The role of response efficacy and self-efficacy in disaster preparedness actions for vulnerable households

Abstract. The effects of response efficacy and self-efficacy on disaster preparedness have been widely reported. However, most studies only prove their relationship to disaster preparedness in general terms without ascertaining whether they also variously impact the disaster preparedness of diverse vulnerable families (i.e., caring for older and/or disabled adults (COD), caring for a child (CC), and low capacity (LC)). In this study, disaster preparedness is divided into two dependent variables: adequate and minimal preparedness. A quantitative analysis was conducted using 4559 samples drawn from the 2021 National Household Survey to investigate the relationship between response efficacy and self-efficacy with preparedness measures adopted by vulnerable households. Binary logistic regression results indicated that households with vulnerable groups are generally more likely to report lower disaster preparedness. Response efficacy is more critical to LC and COD families, while self-efficacy is more important to LC and CC families. Based on these findings, interventions can be tailored to suit different family types and help vulnerable families better prepare for disasters.