Comparative Optimism: Relative Risk Perception and Behavioral Response to Lead Exposure

Wolde, Bernabas; Lal, Pankaj; Harclerode, Melissa; Rossi, Alessandra

doi:10.1007/s00267-019-01148-9

Cited by 8 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 37 publications

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“…The nonsignificant effects for the mining affiliation and age covariates may indicate that they do not influence behavioral intentions relative to the other study variables. Wolde et al [ 80 ] also found that age was not a significant factor informing individual behaviors related to Pb exposure. Considering that children are more sensitive to Pb’s adverse health effects, future studies are needed to determine why younger study participants did not have higher behavioral intentions relative to older participants.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Perceived Risk and Intentions to Practice Health Protective Behaviors in a Mining-Impacted Region

Cooper

Langman

Sarathchandra

et al. 2020

IJERPH

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Effective risk communication strategies are critical to reducing lead exposure in mining-impacted communities. Understanding the strength of the associations between perceived risk and individuals’ behavioral intentions to protect their health is important for developing these strategies. We conducted a survey within three communities of northern Idaho, USA (n = 306) in or near a Superfund Megasite with legacy mining contamination. Survey data were used to test a theoretical model based on the Health Belief Model. Respondents had higher intentions to practice health protective behaviors when they perceived the risk of lead contamination as severe and recognized the benefits of practicing health protective behaviors. Women reported higher behavioral intentions than men, but age and mining affiliation were not significantly associated with behavioral intentions. Although managing lead hazards in communities impacted by mining is challenging due to widely distributed contamination, effective health risk messages, paired with remediation, are powerful tools to protect the health and safety of residents.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Perceived Risk and Intentions to Practice Health Protective Behaviors in a Mining-Impacted Region

Cooper

Langman

Sarathchandra

et al. 2020

IJERPH

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“…The non-significant effects for the mining affiliation and age covariates may indicate that they do not influence behavioral intentions in the Silver Valley relative to the other study variables. Wolde et al [9] also found that age was not a significant factor informing individual behaviors related to Pb exposure. In survey comments, several respondents mentioned that they were not personally concerned about Pb contamination but believed that families with children should be concerned.…”

Section: Socio-demographic Characteristics and Behavioral Intentionsmentioning

confidence: 98%

“…Even the low levels of Pb contamination that remain following primary prevention efforts are linked to long-term chronic diseases such as diabetes [4][5][6]. Communicating Pb risks is challenging because, in addition to beliefs about health effects, social, cultural, and political factors may influence whether risk communication motivates people to practice preventive behaviors [7][8][9][10][11]. For instance, concerns about the health effects of environmental contaminants may become less salient relative to other community development issues following a remediation project [11,12].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Perceived Risk and Intentions to Practice Health Protective Behaviors in a Mining-Impacted Region

Cooper

Langman

Sarathchandra

et al. 2020

Preprint

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Understanding the strength of the associations between perceived risk and individuals’ behavioral intentions to protect their health is important for determining appropriate risk communication strategies in communities impacted by lead contamination. We conducted a survey within communities of northern Idaho, USA (n = 306) near a Superfund megasite with legacy mining contamination. We empirically test a theoretical model based on the Health Belief Model. Survey respondents had higher intentions to practice health protective behaviors when they perceived the risk of lead contamination as severe, recognized the benefits of health protective behaviors, and considered the risks of lead contamination. Women reported higher behavioral intentions than men, but age and mining affiliation did not have an association. Survey comments indicated that perceptions about the long-term environmental remediation in the region influenced risk perceptions. Understanding risk perceptions, behavioral intentions, and related factors can aid public health agencies in tailoring risk communication for increasing protective behaviors in mining-impacted communities internationally.

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“…By disclosing information on the sources, exposure pathways, adverse health impacts, and individuals’ rights pertaining to lead poisoning, public outreach programs aim to raise awareness, reduce information asymmetry, and correct misperceptions [ 12 , 13 , 14 , 15 ]. Public outreach efforts also aim to stimulate change in individuals’ attitudes and behaviors in ways that increase preparedness, which is especially valuable to the susceptible individuals or their caretakers and to the underserved sub-population who would not have that information and service otherwise [ 16 , 17 , 18 , 19 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…By disclosing information on the sources, exposure pathways, adverse health impacts, and individuals' rights pertaining to lead poisoning, public outreach programs aim to raise awareness, reduce information asymmetry, and correct misperceptions [12][13][14][15]. Public outreach efforts also aim to stimulate change in individuals' attitudes and behaviors in ways that increase preparedness, which is especially valuable to the susceptible individuals or their caretakers and to the underserved sub-population who would not have that information and service otherwise [16][17][18][19]. Not all individuals who know about the adverse health effects of lead exposure and stand to benefit from the relevant legal provisions act on that knowledge, sometimes even after lead impacted material has been identified on their residence.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Inaction on Lead Despite the Relevant Knowledge: Predictors, Covariates, and Outreach Implications

Rossi

Wolde

Lal

et al. 2020

IJERPH

Self Cite

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Testing residential soil and paint for lead provides actionable information. By showing where and how much lead exists on the residence, it allows one to quantify risk and determine the best ways to reduce exposure along with the corresponding health and financial costs. For these reasons, several federal and state programs offer outreach to audiences on the benefits of testing residential soil and paint for lead. Not all individuals who know about lead’s adverse health effects, however, test their residence for lead, potentially limiting the actionable information that could have helped to reduce their exposure. Such individuals represent a challenge to outreach programs and the broader public health objectives. There is, thus, a need to understand who such individuals are and why they behave this way, allowing us to develop a specialized outreach program that addresses the problem by targeting the relevant sub-population. Using survey data, we quantitatively determine the profiles of individuals who, despite knowing about lead’s adverse health effects, are unlikely to test their residence for lead, finding statistically significant socio-economic predictors and behavioral covariates. We also find a geographic component to it, further helping outreach professionals learn how to allocate their limited resources.

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Comparative Optimism: Relative Risk Perception and Behavioral Response to Lead Exposure

Cited by 8 publications

References 37 publications

Perceived Risk and Intentions to Practice Health Protective Behaviors in a Mining-Impacted Region

Perceived Risk and Intentions to Practice Health Protective Behaviors in a Mining-Impacted Region

Perceived Risk and Intentions to Practice Health Protective Behaviors in a Mining-Impacted Region

Inaction on Lead Despite the Relevant Knowledge: Predictors, Covariates, and Outreach Implications

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