Residents' Disaster Preparedness after the Meinong Taiwan Earthquake: A Test of Protection Motivation Theory

Because effective preparations are required to mitigate disaster impacts before implementing effective interventions, it is important to understand why people do or do not act on disaster preparedness. This study explores factors influencing residents' intentions and actual behaviors following...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:International journal of environmental research and public health 2018-07, Vol.15 (7), p.1434
Main Authors: Tang, Jing-Shia, Feng, Jui-Ying
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adult
Behavior
Disaster management
Disaster Planning - statistics & numerical data
Disasters
Drills
Earthquakes
Emergency preparedness
Female
Health care
Health promotion
Humans
Male
Middle Aged
Model testing
Motivation
Nursing
Perception
Perceptions
Prevention
Preventive medicine
Psychological Theory
Risk
Risk perception
Seismic activity
Self Efficacy
Studies
Surveys and Questionnaires
Taiwan
Well being
Workshops
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Summary:Because effective preparations are required to mitigate disaster impacts before implementing effective interventions, it is important to understand why people do or do not act on disaster preparedness. This study explores factors influencing residents' intentions and actual behaviors following the 2016 Kaohsiung Meinong earthquake in southern Taiwan. Protection Motivation Theory was used to develop a hypothesized model to test hypotheses regarding residents' disaster preparedness, and structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to test the model. Data were comprised of 286 valid responses from seven major administration areas in Tainan, Taiwan. Self-efficacy, response-efficacy, and obstacles were significantly correlated with behavioral intentions and actual disaster preparedness behaviors. SEM results revealed that (a) the model fit the data well, (b) the relationship between risk perception and response-efficacy was fully mediated by behavioral intention, and (c) self-efficacy and obstacles were partially mediated by behavioral intention. Behavioral intent and actual disaster preparedness behavior are related but not equal. The main factors affecting actual disaster preparedness behavior are self-efficacy and obstacles. Therefore, strategies like drills or workshops can improve disaster-preparedness knowledge and capabilities and reduce difficulties of implementing disaster preparedness. To improve health and well-being, healthcare providers should promote disaster preparedness by interventions to increase self-efficacy during disasters.
ISSN:1660-4601
1661-7827
1660-4601
DOI:10.3390/ijerph15071434