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Risk Perceptions and their relation to Risk

BehaviorArticle by: Noel T. Brewer, PhD., Neil D. Weisntein, PhD and Cara L.

Cuite, PhD

Yazmin Brambila

Outline

Introduction

Risk Perception/Behavior hypothesis Accuracy hypothesis Behavior hypothesis Risk Reappraisal hypothesis

Model of risk perception and behavior

Method

Results

Conclusions

Introduction

Perceived risk can affect protective behavior and protective behavior can affect perceived risk because of the complexity of these constructs incorrect tests often lead to invalid conclusions

Perceived risk is a central construct of most theories of health behavior How is this question assessed?

Risk Perception/Behavior Hypothesis

3 hypotheses tested Behavior motivation hypothesis Risk reappraisal hypothesis Accuracy hypothesis

Accuracy Hypothesis (AH)

Asserts that perceptions of risk at any given time properly reflect one’s risk factors at that time. It is a descriptive statement about the relation between risk perceptions and behavior but it does not imply any causal connection between these constructs.

Correlation often misinterpreted as a test of behavior

Cross sectional design

Useful for identifying information deficits and the need for public or patient education

Behavior Motivation Hypothesis (BMH)

Describes the effects of perceptions of risk on changes of behavior. This hypothesis is about cause and effect For example:

“I feel at risk for Lyme disease, so ill get vaccinated”

Longitudinal design

Risk Reappraisal hypothesis

Describes the effects of changes in behavior on changes in perceived risk.

Increasing preventive behavior leads to lower perceived risk An example:

“Now that I am vaccinated, my risk is lower”

Risk questions need to specify a behavioral context

Longitudinal design

Model of Risk Perception/Behavior

Method

Participants 3 cities 1005 start 745 at follow up Heard about Lyme Disease Not vaccinated

Procedures and Measures Telephone interviews

Questions were asked to assess perceived risk

Results

Behavior hypothesis was supported by the data People that perceive risk to be high at time 1 were

more likely to be vaccinated by time 2

Accuracy Hypothesis was also supported. People who had been vaccinated perceived lower

risk at time 2

Risk Reappraisal was also supported

Conclusion

BMH: the odds ratio (OR) of 5.81 meaning that those with high initial risk perceptions were  about 6 times more likely to get vaccinated than those with low initial risk perceptions Higher risk judgment appear to encourage people to engage in protective behavior

AH: The odds ration (OR) of .44 meaning that one group was 66% (1 minus .44) more likely to perceive lower risk than those that were not vaccinated

Risk perception “appear” to lead to vaccination because these are correlational findings

Members of the public often misinterpret their risk of health problems and correcting these misinterpretations are seen as a way to encourage healthy behavior

It s important to not confuse the behavior and risk perception hypothesis as it would lead to different/opposite outcomes

Complex relations between perceived risk and behavior require care in the information of risk questions, the choice of study design and the selection of the statistical procedures