DETERMINANTS OF DISASTER PREPAREDNESS BEHAVIOR: A PSYCHO-PUBLIC HEALTH STUDY

Abstract

Background: The frequency of disasters, both man-made and natural, is increasing, exposing more people to public health disaster-related risks. Currently, the concept of disaster preparedness for resilience refers to the Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) approach. However, the effectiveness of this concept is still questioned due to the complexity of other determinants related to disaster preparedness (e.g., risk assessment, self-efficacy).

Aim: The aim of this study was to investigate other possible determinants of disaster preparedness behavior instead of DRR.

Methods: The cross-sectional study enrolled 65 Public Health Students of Tadulako University, Indonesia using random sampling method. Data collection using questionnaires to identify psycho-public health variables: risk assessment, self-efficacy, religious beliefs and social cohesion. Spearman's test and Confirmatory Factor Analysis were used to analyze the data.

Results: Principal component analysis showed that risk assessment (factor=0.876), self-efficacy (0.765), religious beliefs (0.813), and social cohesion (0.837) were integrated as factors representing the construct of disaster preparedness. The correlation coefficient value for risk assessment (r=0.936, p=0.001), self-efficacy (r=0.713; p=0.001), religious beliefs (r=0.617, p=0.001), social cohesion (r=0.684; p=0.001) showed significant strong correlation on disaster preparedness.

Conclusion: The integration of risk assessment, self-efficacy, religious beliefs, and social cohesion were determinants of disaster preparedness behavior. The study about psycho-public health is important to investigate the public health related behavior on disaster preparedness.