As children enter into adolescence, the amount of time they spend with peers increases. Peer grou... more As children enter into adolescence, the amount of time they spend with peers increases. Peer groups become the most important socializing influence on adolescent behavior and values and peer relationships serve as a bridge as adolescents move away from their parents and toward independent adult functioning. In industrialized nations, adolescents spend most of each weekday with age equivalent peers in school, and in the United States, they also spend much out-of-school time together. Indeed, diaries and self-reports suggest that adolescents spend twice as much time with peers as they do with parents and other adults, even ruling out time in the classroom (Larson, Csikszentmihalyi, & Freeman, 1984).
In order to formulate effective communication and intervention strategies to respond to the wides... more In order to formulate effective communication and intervention strategies to respond to the widespread lack of preparedness for public health crises resulting from natural and human-made disasters, researchers have developed models describing the interrelationships between factors associated with emergency preparedness decisions. Empirical research has generally assumed that two key elements of most health behavior theories-self-efficacy and response efficacy-additively influence the decision to prepare, despite compelling theoretical rationale for an interactive relationship. The few studies that have investigated interactions in preparedness outcomes have not tested the Social Cognitive Theory prediction that non-zero levels of both efficacy types are required before individuals will engage in any preparedness behavior. Based on the responses of 3,101 participants in the National Survey of Disaster Experiences and Preparedness, this study tested additive, interactive, and conditio...
Objective Disasters occur without warning and can have devastating consequences. Emergency prepar... more Objective Disasters occur without warning and can have devastating consequences. Emergency preparedness can reduce negative effects. It is especially important that parents prepare, as children are particularly vulnerable after disasters. This study tested 2 hypotheses: (1) adults with more children are likely to be better prepared than those with fewer or no children because greater caretaking is linked to greater perceived threat of disaster leading to greater preparedness and (2) the strength of this mediational link varies as a function of parental self-efficacy. Methods Data from an online survey about human-made disasters (terrorism) with a community convenience sample were used to test the hypothesis that perceived threat mediates the relationship between parental status (number of children cared for) and preparedness behaviors, moderated by level of self-efficacy for emergency preparedness. Results A bootstrapping analysis with relevant covariates supported the hypothesized ...
Previous studies have revealed a negative relationship between anxiety and health-promoting behav... more Previous studies have revealed a negative relationship between anxiety and health-promoting behavior. This study identified three cognitive pathways through which anxiety operates on preparedness behaviors for terrorist attacks. Preparedness was regressed on trait anxiety, perceived threat, and self-efficacy based on data from 306 adults. Mediating paths through perceived threat (positive) and self-efficacy (negative) and an independent negative path were identified. Results suggest that the anxiety/precautionary behavior relationship is more complex than previously thought, involving multiple pathways of competing directionality. Interventions to improve disaster preparedness and thus reduce disaster-related morbidity/mortality would benefit by capitalizing on this multidimensionality.
Objectives:
The identification of factors which influence peoples’ preparation for health safety ... more Objectives: The identification of factors which influence peoples’ preparation for health safety risks posed by natural and man-made disasters is a central concern in health education. Prior studies have generally approached this issue from either a cognitive or a social influence perspective, and have failed to recognise the increased importance of terrorism-related concerns in motivating health safety preparedness behaviour. The purpose of this study was to develop a unified social cognitive framework for understanding peoples’ preparations for health safety risks, focusing on terrorism-related cognitive and social influences.
Design/Method/Approach: Participants in the National Survey of Disaster Experiences and Preparedness reported preparedness actions they had taken since 2001, their appraisals of terrorism-related threat and coping, and whether they knew others who had taken preparedness actions because of terrorism. Using a logistic binomial hurdle statistical model, number of actions taken was regressed on terrorism-related vulnerability, severity, response efficacy, self-efficacy, and informational social influence. Simultaneous models both of taking any action and of the number of actions taken were tested.
Findings: After controlling for demographic variables, both taking any action and the number of preparedness actions taken were positively related to terrorism-related informational social influence, response efficacy, and self-efficacy; effects of terrorism-related vulnerability and severity appraisals were much smaller. Compared to cognitive factors, terrorism-related informational social influence had a substantially larger effect on taking any action, and a moderately larger effect on the number of actions taken.
Conclusion: Terrorist-related informational norms were more salient than cognitive factors in influencing peoples’ preparation for health safety risks. Participants who knew someone who had taken one or more emergency preparedness actions because of terrorism were significantly more likely to take any preparedness action, and to take more preparedness actions, themselves. These findings are consequential in developing future educational initiatives.
Using an online survey methodology, we examined individual differences in distance communication ... more Using an online survey methodology, we examined individual differences in distance communication between 75 adolescents and their deployed parents and found substantial individual differences in both the quantity and quality of their communication. We also examined the statistical associations between these features of distance communication and adolescents’ functioning, including emotional reactions following communication, health-related quality of life, and externalizing and internalizing problems. The quantity of communication of deployed parents with their adolescents was not associated with adolescents’ functioning, but more positive and less controlling communication was statistically associated with adolescents’ higher functioning. Implications for theory, practice, and future research are discussed.
As children enter into adolescence, the amount of time they spend with peers increases. Peer grou... more As children enter into adolescence, the amount of time they spend with peers increases. Peer groups become the most important socializing influence on adolescent behavior and values and peer relationships serve as a bridge as adolescents move away from their parents and toward independent adult functioning. In industrialized nations, adolescents spend most of each weekday with age equivalent peers in school, and in the United States, they also spend much out-of-school time together. Indeed, diaries and self-reports suggest that adolescents spend twice as much time with peers as they do with parents and other adults, even ruling out time in the classroom (Larson, Csikszentmihalyi, & Freeman, 1984).
In order to formulate effective communication and intervention strategies to respond to the wides... more In order to formulate effective communication and intervention strategies to respond to the widespread lack of preparedness for public health crises resulting from natural and human-made disasters, researchers have developed models describing the interrelationships between factors associated with emergency preparedness decisions. Empirical research has generally assumed that two key elements of most health behavior theories-self-efficacy and response efficacy-additively influence the decision to prepare, despite compelling theoretical rationale for an interactive relationship. The few studies that have investigated interactions in preparedness outcomes have not tested the Social Cognitive Theory prediction that non-zero levels of both efficacy types are required before individuals will engage in any preparedness behavior. Based on the responses of 3,101 participants in the National Survey of Disaster Experiences and Preparedness, this study tested additive, interactive, and conditio...
Objective Disasters occur without warning and can have devastating consequences. Emergency prepar... more Objective Disasters occur without warning and can have devastating consequences. Emergency preparedness can reduce negative effects. It is especially important that parents prepare, as children are particularly vulnerable after disasters. This study tested 2 hypotheses: (1) adults with more children are likely to be better prepared than those with fewer or no children because greater caretaking is linked to greater perceived threat of disaster leading to greater preparedness and (2) the strength of this mediational link varies as a function of parental self-efficacy. Methods Data from an online survey about human-made disasters (terrorism) with a community convenience sample were used to test the hypothesis that perceived threat mediates the relationship between parental status (number of children cared for) and preparedness behaviors, moderated by level of self-efficacy for emergency preparedness. Results A bootstrapping analysis with relevant covariates supported the hypothesized ...
Previous studies have revealed a negative relationship between anxiety and health-promoting behav... more Previous studies have revealed a negative relationship between anxiety and health-promoting behavior. This study identified three cognitive pathways through which anxiety operates on preparedness behaviors for terrorist attacks. Preparedness was regressed on trait anxiety, perceived threat, and self-efficacy based on data from 306 adults. Mediating paths through perceived threat (positive) and self-efficacy (negative) and an independent negative path were identified. Results suggest that the anxiety/precautionary behavior relationship is more complex than previously thought, involving multiple pathways of competing directionality. Interventions to improve disaster preparedness and thus reduce disaster-related morbidity/mortality would benefit by capitalizing on this multidimensionality.
Objectives:
The identification of factors which influence peoples’ preparation for health safety ... more Objectives: The identification of factors which influence peoples’ preparation for health safety risks posed by natural and man-made disasters is a central concern in health education. Prior studies have generally approached this issue from either a cognitive or a social influence perspective, and have failed to recognise the increased importance of terrorism-related concerns in motivating health safety preparedness behaviour. The purpose of this study was to develop a unified social cognitive framework for understanding peoples’ preparations for health safety risks, focusing on terrorism-related cognitive and social influences.
Design/Method/Approach: Participants in the National Survey of Disaster Experiences and Preparedness reported preparedness actions they had taken since 2001, their appraisals of terrorism-related threat and coping, and whether they knew others who had taken preparedness actions because of terrorism. Using a logistic binomial hurdle statistical model, number of actions taken was regressed on terrorism-related vulnerability, severity, response efficacy, self-efficacy, and informational social influence. Simultaneous models both of taking any action and of the number of actions taken were tested.
Findings: After controlling for demographic variables, both taking any action and the number of preparedness actions taken were positively related to terrorism-related informational social influence, response efficacy, and self-efficacy; effects of terrorism-related vulnerability and severity appraisals were much smaller. Compared to cognitive factors, terrorism-related informational social influence had a substantially larger effect on taking any action, and a moderately larger effect on the number of actions taken.
Conclusion: Terrorist-related informational norms were more salient than cognitive factors in influencing peoples’ preparation for health safety risks. Participants who knew someone who had taken one or more emergency preparedness actions because of terrorism were significantly more likely to take any preparedness action, and to take more preparedness actions, themselves. These findings are consequential in developing future educational initiatives.
Using an online survey methodology, we examined individual differences in distance communication ... more Using an online survey methodology, we examined individual differences in distance communication between 75 adolescents and their deployed parents and found substantial individual differences in both the quantity and quality of their communication. We also examined the statistical associations between these features of distance communication and adolescents’ functioning, including emotional reactions following communication, health-related quality of life, and externalizing and internalizing problems. The quantity of communication of deployed parents with their adolescents was not associated with adolescents’ functioning, but more positive and less controlling communication was statistically associated with adolescents’ higher functioning. Implications for theory, practice, and future research are discussed.
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Papers by Cynthia A Rohrbeck
The identification of factors which influence peoples’ preparation for health safety risks posed by natural and man-made disasters is a central concern in health education. Prior studies have generally approached this issue from either a cognitive or a social influence perspective, and have failed to recognise the increased importance of terrorism-related concerns in motivating health safety preparedness behaviour. The purpose of this study was to develop a unified social cognitive framework for understanding peoples’ preparations for health safety risks, focusing on terrorism-related cognitive and social influences.
Design/Method/Approach:
Participants in the National Survey of Disaster Experiences and Preparedness reported preparedness actions they had taken since 2001, their appraisals of terrorism-related threat and coping, and whether they knew others who had taken preparedness actions because of terrorism. Using a logistic binomial hurdle statistical model, number of actions taken was regressed on terrorism-related vulnerability, severity, response efficacy, self-efficacy, and informational social influence. Simultaneous models both of taking any action and of the number of actions taken were tested.
Findings:
After controlling for demographic variables, both taking any action and the number of preparedness actions taken were positively related to terrorism-related informational social influence, response efficacy, and self-efficacy; effects of terrorism-related vulnerability and severity appraisals were much smaller. Compared to cognitive factors, terrorism-related informational social influence had a substantially larger effect on taking any action, and a moderately larger effect on the number of actions taken.
Conclusion:
Terrorist-related informational norms were more salient than cognitive factors in influencing peoples’ preparation for health safety risks. Participants who knew someone who had taken one or more emergency preparedness actions because of terrorism were significantly more likely to take any preparedness action, and to take more preparedness actions, themselves. These findings are consequential in developing future educational initiatives.
The identification of factors which influence peoples’ preparation for health safety risks posed by natural and man-made disasters is a central concern in health education. Prior studies have generally approached this issue from either a cognitive or a social influence perspective, and have failed to recognise the increased importance of terrorism-related concerns in motivating health safety preparedness behaviour. The purpose of this study was to develop a unified social cognitive framework for understanding peoples’ preparations for health safety risks, focusing on terrorism-related cognitive and social influences.
Design/Method/Approach:
Participants in the National Survey of Disaster Experiences and Preparedness reported preparedness actions they had taken since 2001, their appraisals of terrorism-related threat and coping, and whether they knew others who had taken preparedness actions because of terrorism. Using a logistic binomial hurdle statistical model, number of actions taken was regressed on terrorism-related vulnerability, severity, response efficacy, self-efficacy, and informational social influence. Simultaneous models both of taking any action and of the number of actions taken were tested.
Findings:
After controlling for demographic variables, both taking any action and the number of preparedness actions taken were positively related to terrorism-related informational social influence, response efficacy, and self-efficacy; effects of terrorism-related vulnerability and severity appraisals were much smaller. Compared to cognitive factors, terrorism-related informational social influence had a substantially larger effect on taking any action, and a moderately larger effect on the number of actions taken.
Conclusion:
Terrorist-related informational norms were more salient than cognitive factors in influencing peoples’ preparation for health safety risks. Participants who knew someone who had taken one or more emergency preparedness actions because of terrorism were significantly more likely to take any preparedness action, and to take more preparedness actions, themselves. These findings are consequential in developing future educational initiatives.