INTRODUCTION Understanding people's perceptions of disease risk and how these perceptions compare with actual risk models may improve the effectiveness of risk communication. This study examined perceived disease risk and causal beliefs for type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease (CVD), the relationship between self-reported risk factors and perceived disease risk, and the influence of causa...

Waterborne disease is estimated to cause about 10% of all diseases worldwide. However, related risk perceptions are not well understood, particularly in the developing world where waterborne disease is an enormous problem. We focus on understanding risk perceptions related to these issues in a region within northern Mexico. Our findings show how waterborne disease problems and solutions are und...

This research integrates theoretical frameworks of risk perception, social amplification of risk, and the role of place-specific contexts in order to explore the various perceptions surrounding Florida red tides. Florida red tides are naturally occurring events that are increasing in frequency, duration, and severity. This has implications for public health, the local economy, and ecosystem hea...

OBJECTIVES Few studies have compared perceptions of risk, worry, severity and control across multiple diseases. This paper examines how these perceptions vary for heart disease, diabetes, stroke, and colon, breast, and ovarian cancers. METHODS The data for this study came from the Family Healthware Impact Trial (FHITr), conducted in the United States from 2005 to 2007. Healthy adults (N=2362)...

BACKGROUND Pregnancy risk perceptions and physical activity efficacy beliefs may facilitate or impede pregnancy leisure-time physical activity (LTPA). We examined the separate and joint influence of these variables on LTPA behavior among pregnant women. METHODS Pregnant women (n = 302) completed a survey containing questions on LTPA efficacy beliefs and behavior, as well as pregnancy risk per...

Risk analysis today falls broadly into two opposite, methodological camps. Those who appeal to scientific evidence to explain or critique what they consider to be exaggerated public fears, and those who focus on sociological data to highlight people’s perceptions and hence seek to justify a more precautionary outlook. While most recognize that risk contains both a material element and a percept...

This article examines factors that predict perceptions of risk associated with global climate change. The research focuses on the perceptions of those associated with climate change policy making in the prairie region of Canada. The data are from an online survey (n=851) of those policy actors. The analysis integrates several dominant approaches to the study of risk perception: psychometric app...