Department of Earth and Environmental Studies, Montclair State University, 1 Normal Avenue, CL 418, Montclair, NJ, 07043, USA.
CDM Smith, 110 Fieldcrest Avenue, PO 8, Floor 6, Edison, NJ, 08837, USA.
Environ Manage. 2019 May;63(5):691-701. doi: 10.1007/s00267-019-01148-9. Epub 2019 Mar 14.
Despite their true exposure, individuals with Comparative Optimism consider themselves less prone to the adverse health effects of pollution. Since individuals' response to a given environmental risk is affected by their appraisal of the risk, those with Comparative Optimism may be less likely to engage in prescribed behaviors or to do so at the urgency required of the given risk. Such limited or delayed response can amplify the risk instead of reducing it. Thus, there is a need to understand if Comparative Optimism applies to pollutants with irreversible adverse health effects as it would impose a higher burden. There is also a need to know which segments of the population are prone to Comparative Optimism and how it manifests in terms of activities that can enhance exposure. Doing so will allow public health professionals address gaps in risk communication and management efforts and help improve environmental health outcomes. Using survey data, we assess the presence, behavioral and socioeconomic predictors, and implications of Comparative Optimism for communicating and managing lead exposure risk in an urban setting. Our results indicate that a large share of the population has Comparative Optimism for lead exposure, despite living in a city that has a relatively higher lead poisoning burden. We also found that ethnicity, income, length of stay at residence, among others, predict Comparative Optimism, suggesting that Comparative Optimism may predict elevated blood lead level.
尽管人们真正接触到了污染物，但具有比较乐观主义倾向的人认为自己不太容易受到污染对健康的不良影响。由于个体对特定环境风险的反应受到他们对风险的评估的影响，因此，那些具有比较乐观主义倾向的人可能不太愿意或不太紧迫地采取规定的行为来应对风险。这种有限或延迟的反应反而会放大风险，而不是降低风险。因此，有必要了解比较乐观主义是否适用于具有不可逆转的不良健康影响的污染物，因为这将带来更高的负担。也有必要了解哪些人群容易产生比较乐观主义，以及它在哪些可能增加暴露的活动中表现出来。这样做将使公共卫生专业人员能够解决风险沟通和管理工作中的差距，并有助于改善环境健康结果。我们使用调查数据评估了比较乐观主义在城市环境中传播和管理铅暴露风险方面的存在、行为和社会经济预测因素及其影响。我们的研究结果表明，尽管生活在一个铅中毒负担相对较高的城市，但很大一部分人口对铅暴露存在比较乐观主义。我们还发现，种族、收入、居住时间长短等因素可以预测比较乐观主义，这表明比较乐观主义可能预示着血铅水平升高。
