Exploring the Influence of Lifestyle Stress on Queenslanders’ Perceptions of Disaster Risk and Preparedness Behaviours

In the period from November 2010 to January 2011, the Australian state of Queensland was ravished by a number of natural disasters. This thesis was designed to investigate the influence of lifestyle stress on Queenslanders’ perceptions of risk of natural disasters, terrorist events and preparedness behaviours. In a study measuring risk perception, 2,360 Queenslanders were surveyed two months prior to the onset of the natural disasters. Hierarchical binary logistic regression analyses found that in three out of four conditions, subjective lifestyle stress experienced by an individual significantly increases perceptions of risk of both disasters of interest; natural disasters and terrorist events. Interestingly, an objective measure of lifestyle stress, stressful life events was not found to increase Queenslanders’ perceptions of risk of disasters. Further analyses suggest that subjective stress is not correlated with increased preparedness behaviours for disasters. However, experiencing more stressful life events is correlated with increased preparedness behaviours. These findings gives partial support for the hypotheses, however further research is needed to fully understand the implication of lifestyle stress on perceptions of risk of disasters and preparedness behaviours.