ABSTRACT

While a growing body of research within the environmental hazards scholarship examines how disability affects human responses to major, sudden-onset environmental disasters, little attention has been given to understanding how disability affects responses to long-term, pervasive environmental hazards. Research analysing human responses to land and groundwater legacy contamination in residential areas has identified the significance of demographic and psychosocial determinants of worry, however the question of how living with a disability affects resident worry about contamination remains unanswered. This article provides a cornerstone study for exploring the relation between worry about environmental contamination and disability. A study of 486 adults living in 13 urban residential areas in Australia affected by a range of contaminants was undertaken in 2014. Ordinal logistic regression analysis found respondents with a disability were significantly more likely to worry about contamination than those without. People living with a disability had significantly higher amounts of worry about the contamination than those living without. Changes to residents’ daily habits in response to the contamination and perceptions of personal control over exposure to the contamination present important considerations for understanding the implications of worry for people living with and without a disability in the environmental contamination context.

摘要

尽管在环境危害奖学金中越来越多的研究探讨了残疾如何影响人类对重大突发性环境灾难的反应，但很少有人关注了解残疾如何影响对长期，广泛的环境危害的反应。分析人类对居民区土地和地下水遗留污染的反应的研究已经确定了人口和心理社会担忧因素的重要性，但是，残疾人生活如何影响居民对污染的担忧的问题仍未得到解答。本文为探索环境污染与残疾之间的关系提供了基础研究。2014年，对居住在澳大利亚13个城市居民区的486名成年人进行了一项研究，研究结果显示他们受到一系列污染物的影响。有序逻辑回归分析发现，与没有残疾的人相比，残疾的受访者更可能担心受到污染。与没有残障人士相比，残障人士对污染的担忧要高得多。为响应污染而改变居民的日常习惯，以及对污染暴露的个人控制的认识，是理解在环境污染情况下对有或无残疾的人所担心的影响的重要考虑因素。顺序逻辑回归分析发现，与没有残疾的受访者相比，残疾受访者担心污染的可能性要大得多。与没有残障人士相比，残障人士对污染的担忧要高得多。为响应污染而改变居民的日常习惯，以及对污染暴露的个人控制的认识，是理解在环境污染情况下对有或无残疾的人所担心的影响的重要考虑因素。顺序逻辑回归分析发现，与没有残疾的受访者相比，残疾受访者担心污染的可能性要大得多。与没有残障人士相比，残障人士对污染的担忧要高得多。为响应污染而改变居民的日常习惯，以及对污染暴露的个人控制的认识，是理解在环境污染情况下对有或无残疾的人所担心的影响的重要考虑因素。