IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/socmed/v361y2024ics0277953624008323.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Risk perception and reappraisal during the COVID-19 pandemic in southeast Alaska: Self-identified determinants of risk and protective health behaviors

Author

Listed:
  • van Doren, Taylor P.
  • Brown, Ryan A.
  • Izenberg, Max
  • Simmons, Callie
  • Heintz, Ron
  • Busch, Lisa

Abstract

Social and cultural context shapes how communities perceive health, well-being, and risk. Risk reappraisal can occur over time as a product of new information and improved understanding. We investigate risk perception and protective behaviors in Lingít Aaní (Southeast Alaska) during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic. Surveys were circulated at two time points: (1) April–June 2020, before COVID-19 reached epidemic levels in the region, and (2) November 2020–February 2021. Ordinary least squares (OLS) regression models were used to analyze how demographic characteristics of the respondent population were related to risk perception. OLS models were again used to predict how individuals engaged in protective behaviors while controlling for risk perceptions. Controlling for demographic characteristics, risk perception increased as age increased for perceived risk of getting sick and dying from COVID-19, males perceived lower risk in general for all tested variables, and Alaska Native respondents perceived higher risk than non-Alaska Native respondents. Controlling for risk perception, results for protective behaviors were mixed; however, the strongest association identified was that knowing someone with a positive COVID-19 diagnosis increased protective behaviors. Between the two time points, risk perceptions increased significantly for variables related to oneself, others, and community members becoming infected with COVID-19. Protective behaviors like traveling less than normal, buying more cleaning products, and engaging in more subsistence gathering significantly increased. Identifying patterns of risk perception and protective behaviors, and especially how they change over time, are critical to developing place-specific public health recommendations, action, and preparedness plans against future infectious threats.

Suggested Citation

  • van Doren, Taylor P. & Brown, Ryan A. & Izenberg, Max & Simmons, Callie & Heintz, Ron & Busch, Lisa, 2024. "Risk perception and reappraisal during the COVID-19 pandemic in southeast Alaska: Self-identified determinants of risk and protective health behaviors," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 361(C).
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:361:y:2024:i:c:s0277953624008323
    DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2024.117378
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0277953624008323
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.socscimed.2024.117378?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Sarah Dryhurst & Claudia R. Schneider & John Kerr & Alexandra L. J. Freeman & Gabriel Recchia & Anne Marthe van der Bles & David Spiegelhalter & Sander van der Linden, 2020. "Risk perceptions of COVID-19 around the world," Journal of Risk Research, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 23(7-8), pages 994-1006, August.
    2. van Doren, Taylor P. & Zajdman, Deborah & Brown, Ryan A. & Gandhi, Priya & Heintz, Ron & Busch, Lisa & Simmons, Callie & Paddock, Raymond, 2023. "Risk perception, adaptation, and resilience during the COVID-19 pandemic in Southeast Alaska Natives," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 317(C).
    3. Eichelberger, Laura & Hansen, Amanda & Cochran, Patricia & Fried, Ruby & Hahn, Micah, 2023. "“In the beginning, I said I wouldn't get it.”: Hesitant adoption of the COVID-19 vaccine in remote Alaska between November 2020 and 2021," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 334(C).
    4. Julie A. Beans & Bobby Saunkeah & R. Brian Woodbury & Terry S. Ketchum & Paul G. Spicer & Vanessa Y. Hiratsuka, 2019. "Community Protections in American Indian and Alaska Native Participatory Research—A Scoping Review," Social Sciences, MDPI, vol. 8(4), pages 1-18, April.
    5. Claudia R. Schneider & Sarah Dryhurst & John Kerr & Alexandra L. J. Freeman & Gabriel Recchia & David Spiegelhalter & Sander van der Linden, 2021. "COVID-19 risk perception: a longitudinal analysis of its predictors and associations with health protective behaviours in the United Kingdom," Journal of Risk Research, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 24(3-4), pages 294-313, April.
    6. Vanessa Y. Hiratsuka & Julie A. Beans & Renee F. Robinson & Jennifer L. Shaw & Ileen Sylvester & Denise A. Dillard, 2017. "Self-Determination in Health Research: An Alaska Native Example of Tribal Ownership and Research Regulation," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 14(11), pages 1-11, October.
    7. Vaughan, E. & Tinker, T., 2009. "Effective health risk communication about pandemic influenza for vulnerable populations," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 99(S2), pages 324-332.
    8. Rebecca Adkins Fletcher, 2017. "The social life of health behaviors: The political economy and cultural context of health practices," Economic Anthropology, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 4(2), pages 213-224, June.
    9. James Flynn & Paul Slovic & C. K. Mertz, 1994. "Gender, Race, and Perception of Environmental Health Risks," Risk Analysis, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 14(6), pages 1101-1108, December.
    10. Yin Paradies, 2016. "Colonisation, racism and indigenous health," Journal of Population Research, Springer, vol. 33(1), pages 83-96, March.
    11. Paul Slovic & Baruch Fischhoff & Sarah Lichtenstein, 1982. "Why Study Risk Perception?," Risk Analysis, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 2(2), pages 83-93, June.
    12. Jesper Akesson & Sam Ashworth-Hayes & Robert Hahn & Robert Metcalfe & Itzhak Rasooly, 2022. "Fatalism, beliefs, and behaviors during the COVID-19 pandemic," Journal of Risk and Uncertainty, Springer, vol. 64(2), pages 147-190, April.
    13. Yin Paradies, 2016. "Erratum to: Colonisation, racism and indigenous health," Journal of Population Research, Springer, vol. 33(2), pages 197-197, June.
    14. Svenn-Erik Mamelund, 2003. "Spanish Influenza Mortality of Ethnic Minorities in Norway 1918–1919," European Journal of Population, Springer;European Association for Population Studies, vol. 19(1), pages 83-102, March.
    15. Loewenstein, George & Mather, Jane, 1990. "Dynamic Processes in Risk Perception," Journal of Risk and Uncertainty, Springer, vol. 3(2), pages 155-175, June.
    16. Qin, Hua & Sanders, Christine & Prasetyo, Yanu & Syukron, Muh. & Prentice, Elizabeth, 2021. "Exploring the dynamic relationships between risk perception and behavior in response to the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 285(C).
    17. Laura Colautti & Alice Cancer & Sara Magenes & Alessandro Antonietti & Paola Iannello, 2022. "Risk-Perception Change Associated with COVID-19 Vaccine’s Side Effects: The Role of Individual Differences," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(3), pages 1-14, January.
    18. M. Kate Bundorf & Jill DeMatteis & Grant Miller & Maria Polyakova & Jialu L. Streeter & Jonathan Wivagg, 2021. "Risk Perceptions and Protective Behaviors: Evidence from COVID-19 Pandemic," NBER Working Papers 28741, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Shin KINOSHITA & Masayuki SATO & Takanori IDA, 2022. "Bayesian Probability Revision and Infection Prevention Behavior in Japan : A Quantitative Analysis of the First Wave of COVID-19," Discussion papers e-22-004, Graduate School of Economics , Kyoto University.
    2. Martin-Lapoirie, Dylan & McColl, Kathleen & Gallopel-Morvan, Karine & Arwidson, Pierre & Raude, Jocelyn, 2024. "Health protective behaviours during the COVID-19 pandemic: Risk adaptation or habituation?," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 342(C).
    3. De Witte, Dries & Delporte, Margaux & Molenberghs, Geert & Verbeke, Geert & Demarest, Stefaan & Hoorens, Vera, 2023. "Self-uniqueness beliefs and adherence to recommended precautions. A 5-wave longitudinal COVID-19 study," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 317(C).
    4. van Doren, Taylor P. & Zajdman, Deborah & Brown, Ryan A. & Gandhi, Priya & Heintz, Ron & Busch, Lisa & Simmons, Callie & Paddock, Raymond, 2023. "Risk perception, adaptation, and resilience during the COVID-19 pandemic in Southeast Alaska Natives," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 317(C).
    5. Jina Choo & Sooyeon Park & Songwhi Noh, 2021. "Associations of COVID-19 Knowledge and Risk Perception with the Full Adoption of Preventive Behaviors in Seoul," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(22), pages 1-14, November.
    6. Alfonso Gastelum-Strozzi & Claudia Infante-Castañeda & Juan Guillermo Figueroa-Perea & Ingris Peláez-Ballestas, 2021. "Heterogeneity of COVID-19 Risk Perception: A Socio-Mathematical Model," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(21), pages 1-14, October.
    7. Rebecca Singer & Karen Zwi & Robert Menzies, 2019. "Predictors of In-Hospital Mortality in Aboriginal Children Admitted to a Tertiary Paediatric Hospital," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(11), pages 1-12, May.
    8. Brianna Poirier & Gustavo Soares & Madison Cachagee & Emma Flannagan & Joanne Hedges & Lisa Jamieson, 2025. "The causes of the causes: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander oral health and the neoliberalisation of Australia’s dental health system," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 12(1), pages 1-7, December.
    9. Tamara Mackean & Madison Shakespeare & Matthew Fisher, 2022. "Indigenous and Non-Indigenous Theories of Wellbeing and Their Suitability for Wellbeing Policy," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(18), pages 1-16, September.
    10. Yashadhana, Aryati & Fields, Ted & Burnett, Anthea & Zwi, Anthony B., 2021. "Re-examining the gap: A critical realist analysis of eye health inequity among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 284(C).
    11. Bernard Baffour & Sumonkanti Das & Mu Li & Alice Richardson, 2024. "The Utility of Socioeconomic and Remoteness Indicators in Understanding the Geographical Variation in the Regional Prevalence of Early Childhood Vulnerability in Australia," Child Indicators Research, Springer;The International Society of Child Indicators (ISCI), vol. 17(4), pages 1791-1827, August.
    12. Burns, Ailish & DeAtley, Teresa & Short, Susan E., 2023. "The maternal health of American Indian and Alaska Native people: A scoping review," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 317(C).
    13. Péta Phelan & Robyn Oxley, 2021. "Understanding the Social and Emotional Wellbeing of Aboriginal LGBTIQ(SB)+ Youth in Victoria’s Youth Detention," Social Inclusion, Cogitatio Press, vol. 9(2), pages 18-29.
    14. Taixiang Duan & Zhonggen Sun & Guoqing Shi, 2021. "Sustained Effects of Government Response on the COVID-19 Infection Rate in China: A Multiple Mediation Analysis," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(23), pages 1-16, November.
    15. Astghik Mavisakalyan & Yashar Tarverdi, 2023. "Identity and support for policies towards Indigenous people: evidence from Australia," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 167(1), pages 535-570, June.
    16. Rhys Jones & Alexandra Macmillan & Papaarangi Reid, 2020. "Climate Change Mitigation Policies and Co-Impacts on Indigenous Health: A Scoping Review," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(23), pages 1-18, December.
    17. Georgia Treneman-Evans & Becky Ali & James Denison-Day & Tara Clegg & Lucy Yardley & Sarah Denford & Rosie Essery, 2022. "The Rapid Adaptation and Optimisation of a Digital Behaviour-Change Intervention to Reduce the Spread of COVID-19 in Schools," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(11), pages 1-22, May.
    18. Savadori, Lucia & Lauriola, Marco, 2022. "Risk perceptions and COVID-19 protective behaviors: A two-wave longitudinal study of epidemic and post-epidemic periods," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 301(C).
    19. Tamara Butler & Alana Gall & Gail Garvey & Khwanruethai Ngampromwongse & Debra Hector & Scott Turnbull & Kerri Lucas & Caroline Nehill & Anna Boltong & Dorothy Keefe & Kate Anderson, 2022. "A Comprehensive Review of Optimal Approaches to Co-Design in Health with First Nations Australians," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(23), pages 1-38, December.
    20. Timothy Mc Call & Susanne Lopez Lumbi & Michel Rinderhagen & Meike Heming & Claudia Hornberg & Michaela Liebig-Gonglach, 2023. "Risk Perception of the SARS-CoV-2 Pandemic: Influencing Factors and Implications for Environmental Health Crises," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(4), pages 1-14, February.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:361:y:2024:i:c:s0277953624008323. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/315/description#description .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.