Media effects on public safety following a natural disaster: Testing lagged dependent variable models

Journalism and Mass Communication Quarterly

Volumn 84, Issue 4, 2007, Pages 695-712

  Beaudoin, Christopher E ^a  

^a TULANE UNIVERSITY   (United States)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

ASSESSMENT METHOD; BEHAVIORAL RESPONSE; CATASTROPHIC EVENT; HURRICANE KATRINA 2005; MEDIA ROLE; MODELING; NATURAL DISASTER; PANEL DATA; PUBLIC ATTITUDE; SAFETY;

LOUISIANA; NEW ORLEANS; NORTH AMERICA; UNITED STATES;

EID: 42449111732     PISSN: 10776990     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1177/107769900708400403     Document Type: Article

References (123)

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23. Although that study had a panel data component, it did not employ analysis techniques that could help strengthen inferences of causality.
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32. No publications could be found that evaluate media campaign effects following a catastrophe, and only one study could be located that assesses the role of news during the recovery phase of a catastrophe. That study (Traugott and Brader, "Explaining 9/11") demonstrated a non-significant association between news use and knowledge about the 9/11 terrorist attacks, but its relevance to the current study is limited by its consideration of media processes among the general public - and not just people who were directly affected by the catastrophe. Levels of relevance, involvement, and news attention would be expected to be different in that context than in the context of the current study.
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35. Itzhak Yanovitsky and Jo Stryker, "Mass Media, Social Norms, and Health Promotion Efforts," Communication Research 28 (2, 2001): 208-39.
36. See, for example, Christopher E. Beaudoin, Carolyn Fernandez, Jerry L. Wall, and Thomas A. Farley, "Promoting Healthy Eating and Physical Activity: Short-Term Effects of a Mass Media Campaign," American Journal of Preventive Medicine 32 (3, 2007): 217-23;
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50. See, for example, Beaudoin et al., "Promoting Healthy Eating";
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53. Ball-Rokeach, and DeFleur, "A Dependency Model."
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72. For example, the basic recommendations of three of the spots are as follows: (1) Mold remains Post Katrina. Before clean up, put on an N95 breathing mask, available at local hardware stores; (2) Dangerous chemicals remain Post Katrina. When putting things back together, wear an N95 breathing mask, goggles, gloves, and steel-toed shoes; and (3) Reconstruction dangers remain Post Katrina. When putting things back together, put on goggles, gloves, and steel-toed shoes.
73. Among this target audience, the spots had weekly gross rating points (GRPs) of 142.5, which indicate that, on average, a member of the target audience heard the radio spots about 1.5 times per week and 16 times during the campaign.
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77. For example, the attention question for 93.3 FM was as follows: About how much attention do you pay to the health and safety messages on Q93 that have the slogan "Stay healthy and strong New Orleans"? Responses were on a 7-point scale from 0 (no attention) to 6 (very close attention).
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80. For example, newspaper news attention was measured with the following question: About how much attention do you pay to newspaper stories about health and safety issues related to New Orleans following Hurricane Katrina? Responses were on a 7-point scale from 0 (no attention at all) to 6 (very close attention).
81. There were three items for safety beliefs. Protective gear was assessed with the following statement: You should wear protective gear like goggles, gloves, and steel-toed shoes when cleaning up homes damaged by Hurricane Katrina. Breathing mask was measured with the following statement: You should wear a breathing mask when cleaning up mold in a house damaged by Hurricane Katrina. Finally, for household chemicals, the following item was used: Following Hurricane Katrina, household chemicals can be dangerous when cleaning up homes. Responses were on a 5-point scale from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree).
82. The items for safety behavior were as follows: Wore protective gear like goggles, gloves,: and steel-toed shoes; Wore a breathing mask when cleaning up mold; and Were careful about household chemicals. Responses were on a 5-point scale from 1 (never) to 5 (very often).
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85. In the current study, Time 1 variables are used in two ways. First, the temporal stability of outcome variables (safety beliefs and safety behavior) is controlled for by regressing Time 2 responses by Time 1 responses. Second, via cross-lagged paths, T1 variables can be positioned as the predictors of Time 2 outcome variables (i.e., T1 media measures in the prediction of T2 safety beliefs; and T1 media measures and T1 safety beliefs in the prediction of T2 safety behavior). In addition, via synchronous paths, Time 2 variables can be positioned as the predictors of Time 2 outcome variables (i.e., T2 media measures in the prediction of T2 safety beliefs; and T2 media measures and T2 safety beliefs in the prediction of T2 safety behavior). This approach allows for assessing whether the effects of media use on safety beliefs are cross-lagged or synchronous - and whether the effects of media use and safety beliefs on safety behavior are cross-lagged or synchronous.
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