嬰幼兒母親對食品安全相關之政府信任及風險感知與其採用避險行為之路徑分析:以台北市某教學醫院為例

Objectives: This study examined the relationships among trust in food safety, risk perception, and risk avoidance behaviors among mothers with children younger than 6 years of age and determined whether socioeconomic status moderates those relationships. Methods: The study participants were recruited from a teaching hospital in Taipei, and face-to-face interviews were conducted with 439 mothers. Path analysis was used to analyze the relationships among trust in the government, risk perception, and risk avoidance behaviors regarding food safety. Risk avoidance behaviors included buying seasonal vegetables and paying attention to food additives. A multigroup analysis was used to assess whether socioeconomic status was a moderating variable. Results: The results of the path analysis indicated that the mothers' trust in the government reduced their worry about food safety risks, perceived severity of food safety risks, and the probability of adopting risk avoidance behaviors. The perception of barriers by the mothers also reduced their probability of adopting risk avoidance behaviors. The results of this multigroup analysis demonstrated that an individual's education level moderates the relationships among trust in government, risk perception, and risk avoidance behavior. Conclusions: Our results indicated that mothers' trust in the government affected their perception of risk and risk avoidance behaviors. In the future, the Taiwanese government must enhance risk governance to increase people's trust, strengthen its communication capacity about food safety risks, and design tailored programs for individuals of various socioeconomic statuses.