Reutter Linda I, Veenstra Gerry, Stewart Miriam J, Raphael Dennis, Love Rhonda, Makwarimba Edward, McMurray Susan
Faculty of Nursing, University of Alberta, Canada.
Health Soc Care Community. 2005 Nov;13(6):514-30. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2524.2005.00584.x.
Although there is a large body of research dedicated to exploring public attributions for poverty, considerably less attention has been directed to public understandings about the effects of poverty. In this paper, we describe lay understandings of the effects of poverty and the factors that potentially influence these perceptions, using data from a telephone survey conducted in 2002 on a random sample (n=1671) of adults from eight neighbourhoods in two large Canadian cities (Edmonton and Toronto). These data were supplemented with interview data obtained from 153 people living in these same neighbourhoods. Multivariate linear and logistic regressions were used to determine the effects of basic demographic variables, exposure to poverty and attribution for poverty on three dependent variables relating to the effects of poverty: participation in community life, the relationship between poverty and health and challenges facing low-income people. Ninety-one per cent of survey respondents agreed that poverty is linked to health, while 68% agreed that low-income people are less likely to participate in community life. Affordable housing was deemed especially difficult to obtain by 96%, but other resources (obtaining healthy food, giving children a good start in life, and engaging in healthy behaviours) were also viewed as challenging by at least 70% of respondents. The regression models revealed that when controlling for demographics, exposure to poverty explained some of the variance in recognising the effects of poverty. Media exposure positively influenced recognition of the poverty-health link, and attending formal talks was strongly related to understanding challenges of poverty. Attributions for poverty accounted for slightly more of the variance in the dependent variables. Specifically, structural and sociocultural attributions predicted greater recognition of the effects of poverty, in particular the challenges of poverty, while individualistic attributions predicted less recognition. Older and female respondents were more likely to acknowledge the effects of poverty. Income was positively associated with recognition of the poverty-health link, negatively associated with understanding the challenges of low-income people, and unrelated to perceptions of the negative effect of poverty on participation in community life.
尽管有大量研究致力于探究公众对贫困的归因，但对于公众对贫困影响的理解所给予的关注却少得多。在本文中，我们利用2002年对加拿大两个大城市（埃德蒙顿和多伦多）八个社区的成年人随机样本（n = 1671）进行电话调查所获得的数据，描述了公众对贫困影响的理解以及可能影响这些认知的因素。这些数据还补充了从居住在这些相同社区的153人那里获得的访谈数据。我们使用多元线性回归和逻辑回归来确定基本人口统计学变量、贫困暴露程度以及贫困归因对与贫困影响相关的三个因变量的影响：参与社区生活、贫困与健康的关系以及低收入人群面临的挑战。91%的调查受访者同意贫困与健康有关，而68%的受访者同意低收入人群参与社区生活的可能性较小。96%的受访者认为经济适用房特别难以获得，但至少70%的受访者也认为其他资源（获得健康食品、让孩子有一个好的人生开端以及养成健康行为）也具有挑战性。回归模型显示，在控制人口统计学因素后，贫困暴露程度解释了在认识贫困影响方面的一些差异。媒体曝光对认识贫困与健康的关联有积极影响，参加正式讲座与理解贫困挑战密切相关。贫困归因在因变量的差异中占比略多。具体而言，结构性和社会文化归因预测对贫困影响，特别是贫困挑战的认识更高，而个人主义归因预测的认识较低。年龄较大的受访者和女性受访者更有可能承认贫困的影响。收入与认识贫困与健康的关联呈正相关，与理解低收入人群面临的挑战呈负相关，与贫困对参与社区生活的负面影响的认知无关。
