Parental Status and Emergency Preparedness: The Role of Threat and Self Efficacy Meagan Sweeney, M.A., Cynthia A. Rohrbeck, Ph.D., & Philip W. Wirtz, Ph.D. Department of Psychology, The George Washington University Poster presented at SEPA April 1, 2016. For further information, contact Meagan Sweeney at msweeney713@gwu.edu. Methods   Introduction   Results continued   Human-made disasters cause massive damage, destruction and loss of life. The survivors can have long lasting negative consequences, both physical and psychological. (Bonanno et al., 2010). Emergency preparedness involves taking pre-impact actions that can help reduce these negative consequences. (Diekman et al., 2007). Often, these steps are necessary as the government may not be able to intervene for 72 hours (FEMA, 2012). But despite the advantages of preparedness, few individuals are prepared when disaster strikes (Redlener et al., 2007). It is important to examine the demographic and psychological predictors of preparedness in order to target interventions. Perception of threat may influence preparedness. An individual needs to believe a threat is real before they are willing to prepare for it (Lemyre and Lee, 2009). Perception of threat is a necessary but not sufficient predictor of preparedness. Simply increasing perception of threat does not automatically lead to an increase in preparedness (Lindell & Hwang, 2008). Emergency preparedness self-efficacy should also predict preparedness.. If individuals believe that they are able to become prepared, they are more likely to engage in preparedness behaviors (Benight & Bandura, 2004). Children are a particularly vulnerable population with unique needs and concerns after a disaster (Lemyre & Lee, 2009). Therefore, it is important to study parents’ preparedness. Parents might be expected to take more preparatory actions because they perceive a greater threat of terrorism. Hypotheses: Parents will be more prepared than non-parents and preparedness will increase as the number of children increases. Perception of threat of terrorism will mediate the relationship between number of children and preparedness; parents will perceive more threat. Self-efficacy will moderate the relationship between perception of threat and preparedness. The relationship will be greater at higher levels of self-efficacy. Participants 296 individuals from Washington, D.C. area. 65% female, 34% male 27% had at least one child, number ranged from 0-4 Age ranged from 18-71 (M=32.4, SD=10.4) 54% Caucasian, 46% Non-white 61% employed full time, 47% college educated Perceived Threat Single item based on Slovic, et al., 2002. “How concerned or worried are you about the possibility of another terrorist attack (for example, hijacking, bioterrorism, subway/train bombing, school/civilian hostage crisis) occurring in the United States in the next 6 months?” Emergency Preparedness Self-Efficacy (Rohrbeck & Burns, 2011) 7 items on a 5-point Likert scale Assesses individuals’ self-efficacy across a variety of emergencies, particularly those resulting from natural and human-made disasters Internal consistency (Cronbach’s alpha = .89 and test-retest reliability (r = .83, p < .001) is strong . Ex: “I can protect myself and my property in an emergency.” Emergency Preparedness Checklist (Marceron, Rohrbeck & Burns, 2013) Assesses participants’ level of emergency preparedness with 21 items based on recommended behaviors by the Red Cross and FEMA. Cronbach’s alpha = .85 Ex: “Have stored a three-day supply of bottled water.” Social Desirability Scale (Ray, 1984) Short version (8 items) assessing participants’ tendency to respond to questions in ways that are usually perceived as more favorable by others. Ex: “Are you always courteous, even to people who are disagreeable?” Exposure to Disaster Single item: "Have you ever been personally involved in an emergency situation due to a natural disaster or man-made emergency other than terrorism?” Variable t Score p-value Number of Children 1.84 <0.05 Perception of Threat -1.62 0.054 Self-efficacy -0.97 0.17 Interaction -2.39 Have Child -1.41 0.08 Gender 0.28 0.39 Age -1.52 0.06 Ethnicity 0.91 0.18 Income 5.56 Education 2.33 Social Desirability 3.37 Exposure to Disaster 2.71 ANCOVA: Moderated Mediation With Covariates In order to facilitate interpretation, the slope of the relation between threat and preparedness was calculated at five levels of self-efficacy. Slopes were significant above the 50th, 75th and 90th levels of self-efficacy, but not at lower levels. Measures Conclusions Emergency preparedness is related to having children; those with more children are more prepared than those with fewer or none. Perception of threat was a mediator of that relationship; threat explains part of relationship between number of children and preparedness. In addition, emergency preparedness self-efficacy moderated the relationship between threat and preparedness. Perception of threat significantly influenced preparedness at higher levels of self-efficacy (above the 50th percentile). In other words, parents were able to translate threat into greater levels of preparedness when they felt that they had sufficient self-efficacy to do so. Because parents are already predisposed to perceive greater levels of threat, it is important to be able to translate that increased concern and worry into greater preparedness. This study suggests that one way to do that is to increase parents’ emergency preparedness self-efficacy beliefs. Notably, even the most prepared group – parents with high perception of threat and self-efficacy, still only scored an average of 12.45 on a 21 point scale. Thus, all subgroups in this study – parents and non-parents – can improve. Interventions should include ways to promote both perception of threat and emergency preparedness self-efficacy. Presented at Southeastern Psychological Association, 2016 Contact: msweeney713@email.gwu.edu Results Hypothesized Model Emergency Preparedness Means and Standard Deviations Self -Efficacy   Low Self Efficacy High Self Efficacy No Children Low Perception of Threat 5.11 (4.59) 7.21 (5.70) High Perception of Threat 4.58 (5.01) 7.75 (6.04) Have Children 5.55 (5.78) 7.90 (5.90) 5.00 (3.91) 12.45 (4.17) Perception Of Threat Parental Status Emergency Preparedness