervention group’s stages of change compared to that inthe control group. The distribution of the control group studentsregarding the stages of change was similar to that in the pre-test.Conclusion: The study findings revealed that the planned educationprograms are efficient to improve the adolescents’ knowledge andbehavioral intention in dealing with mass media messages.Keywords: Media literacy, Education, Adolescents, knowledge