Health BehaviorNCT06681792
Workshops Based on Protection Motivation Theory and Climate Change
A study testing Climate Change Workshops Based on Protection Motivation Theory in people with Health Behavior and Climate Change, run by Selcuk University at 1 site in Turkey (Türkiye).
Trial summary
"This study aims to evaluate the impact of climate change workshops grounded in Protection Motivation Theory (PMT) on students' climate change awareness, environmental consciousness, and pro-environmental behaviors. Read more about this study
- Who is it for?
- Ages 12 to 13 yearsHealthy volunteers can take part
- Conditions the study is for
- Health Behavior, Climate Change, Students
- What is being tested?
- Climate Change Workshops Based on Protection Motivation Theory
- Type of treatment
- Lifestyle or therapy programme
- Could I receive a placebo?
- No, everyone receives an active treatment
- How many people
- 66 participants
- Where
- 1 siteTurkey (Türkiye)
- Study dates
- 18 Feb 2026to Jul 2026
- Phase
- Interventional
- Are there results?
- Not yet: the study is under way
Key requirements
Who can take part, as listed by the sponsor. Only the study team can confirm whether you are eligible, so take this list to your doctor.
- Ages 12 to 13 years
- All sexes
- Healthy volunteers accepted
- Child
Who may be able to join
- Being 12-13 years old and attend the school where the study is being conducted,
- Voluntarily agree to take part in the research,
- Consent from the student's family to participate in the study,
Who cannot join
- If the pupil has an allergy to plants or grass.
Trial locations and contacts
1 site in 1 country. Contact the study team or a site near you to ask about taking part.
Turkey (Türkiye)1 site, 1 recruiting
- Recruiting
Selçuklu Belediyesi Ortaokulu
Konya, 42130
Deniz KOCOGLU-TANYER, deniizkocoglu@gmail.com
Ramazan Akçakaya, +90332355 25 64
About this study
Official title: The Effect of Climate Change Workshops Based on Protection Motivation Theory on Middle School Students' Climate Change Awareness, Environmental Awareness, and Eco-Friendly Behaviors: A Randomized Controlled Trial
"This study aims to evaluate the impact of climate change workshops grounded in Protection Motivation Theory (PMT) on students' climate change awareness, environmental consciousness, and pro-environmental behaviors. The primary objective is to foster awareness, environmental literacy, and sustainable behavioral shifts among middle school students, thereby empowering them to adopt eco-friendly practices to mitigate the effects of climate change.
Note on Protocol Revision: Due to cognitive suitability concerns identified during the pilot phase, the target population was shifted from primary to middle school students following expert consultation. This shift necessitated modifications to certain assessment instruments. These revisions have been approved by the ethics committee, and a new ethics approval number has been issued (Date of first protocol entry: July,2024).
Read the detailed description
Climate change is a global problem and one of the most important public health issues of the 21st century. The direct and indirect impacts of climate change on human health are as follows. While it poses unique and significant threats to public health and well-being through direct impacts on heat stress, flooding and the spread of infectious diseases, food and water insecurity, conflict and migration, and in relation to fossil fuels, it also adversely affects human health through indirect impacts on livelihoods, equity, community health and social support structures, which are social determinants of health.
Due to the increasing effects of climate change, many different disciplines such as physics, biology, meteorology and geology are carrying out important studies with the main aim of halting the negative trend and ensuring the survival of species. In addition to scientific studies, many institutions and organisations are raising awareness of climate change and encouraging people to take institutional and individual action. Scientific studies in the field of health focus on understanding the effects of climate change on human health and evaluating the impact of interventions that focus on individual behaviour change in the fight against climate change. These are interventions such as sending messages for environmentally friendly behaviour, online chats, nature-based education programmes, watching films and peer education.
When the effectiveness of these interventions is evaluated, it is seen that they have a positive effect in reducing the negative consequences of climate change while improving their environmental knowledge, attitudes and intentions. However, while the impact of the interventions on climate change is small while the interventions are ongoing, there is no evidence of a positive impact when the interventions end. The fact that the effects of interventions are long-lasting highlights the need for interventions that are modelled and targeted at younger age groups to achieve behaviour change. The theory of protective motivation, which is based on the assessment of the magnitude of harm caused by an event, the likelihood of the event occurring and the presence of a protective activity, is a promising theory for mitigating the impacts of climate change and achieving behaviour change.
This theory, which is educational and motivational, offers suggestions as to why people tend to engage in unhealthy practices and how these behaviours can be changed. From the literature, it is known that interventions with primary school children can lead to recycling awareness, environmental sensitivity, eco-donation and eco-action. In order for these effects to be lasting, it is also important to ensure the permanence of threat awareness and coping. For this reason, this study examines the effect of climate change workshops based on Protection Motivation Theory for primary school students on the outcomes of students' environmental awareness, climate change awareness and adoption of environmentally friendly behaviours.
- Conditions
- Health Behavior, Climate Change, Students
- Being tested
- Climate Change Workshops Based on Protection Motivation Theory
- Keywords
- Protection Motivation Theory, Primary School Students, Climate Change, Awareness, Eco-friendly behavior
- Medical subject headings
- Health Behavior
What participants receive
What participants receive. In a randomised study each person is assigned to one group by chance.
Climate Change Workshops Based on Protection Motivation TheoryBehavioural
The experimental group will participate in five weekly workshops. Each workshop is scheduled to last 40 minutes. The climate change awareness workshops, grounded in Protection Motivation Theory, will address the following subjects: the balance of nature and climate change, the adoption of environmentally friendly behaviours, calculating one's ecological footprint, mitigating the effects of climate change, and the Eco-School program. The workshops will include a variety of interactive activities, such as students expressing their thoughts on weekly topics, playing topic-related games, brainstorming, watching videos, writing essays, making seed balls, and delivering presentations. Feedback was obtained from four experts for the prepared workshops. The programme was evaluated in terms of content, duration, and compatibility with the model by experts in the fields of public health (three) and education and programme development (one).
| Study group | Role | What they receive |
|---|---|---|
| Climate Change Mitigation Workshop Grup | Experimental | The experimental group will take part in seven weekly workshops based on Protection Motivation Theory . Receives: Behavioral: Climate Change Workshops Based on Protection Motivation Theory |
| No-intervention Control | No intervention | The control group will not receive any intervention. It was planned to apply the data collection instruments to the control group under the supervision of the researcher and in parallel with the intervention group during the same period. |
What is being measured
The primary outcome is the main question the study is designed to answer.
Global clımate change awareness scale for middle school students
The scale developed by Satmaz et al. (2024) consists of 19 items across three sub-dimensions: 'effects of climate change,' 'knowledge awareness,' and 'causes of climate change.' The scale's reliability coefficient (Cronbach's alpha) was found to be 0.910, and the total explained variance was 57.181%. Data were collected using a five-point Likert scale, ranging from 1 (Strongly Agree) to 5 (Strongly Disagree), with intermediate values representing varying degrees of agreement.
Measured: T0 (Pre-test) T1 (15 days after the end of the procedure) T2 (3 months after the end of the procedure)
Environmental Attitudes at the Middle School Level
The scale, developed by Sontay et al. (2015), consists of 15 items and three sub-dimensions. The sub-dimensions of the scale are "environmental responsibility", "environmental sensitivity", and "environmental perception". The environmental sensitivity sub-dimension of the scale has 5 items, and its Cronbach alpha value is 0.807. While the total variance of the scale is 59.075, the variance of the environmental sensitivity sub-dimension is found to be 19.1.
Measured: T0 (Pre-test) T1 (15 days after the end of the procedure) T2 (3 months after the end of the procedure)
Environmental Responsible Behavior Scale
The Environmental Responsible Behaviors Scale (ERBS) was developed to measure environmentally responsible behaviors in fifth-grade students (Erdogan, Ok, and Marcinkowski, 2012). The scale under consideration is comprised of 26 items and four sub-dimensions: physical conservation behavior, consumption and economic behavior, personal and general persuasion behavior, and political behavior. The Cronbach's alpha values for the sub-dimensions are as follows: 0.80 for physical conservation behavior, 0.60 for consumption and economic behavior, 0.79 for personal and general persuasion behavior, and 0.91 for political behavior. The scale's validity was assessed through confirmatory factor analysis, which yielded favorable results. An increase in the scale score is indicative of a positive change in behavior.
Measured: T0 (Pre-test) T1 (15 days after the end of the procedure) T2 (3 months after the end of the procedure)
Secondary outcomes (1)
The Questionnaire on Children's Perceptions of the Four Elements of the Theory of Protective Motivation
This 13-item questionnaire was developed based on the work of Shafiei and Maleksaeidi (2020). It employs a three-point Likert scale (1: Disagree, 2: Partially Agree, 3: Agree). In line with the theory, the 'threat assessment' section has seven items (perceived severity: 4; perceived vulnerability: 3), and the 'coping assessment' section has six items (response effectiveness: 3; self-efficacy: 3). A prior study by the research team with students showed a Cronbach's alpha of 0.84. Exploratory factor analysis confirmed that the items account for 72% of the environmental attitudes targeted by Protection Motivation Theory. A higher score in the threat assessment section indicates a heightened perception of threat, while a higher score in the coping assessment section indicates an increase in coping capacity.
Measured: T0 (Pre-test) T1 (15 days after the end of the procedure) T2 (3 months after the end of the procedure)
Timeline
From the start of the study to its completion; the mark is today. Estimated dates are the sponsor’s plan.
- First posted8 Nov 2024
- Study start18 Feb 2026
- Primary completionApr 2026 (estimated)
- Study completionJul 2026 (estimated)
Resources
- Official record on ClinicalTrials.govThe registry entry this page is built from, with its full change history.
- Other trials for Health BehaviorStudies of the same condition, open and under way.
- More trials run by Selcuk UniversityThe sponsor's other registered studies.
- What the trial phases meanHow a treatment moves from first tests in people to approval.
More details
For doctors and researchers: how the study is designed, who runs it, and its registry IDs.
Study design
- Study type
- Interventional
- Phase
- Phase N/A
- Primary purpose
- Prevention
- Allocation
- Randomised
- Intervention model
- Parallel groups
- Masking
- Single blind
- Who is masked
- Outcomes assessor
- Enrolment
- 66 participants (estimated)
Sponsor and investigators
- Lead sponsor
- Selcuk University
- Sponsor type
- University, hospital or other
- Responsible party
- Principal investigator, Deniz Kocoglu-Tanyer, Selcuk University
IDs, dates and publications
- ClinicalTrials.gov ID
- NCT06681792
- Sponsor's protocol ID
- 2025/122
- Status last verified
- Mar 2026
- First submitted
- 5 Nov 2024
- Last updated
- 25 Mar 2026
- Results posted
- No
- Data monitoring committee
- No
- FDA-regulated drug
- No
- FDA-regulated device
- No
- Individual data sharing
- Yes: Data supporting this study are not publicly available due to ethical reasons but the datasets used and/or analyzed during the current study are available by emailing deniizkocoglu@gmail.com upon reasonable request.
Study at a glance
From the registry record, last updated by the sponsor on 25 Mar 2026. Recruitment status is as the sponsor reported it: confirm with the study team.
- Official title
- The Effect of Climate Change Workshops Based on Protection Motivation Theory on Middle School Students' Climate Change Awareness, Environmental Awareness, and Eco-Friendly Behaviors: A Randomized Controlled Trial
- ClinicalTrials.gov ID
- NCT06681792
- Acronym / sponsor ID
- 2025/122
- Conditions
- Health Behavior, Climate Change, Students
- Keywords
- Protection Motivation Theory, Primary School Students, Climate Change, Awareness, Eco-friendly behavior
- Study type
- Interventional
- Recruitment status
- Recruiting
- Enrolment
- 66 participants (estimated)
- Lead sponsor
- Selcuk UniversityUniversity, hospital or other
- Study start
- 18 Feb 2026 (actual)
- Primary completion
- Apr 2026 (estimated)
- Study completion
- Jul 2026 (estimated)
- First posted
- 8 Nov 2024 (actual)
- Results
- Not posted in the source record
Clinical summary
The research question as the sponsor registered it. This describes what the study plans to test, not what it found.
"This study aims to evaluate the impact of climate change workshops grounded in Protection Motivation Theory (PMT) on students' climate change awareness, environmental consciousness, and pro-environmental behaviors. The primary objective is to foster awareness, environmental literacy, and sustainable behavioral shifts among middle school students, thereby empowering them to adopt eco-friendly practices to mitigate the effects of climate change.
Note on Protocol Revision: Due to cognitive suitability concerns identified during the pilot phase, the target population was shifted from primary to middle school students following expert consultation. This shift necessitated modifications to certain assessment instruments. These revisions have been approved by the ethics committee, and a new ethics approval number has been issued (Date of first protocol entry: July,2024).
Detailed description
Climate change is a global problem and one of the most important public health issues of the 21st century. The direct and indirect impacts of climate change on human health are as follows. While it poses unique and significant threats to public health and well-being through direct impacts on heat stress, flooding and the spread of infectious diseases, food and water insecurity, conflict and migration, and in relation to fossil fuels, it also adversely affects human health through indirect impacts on livelihoods, equity, community health and social support structures, which are social determinants of health.
Due to the increasing effects of climate change, many different disciplines such as physics, biology, meteorology and geology are carrying out important studies with the main aim of halting the negative trend and ensuring the survival of species. In addition to scientific studies, many institutions and organisations are raising awareness of climate change and encouraging people to take institutional and individual action. Scientific studies in the field of health focus on understanding the effects of climate change on human health and evaluating the impact of interventions that focus on individual behaviour change in the fight against climate change. These are interventions such as sending messages for environmentally friendly behaviour, online chats, nature-based education programmes, watching films and peer education.
When the effectiveness of these interventions is evaluated, it is seen that they have a positive effect in reducing the negative consequences of climate change while improving their environmental knowledge, attitudes and intentions. However, while the impact of the interventions on climate change is small while the interventions are ongoing, there is no evidence of a positive impact when the interventions end. The fact that the effects of interventions are long-lasting highlights the need for interventions that are modelled and targeted at younger age groups to achieve behaviour change. The theory of protective motivation, which is based on the assessment of the magnitude of harm caused by an event, the likelihood of the event occurring and the presence of a protective activity, is a promising theory for mitigating the impacts of climate change and achieving behaviour change.
This theory, which is educational and motivational, offers suggestions as to why people tend to engage in unhealthy practices and how these behaviours can be changed. From the literature, it is known that interventions with primary school children can lead to recycling awareness, environmental sensitivity, eco-donation and eco-action. In order for these effects to be lasting, it is also important to ensure the permanence of threat awareness and coping. For this reason, this study examines the effect of climate change workshops based on Protection Motivation Theory for primary school students on the outcomes of students' environmental awareness, climate change awareness and adoption of environmentally friendly behaviours.
Study design
- Primary purpose
- Prevention
- Allocation
- Randomised
- Intervention model
- Parallel groups
- Masking
- Single blind (outcomes assessor)
- Number of arms
- 2
| Arm | Type | Receives |
|---|---|---|
| Climate Change Mitigation Workshop Grup | Experimental | Behavioral: Climate Change Workshops Based on Protection Motivation TheoryThe experimental group will take part in seven weekly workshops based on Protection Motivation Theory . |
| No-intervention Control | No intervention | –The control group will not receive any intervention. It was planned to apply the data collection instruments to the control group under the supervision of the researcher and in parallel with the intervention group during the same period. |
Who may qualify
- Ages
- 12 to 13 years
- Sex
- All
- Healthy volunteers
- Accepted
- Age groups
- Child
Key inclusion criteria (3 listed)
- Being 12-13 years old and attend the school where the study is being conducted,
- Voluntarily agree to take part in the research,
- Consent from the student's family to participate in the study,
Key exclusion criteria (1 listed)
- If the pupil has an allergy to plants or grass.
Eligibility is decided by the study team after screening; this overview does not establish that a patient qualifies. Full inclusion and exclusion criteria.
Interventions
| Intervention | Type | Arms |
|---|---|---|
| Climate Change Workshops Based on Protection Motivation TheoryThe experimental group will participate in five weekly workshops. Each workshop is scheduled to last 40 minutes. The climate change awareness workshops, grounded in Protection Motivation Theory, will address the following subjects: the balance of nature and climate change, the adoption of environmentally friendly behaviours, calculating one's ecological footprint, mitigating the effects of climate change, and the Eco-School program. The workshops will include a variety of interactive activities, such as students expressing their thoughts on weekly topics, playing topic-related games, brainstorming, watching videos, writing essays, making seed balls, and delivering presentations. Feedback was obtained from four experts for the prepared workshops. The programme was evaluated in terms of content, duration, and compatibility with the model by experts in the fields of public health (three) and education and programme development (one). | Behavioural | Climate Change Mitigation Workshop Grup |
Primary outcome
Global clımate change awareness scale for middle school students
Time frame: T0 (Pre-test) T1 (15 days after the end of the procedure) T2 (3 months after the end of the procedure)
The scale developed by Satmaz et al. (2024) consists of 19 items across three sub-dimensions: 'effects of climate change,' 'knowledge awareness,' and 'causes of climate change.' The scale's reliability coefficient (Cronbach's alpha) was found to be 0.910, and the total explained variance was 57.181%. Data were collected using a five-point Likert scale, ranging from 1 (Strongly Agree) to 5 (Strongly Disagree), with intermediate values representing varying degrees of agreement.
Environmental Attitudes at the Middle School Level
Time frame: T0 (Pre-test) T1 (15 days after the end of the procedure) T2 (3 months after the end of the procedure)
The scale, developed by Sontay et al. (2015), consists of 15 items and three sub-dimensions. The sub-dimensions of the scale are "environmental responsibility", "environmental sensitivity", and "environmental perception". The environmental sensitivity sub-dimension of the scale has 5 items, and its Cronbach alpha value is 0.807. While the total variance of the scale is 59.075, the variance of the environmental sensitivity sub-dimension is found to be 19.1.
Environmental Responsible Behavior Scale
Time frame: T0 (Pre-test) T1 (15 days after the end of the procedure) T2 (3 months after the end of the procedure)
The Environmental Responsible Behaviors Scale (ERBS) was developed to measure environmentally responsible behaviors in fifth-grade students (Erdogan, Ok, and Marcinkowski, 2012). The scale under consideration is comprised of 26 items and four sub-dimensions: physical conservation behavior, consumption and economic behavior, personal and general persuasion behavior, and political behavior. The Cronbach's alpha values for the sub-dimensions are as follows: 0.80 for physical conservation behavior, 0.60 for consumption and economic behavior, 0.79 for personal and general persuasion behavior, and 0.91 for political behavior. The scale's validity was assessed through confirmatory factor analysis, which yielded favorable results. An increase in the scale score is indicative of a positive change in behavior.
1 secondary outcome
The Questionnaire on Children's Perceptions of the Four Elements of the Theory of Protective Motivation
Time frame: T0 (Pre-test) T1 (15 days after the end of the procedure) T2 (3 months after the end of the procedure)
Results and safety
This study is still under way. Results are not available in the source record yet.
Research links
- Official record on ClinicalTrials.govLast updated by the sponsor 25 Mar 2026.
- Individual participant dataSharing planned: Yes. Data supporting this study are not publicly available due to ethical reasons but the datasets used and/or analyzed during the current study are available by emailing deniizkocoglu@gmail.com upon reasonable request.
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Referral and contact
AzTrials does not enrol participants or take referrals. Contact the study team or a site listed below; they decide who can take part.
1 site in 1 country: see every site and its status.
Questions about this trial
What is this clinical trial studying?
A study testing Climate Change Workshops Based on Protection Motivation Theory in people with Health Behavior and Climate Change, run by Selcuk University at 1 site in Turkey (Türkiye).
The full registered description is in the About this study section and the official record.
Who may be eligible to take part?
The sponsor lists 3 inclusion and 1 exclusion criteria. Eligibility is decided by the study team after screening, so read the full criteria and contact a listed site.
Is this clinical trial currently recruiting?
The record says: looking for participants now, as of the sponsor's last update on 25 Mar 2026. Status can change between updates, so confirm with the study contact before making plans.
Where is the study taking place?
The record lists 1 site in Turkey (Türkiye). Whether a site is taking part right now should be confirmed with that site. See every site.
What are the possible benefits and risks?
They depend on the study and the treatment, and no study can promise a benefit. The study team explains the known risks during informed consent, before anyone joins; the record itself does not list them.
Are results available for this study?
This study is still under way. Results are not available in the source record yet.
How can a doctor refer a patient or contact the research team?
Contact Deniz Kocoglu-Tanyer, PhD (+903322350896, deniizkocoglu@gmail.com), or a site near the patient. AzTrials does not enrol participants or take referrals.
What does the primary outcome measure?
Global clımate change awareness scale for middle school students (time frame: T0 (Pre-test) T1 (15 days after the end of the procedure) T2 (3 months after the end of the procedure)). The study lists 3 primary outcomes in all. It is what the study was designed to measure, not a finding.
Where can I read the original study information?
Does a listing mean the treatment is approved or proven to work?
No. A listing means the study is registered. It does not show that the treatment is safe, works, or is approved by a regulator.
How often is this information updated?
AzTrials copies changed records from ClinicalTrials.gov every night and reloads the whole registry every week. The sponsor last updated this record on 25 Mar 2026.