The Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing, Trinity College Dublin, Dublin 2, Ireland.
School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences, Distillery Fields, University College Cork, Cork T12 YN60, Ireland.
Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2020 Mar 20;17(6):2072. doi: 10.3390/ijerph17062072.
Extreme weather events including flooding can have severe personal, infrastructural, and economic consequences, with recent evidence pointing to surface flooding as a pathway for the microbial contamination of private groundwater supplies. There is a pressing need for increasingly focused information and awareness campaigns to highlight the risks posed by extreme weather events and appropriate subsequent post-event actions. To date, little is known about the presence, directionality or magnitude of gender-related differences regarding flood risk awareness and behaviour among private groundwater users, a particularly susceptible sub-population due to an overarching paucity of infrastructural regulation across many regions. The current study investigated gender-related differences in flood risk perception and associated mitigation behaviours via a cross-sectional, national survey of 405 (168 female, 237 male) private groundwater supply users. The developed survey instrument assessed socio-demographic profile, previous flood experience, experiential and conjectural health behaviours (contingent on previous experience), and Risk, Attitude, Norms, Ability, Self-regulation (RANAS) framework questions. Statistically significant gender differences were found between both 'Norm-Descriptive' and 'Ability-Self-efficacy' RANAS elements ( < 0.05). Female respondents reported a lower level of awareness of the need for post-flood action(s) (8.9% vs. 16.5%), alongside a perceived "lack of information" as a reason for not testing their domestic well (4.9% vs. 11.5%). Conversely, male respondents were more likely to report awareness of their well location in relation to possible contamination sources (96.6% vs. 89.9%) and awareness of previous water testing results (98.9% vs. 93.0%). Gender-related gaps exist within the studied private groundwater reliant cohort, a sub-population which has to date remained under-studied within the context of climate change and extreme weather events. Accordingly, findings suggest that gender-focused communication and education may represent an effective tool for protecting current and future generations of global groundwater users.
极端天气事件，包括洪水，可能会对个人、基础设施和经济造成严重后果，最近的证据表明，地表洪水是私人地下水供应受到微生物污染的途径。因此，迫切需要开展越来越有针对性的信息和宣传活动，强调极端天气事件带来的风险，以及适当的后续应对行动。迄今为止，人们对私人地下水用户的洪水风险意识和行为中与性别相关的差异的存在、方向和程度知之甚少，由于许多地区基础设施监管普遍不足，这一群体是特别容易受到影响的亚人群。本研究通过对 405 名（168 名女性，237 名男性）私人地下水供应用户进行的全国性横断面调查，调查了洪水风险感知和相关缓解行为中的性别差异。开发的调查工具评估了社会人口统计学特征、以前的洪水经历、经验和推测性健康行为（取决于以前的经验），以及风险、态度、规范、能力、自我调节（RANAS）框架问题。在“规范描述”和“能力自我效能”RANAS 要素之间发现了统计学上显著的性别差异（<0.05）。女性受访者报告说，对洪水后行动（8.9%对 16.5%）的必要性的认识较低，以及“缺乏信息”是不测试家用井的原因（4.9%对 11.5%）。相比之下，男性受访者更有可能报告意识到他们的井与可能的污染来源的位置（96.6%对 89.9%），以及意识到以前的水质测试结果（98.9%对 93.0%）。在研究的依赖私人地下水的人群中存在与性别相关的差距，这一亚人群在气候变化和极端天气事件背景下迄今为止研究不足。因此，研究结果表明，以性别为重点的沟通和教育可能是保护当前和未来全球地下水用户的有效工具。
