ABSTRACT

Understanding the multi-dimensional risk beliefs of agricultural audiences allows risk communicators and educators to target those beliefs to improve practices. This study was designed to assess pesticide risk beliefs among English-speaking farmers and Spanish-speaking farmworkers and to compare their beliefs. The Pesticide Risk Beliefs Inventory (PRiBI) is a 19-item quantitative instrument used to assess the alignment of risk beliefs with those beliefs of experts in the field. A higher score on the PRiBI relates to an agreement with expert beliefs regarding pesticide risk. Farmers’ and farmworkers’ scores were signficiantly different on items corresponding to the use of physical properties to determine risk and specific adverse health outcomes associated with pesticide exposure. With an understanding that farmworkers rely on the physical properties of pesticides to assess risk, educators and farmers can encourage more reliable ways to assess pesticide hazards.

摘要

了解农业受众的多维风险信念使风险传播者和教育者能够针对这些信念来改进实践。本研究旨在评估讲英语的农民和讲西班牙语的农场工人的农药风险信念，并比较他们的信念。农药风险信念清单 (PRiBI) 是一个包含 19 项的定量工具，用于评估风险信念与该领域专家的信念的一致性。PRiBI 得分较高与专家对农药风险的看法一致。农民和农场工人的得分在与使用物理特性相对应的项目上存在显着差异，以确定与农药接触相关的风险和特定的不良健康结果。