College COVID Study
Protection Motivation Theory (PMT; Rogers, 1976) and other Expectancy-Value theories of motivation have been extensively applied to explain and improve “safety behaviors” taken to minimize the sequelae of natural and human-made disasters. The current pandemic (COVID-19) is a more ambiguous and long-lasting disaster compared to many in the past, providing a unique opportunity to explore and expand the key tenets of extant disaster theories such as PMT. Young adults represent a particularly important population for this study: their comparative lack of prior disaster experience provides an opportunity for better understanding the etiology of cognitive frameworks for developing coping strategies. This study will examine how college students’ COVID-19 preparedness behaviors are related to (1) the magnitude of the threat that they perceive, (2) their beliefs about and trust in authorities’ recommendations for stopping the pandemic (“response efficacy”), and (3) their perception of their ability to avoid COVID-19-related negative health consequences (“self-efficacy”). The strength of these factors in motivating protection behaviors will be compared to studies of other natural/human-made disasters. Of particular interest to the current study are the magnitude and effect of young adults’ trust in authorities’ promotion strategies to stop the pandemic, and how social norms influence their behaviors. Recognizing that for many young adults COVID-19 precedes future pandemics with which they will be confronted, this study will lead to a better understanding of factors that motivate young adults to prepare for pandemic-related disasters, and to recommendations for maximizing young adults’ engagement in disaster-mitigation behaviors. Data collection was completed using Prolific in summer, 2020.
Disability and Disasters Follow-Up Study
The original study (2015) examined how emergency preparedness self-efficacy impacted the relationship between perceived threat and actual preparedness behaviors among individuals with physical disabilities. The current study will extend this research by collecting follow-up data from the original participants in order to examine how emergency preparedness self-efficacy may impact the relationship between perceived threat and preparedness behaviors over time. Additionally, the current proposed modification will add questions about COVID-19 in order to disentangle the effects of the current crisis on emergency preparedness-self efficacy, perceived threat, and actual preparedness behaviors. Data collection is almost finshed.
National Adult Longitudinal Study
Our past research has been cross-sectional; in contrast, this study will be longitudinal. Data will be collected at three points in time, with each data collection separated by a month. That design will enable us to examine more causal relationships among these constructs. This study will lead to a better understanding of factors that motivate individuals to prepare for disasters, including pandemic-related disasters, and to recommendations for maximizing adults’ engagement in disaster-mitigation behaviors. Data collection began this summer (2021). Similar to the College COVID Study, this study will examine how individuals’ Disaster and COVID-19 preparedness behaviors are related to (1) the magnitude of the threat that they perceive, (2) their beliefs about and trust in authorities’ recommendations for stopping the pandemic (“response efficacy”), (3) their perception of their ability to avoid COVID-19-related negative health consequences (“self-efficacy”) and social norms. The strength of these factors in motivating protection behaviors for COVID-19 will be compared to studies of other natural and human-made disasters.
