Browsing by Author "Repetto, Paula B."

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    A longitudinal study of depressive symptoms and marijuana use in a sample of inner-city African Americans
    (WILEY, 2008) Repetto, Paula B.; Zimmerman, Marc A.; Caldwell, Cleopatra H.
    The association between marijuana use and depressive symptoms was examined longitudinally in a sample of 622 African American youth, interviewed on six occasions, using hierarchical linear modeling (HLM). We considered whether depressive symptoms predicted changes in marijuana use and vice versa from high school through the transition into young adulthood. We also examined gender differences in these behaviors over time. The results indicated that depressive symptoms predicted later marijuana use only for males. Marijuana use did not predict later depressive symptoms for females or males. These findings are consistent with a unidirectional hypothesis indicating that marijuana use may play a role as mood regulator among young males, but not among females. Research findings also indicate that females with lower depressive symptoms use more marijuana than females who report high depressive symptoms. These findings did not change even after controlling for the effects of using other substances at previous stages, school achievement, and demographics factors. These results suggest that depressive symptoms may be an antecedent of marijuana use among African American males.
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    Relationship between Social Vulnerability and Community Resilience: A Geospatial Study in the Context of Natural Disasters
    (2023) Bronfman, Nicolás; Guerrero, Nikole; Castañeda, Javiera V.; Cisternas, Pamela C.; Repetto, Paula B.
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    The influence of risk awareness and government trust on risk perception and preparedness for natural hazards
    (WILEY, 2023) Cisternas, Pamela C.; Cifuentes, Luis A.; Bronfman, Nicolas C.; Repetto, Paula B.
    Risk perception is considered the primary motivator for taking preparedness actions. But people with prior experience and a high-risk perception are not necessarily more prepared. This relationship is even more complex when assessing preparedness levels for hazards with different characteristics. These inconsistent findings can be explained by how preparedness has been measured and the influence of other factors, such as trust and risk awareness. Thus, the main goal of this study was to analyze the role of risk awareness and trust in authorities on risk perception and intention to prepare for natural hazards in a coastal city in Chile. A representative sample of the city of Concepcion, located in the center-south zone of Chile (n = 585), completed a survey. We measured risk awareness, risk perception, trust in authorities, and intention to prepare for two hazards: earthquakes/tsunamis and floods. Through structural equation models, we tested five hypotheses. We found that the perception of risk maintained a direct and positive influence on the intention to prepare for both hazards. The results showed that awareness and risk perception influence the intention to prepare and should be considered different concepts. Finally, trust did not significantly influence risk perception when faced with known hazards for the population. Implications for understanding the relationship between risk perception and direct experience are discussed.