Development and validation of five behavioral indices of flood adaptation

Abstract

Background In the current context of climate change, climate forecasts for the province of Quebec (Canada) are a lengthening of the thunderstorm season and an increase in episodes of intense precipitations. These changes in the distribution of precipitations could heighten the intensity or frequency of floods, a natural hazard that concerns 80% of Quebec’s riverside municipalities. For the health and safety of the at-risk population, it is very important to make sure they have acquired necessary adaptive behaviors against flooding hazard. However, there has been no assessment of these flood adaptation behaviors to date. Thus, the aim of this study was to develop and validate five indices of adaptation to flooding. Methods A sample of 1951 adults completed a questionnaire by phone. The questionnaire, specifically developed for this study, measured whether they did or did not adopt the behaviors that are proposed by public health officials to protect themselves against flooding. Results The results of the item, confirmatory factor, and multiple correspondence analyses contributed to the development of five indices corresponding to the adaptation behaviors to adopt according to the chronology of events: (a) pre-alert preventive behaviors, (b) behaviors to carry out after the alert is issued, (c) behaviors to adopt during a flood not requiring evacuation, (d) behaviors to adopt during a flood requiring evacuation, and (e) post-flood behaviors. The results of this study also showed that people who perceive a risk of flooding in their home in the next 5 years tend to adopt more preventive behaviors and adaptation behaviors than those who perceive little or no risk at all. They also reveal that people who feel more adverse effects on their physical or mental health tend to adopt more adaptive behaviors than those who feel little or no adverse effects on their health. Conclusion Across a series of psychometric analyses, the results showed that these flood adaptation indices could properly measure a vast range of adaptive behaviors according to the chronology of events. Therefore, researchers, public health agencies, and professionals can use them to monitor the evolution of individuals’ adaptive behaviors during floods. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (10.1186/s12889-019-6564-0) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Monitoring the evolution of individuals’ flood-related adaptive behaviors over time: two cross-sectional surveys conducted in the Province of Quebec, Canada

“…Lastly, in 2015, 2.90% of the respondents were newcomers (had lived in their home for a year or less) compared to 5.66% in 2019. See Valois el al [ 27 ]. for a more detailed description of the data collection strategy.…”

“…The response rate was 21.82% in 2015 and 24.5% in 2019. The interviews used the same questionnaire as that of the 2015 study [ 27 ]. The questionnaire is available as a supplementary file .…”

“…In 2015, the OQACC monitored the temporal evolution of the level of adaptation to floods of the Quebec population living in or near a flood-prone area. In a first study [ 27 ], five indices of adaptation to flooding were developed based on literature from across the world. These indices echo recommended behaviors that any individual should adopt according to the chronology of events: (a) pre-alert preventive behaviors, (b) post-alert behaviors, (c) behaviors during a flood not requiring evacuation, (d) behaviors during a flood requiring evacuation, and (e) post-flood behaviors.…”

The Impact of Climate Change on Mental Health: A Systematic Descriptive Review

“…Moreover, extreme events produce different types of psychopathological reactions over time, as there are acute, sub-acute, and long-term impacts on mental health. Mental adaptation and certain behavioral patterns will develop following the chronology of events: in the pre-alert phase, during the disaster and after the event (163). Long-term consequences are difficult to define.…”

Telephone versus web panel National Survey for monitoring adoption of preventive behaviors to climate change in populations: a case study of Lyme disease in Québec, Canada

“…The self-reported adopted preventive behaviors were selected based on a literature review [50][51][52][53][54][55] and recommendations from public health agencies [43,56]. Using these behavioral indicators, we created and validated an index of LDPB [57]. The index was validated for both the telephone interviews and the web self-administered questionnaire.…”