Family meals are crucial for family communication and well-being. This text messaging intervention digitalizes Happy Family Kitchen II, a face-to-face community-based intervention previously shown to be effective.
This is a two-arm, parallel-group, randomized controlled trial (RCT) designed to evaluate the effectiveness of a text messaging intervention aimed at promoting happy family meals among Hong Kong adults. Eligible participants are Hong Kong residents aged 18 or older, with at least one parent or child also aged 18 or older, who can read Chinese and have access to Short Message Service (SMS) and Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS) platforms. A target of approximately 1,050 participants will be stratified by four types of family roles and negative emotional eating status and randomized to either the intervention group, receiving a digital booklet, text messages for two weeks, and two family-based activity boosters, or the waitlist control group. The content is based on five positive psychology themes: joy, gratitude, flow, savoring, and listening. Primary outcomes include improvement in family communication and well-being at three months post-intervention.
This study aims to assess the effectiveness of a digital intervention on family communication and well-being through the promotion of happy family meals. By leveraging information communication technologies (ICTs), this intervention offers a scalable and cost-effective approach, providing insights into the feasibility and effectiveness of digitizing community-based interventions.
are Hong Kong adults aged 18+ years who have at least one parent or children (aged 18+ years) other than their spouse in the family,
can read Chinese,
have access to SMS/MMS platform, and
give informed consent (team leaders only).
None
Parallel
Text messaging
BehavioralA digital booklet, text messages for two weeks, and two family-based activity boosters
Control (Usual care)
BehavioralControl only
Changes in family communication
Family communication will be assessed using the 10-item Family Communication Scale, which measures satisfaction with family communication, listening skills, expression of affection, and problem-solving abilities. Responses are scored on a five-point scale from 1 to 5, with total score ranging from 10 to 50 and higher scores indicating better communication.
Changes in family well-being
Family well-being will be measured using three separate questions: "Do you think your family is harmonious/happy/healthy?", each asking respondents to rate their family health, happiness, or harmony on a scale from 0 to 10, with higher scores indicating better outcomes.
Changes in family communication
Family communication will be assessed using the 10-item Family Communication Scale, which measures satisfaction with family communication, listening skills, expression of affection, and problem-solving abilities. Responses are scored on a five-point scale from 1 to 5, with higher scores indicating better communication, with total score ranging from 10 to 50 and higher scores indicating better communication.
Changes in family well-being
Family well-being will be measured using three separate questions: "Do you think your family is harmonious/happy/healthy?", each asking respondents to rate their family health, happiness, or harmony on a scale from 0 to 10, with higher scores indicating better outcomes.
Changes in family meal behavioral outcomes
Family meal behavioral outcomes will be measured using the duration of meals (minutes per meal) and the frequency of five positive psychology experiences (times per week) in the past 7 days.
Changes in symptoms of anxiety and depression
Symptoms of anxiety and depression will be assessed using the Patient Health Questionnaire-4 (PHQ-4). Respondents will indicate the frequency of the described symptoms over the previous two weeks using a 4-point Likert scale from 0 (not at all) to 3 (nearly every day). The total score of each subscale ranges from 0 to 6, with higher scores indicating worse outcomes.
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Dr. Wang Man-Ping
Lead sponsor
The University of Hong Kong
Sponsor institution
The Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Trust
Collaborator
This trial is not recruiting at the moment. You can still explore other options:
