Cumulative disaster exposure, gender and the protective action decision model

The relationship between gender, disaster exposure, and the Protective Action Decision Model (PADM) is explored through a survey administered to 326 GulfCoast residents following the Deep-Water Horizon oil spill. Structural Equation Modeling was used to find that disaster exposure demonstrated a significant negative effect on PADM, such that greater exposure was associated with lower scores (g =−3.09, p < .001). Similarly, gender was a significant covariate in the model, such that being female was associated with an increase in scores (g=0.33, p<.05). This work high- lights the relationships between gender, cumulative disaster exposure, and the PADM.