E A Waters
Biographic Data
| ID | 665642 |
|---|---|
| NAME | E A Waters |
| GIVEN NAMES | E A |
| FAMILY NAME | Waters |
| SIGNATURE | WATERS E A |
| AFFILIATIONS | Washington University in St. Louis |
| ORCID | 0000-0001-7402-0133 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 32 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 41 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 32 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 1945 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2025 |
| H-INDEX | 4 |
Managing children’s asthma
Objective Pediatric asthma management is challenging for parents and guardians (hereafter caregivers). We examined (1) how caregivers mentally represent trigger and symptom management strategies, and (2) how those mental representations are associated with actual management behavior.Methods In an online survey, N = 431 caregivers of children with asthma rated 20 trigger management behaviors and 20 symptom management behaviors across 15 characteri…
Reasons people avoid colorectal cancer information
OBJECTIVE: With screening, colorectal cancer can be detected when treatable, or even prevented. However, approximately one in five people tend to avoid colorectal cancer information, and avoidance is associated with being less likely to have been screened for the disease. Crucial to developing strategies to reduce information avoidance, we sought a comprehensive understanding of reasons people avoid colorectal cancer information. METHODS AND MEAS…
How are mental representations of asthma triggers and symptoms related to interpersonal risk perceptions? A psychometric investigation of caregivers of children with asthma
Objective Parents and guardians (hereafter caregivers) make decisions for their children’s medical care. However, many caregivers of children with asthma struggle to understand their child’s illness. We used the psychometric paradigm to investigate how caregivers conceptualize, or mentally represent, asthma triggers and symptoms and how these representations are linked to perceived asthma exacerbation risk.Methods We asked 377 caregivers of child…
Examining relationships between multifactorial health beliefs and beliefs about the social implications of genetics
We examined how multifactorial (MF) beliefs about health relate to beliefs regarding the ethical, legal, and social implications (ELSI) of genomics research including genetic discrimination, determinism, and essentialism, and to demographic characteristics. We conducted an online, cross-sectional survey of 351 sociodemographically diverse U.S. adults (59% female, 56% having vocational-technical training or less education, 31% with low subjective …
Interpersonal comparison among caregivers of children with asthma
Objective: We examined the extent to which caregivers of children with asthma used interpersonal comparisons—a novel comparison process that parallels social comparison and temporal comparison—to form judgments about their child. Methods & Measures: Using semi-structured interviews adapted from the McGill Illness Narrative Interview, we examined the interpersonal comparisons that caregivers of a child with asthma (n = 41) made regarding their chi…
Leveraging Math Cognition to Combat Health Innumeracy
Rational numbers (i.e., fractions, percentages, decimals, and whole-number frequencies) are notoriously difficult mathematical constructs. Yet correctly interpreting rational numbers is imperative for understanding health statistics, such as gauging the likelihood of side effects from a medication. Several pernicious biases affect health decision-making involving rational numbers. In our novel developmental framework, the natural-number bias—a te…
I don’t know my child’s asthma risk
Several studies suggest that "don't know" (DK) responses to risk perception items may represent meaningful expressions of uncertainty about disease risk. However, researchers are often discouraged from including a DK response option in survey items due to concerns about respondents overusing it to minimize cognitive effort-a phenomenon often referred to as satisficing . Our objective was to investigate whether patterns of DK responses to risk per…
Through the Zoom window
Virtual technologies gained popularity during the COVID-19 pandemic for use in research, including research with children. As scholarship from the field of science, technology and society (STS) suggests, technologies are never neutral, but embedded with social values and, as such, used by people to navigate identities and relationships. Building on childhood studies research that has shown how children appropriate and use research tools, this art…
Dismissing “Don’t Know” Responses to Perceived Risk Survey Items Threatens the Validity of Theoretical and Empirical Behavior-Change Research
Since the middle of the 20th century, perceptions of risk have been critical to understanding engagement in volitional behavior change. However, theoretical and empirical risk perception research seldom considers the possibility that risk perceptions do not simply exist: They must be formed. Thus, some people may not have formulated a perception of risk for a hazard at the time a researcher asks them, or they may not be confident in the extent to…
Racial/Ethnic Differences in Prosocial Beliefs and Prevention Behavior During the Covid-19 Pandemic
Prevention is political
This differential response may affect virus transmission patterns and poses a considerable challenge for health communications efforts
Towards emplaced understandings of risk
Examining commonsense epidemiology
Commonsense epidemiology-how lay people think about diseases and their causes and consequences-can influence how people respond. We examined three lay epidemiological beliefs about 20 triggers and 19 symptoms among 349 caregivers of children with asthma. Our findings contradicted the prevalence-seriousness hypothesis (perceived prevalence and seriousness correlate negatively). The data partially supported the prevalence-control hypothesis (percei…
Multifactorial causal beliefs and colorectal cancer screening
We tested a conceptual model that describes the relationship between individuals' understanding of the multifactorial nature of cancer and their self-reported colorectal cancer screening. We collected cross-sectional survey data from 205 men and women age 50-75. Data were analyzed using structural equation modeling. The proposed model had reasonable fit (RMSEA = 0.09, CFI = 0.65). Multifactorial causal beliefs were associated with cancer risk per…
How do embodied experiences of asthma influence caregiver conceptual models
Examining strategies for addressing high levels of ‘I don’t know’ responding to risk perception questions for colorectal cancer and diabetes
Objective Many people say they ‘don’t know’ their risk for common diseases (DK responders). Inadequate health literacy and higher disease information avoidance may suppress risk knowledge and thereby increase DK responding. Study goals were to examine two plausible interventions to address the health education needs of DK responders. Design: Participants were identified in a pre-screener as DK responders for either diabetes or colorectal cancer (…
Agency beliefs are associated with lower health information avoidance
Background: Avoiding health information is relatively common and is associated with lower knowledge of health risks and lower engagement in protective health behaviour. Health information avoidance likely limits the effectiveness of health communication interventions. Objective: To identify beliefs associated with avoiding health information. Design: Two cross-sectional studies. Setting: Two representative samples of adults residing in the USA. M…
Not Breathing Easy
Recent health policy in the United States encourages an outsourcing of labor from professional practice into domestic spaces, where in theory, medical professionals supply the training, technologies, and guidance needed to discharge responsibility for care to patients or caregivers. Mattingly et al. (2011) term this labor "chronic homework," describing the relationship between the assigning and undertaking of medical care at the borders of profes…
‘Don’t know’ responding and estimates of perceived risk
Individuals sometimes report that they don’t know their risk for a health problem, but many studies of illness risk perception do not provide a ‘don’t know’ (DK) response option. We examined how providing versus not providing a DK option affected responding – either the number of DK responses when the option was provided or the number of skips when a DK option was not provided. We also examined whether it systematically affected perceived risk es…
Cultural worldviews and perceived risk of colon cancer and diabetes
Individuals with different cultural worldviews conceptualize risks in distinct ways, yet this work has not extended to personal illness risk perception. The purpose of this study was to 1) examine the relationships between two types of cultural worldviews (Hierarchy-Egalitarian; Individualism-Communitarianism) and perceived risk (perceived severity and susceptibility) for diabetes and colon cancer, 2) test whether health literacy modifies the abo…
Causes and consequences of uncertainty about illness risk perceptions
We identified determinants of uncertainty about perceived risk judgments and demonstrated that uncertainty is associated with lower engagement in risk-reducing behavior. We found that people likely have metacognitive awareness of when their judgments are overly pessimistic, resulting in uncertainty and that question context (more constraints) and people's time orientation (future orientation) are associated with lower uncertainty. Uncertainty abo…
Differences in Rural and Urban Health Information Access and Use
PURPOSE: Rural residents may have lower access to and use of certain health information sources relative to urban residents. We investigated differences in information source access and use between rural and urban US adults and whether having low health literacy might exacerbate rural disparities in access to and use of health information. METHODS: Six hundred participants (50% rural) completed an online survey about access and use of 25 health i…
Health Literacy and Use and Trust in Health Information
There is a need to investigate which health information sources are used and trusted by people with limited health literacy to help identify strategies for addressing knowledge gaps that can contribute to preventable illness. We examined whether health literacy was associated with people's use of and trust in a range of potential health information sources. Six hundred participants from a GfK Internet survey panel completed an online survey. We a…
Smokers’ unprompted comments on cigarette additives during conversations about the genetic basis for nicotine addiction
Participants had distinct beliefs about cigarette additives, each of which seemed to serve a purpose. Although mistrust may complicate communication about the health risks of tobacco use, health communication experts could use smokers' existing beliefs and feelings to better design more effective anti-smoking messages
"I don't believe it." Acceptance and skepticism of genetic health information among African-American and White smokers
Avoiding cancer risk information
Perceptions of cancer as a death sentence
Research suggests that perceiving cancer as a death sentence is a critical determinant of health care-seeking behaviors. However, there is limited information regarding the prevalence of this perception in the US population. Cross-sectional analysis of data (n = 7674 adults) from the 2007-2008 administration of the nationally representative Health Information National Trends Survey (HINTS 3) was performed. A majority (61.6%) of respondents percei…
Not Breathing Easy
Recent health policy in the United States encourages an outsourcing of labor from professional practice into domestic spaces, where in theory, medical professionals supply the training, technologies, and guidance needed to discharge responsibility for care to patients or caregivers. Mattingly et al. (2011) term this labor "chronic homework," describing the relationship between the assigning and undertaking of medical care at the borders of profes…
Causes and consequences of uncertainty about illness risk perceptions
We identified determinants of uncertainty about perceived risk judgments and demonstrated that uncertainty is associated with lower engagement in risk-reducing behavior. We found that people likely have metacognitive awareness of when their judgments are overly pessimistic, resulting in uncertainty and that question context (more constraints) and people's time orientation (future orientation) are associated with lower uncertainty. Uncertainty abo…
Through the Zoom window
Virtual technologies gained popularity during the COVID-19 pandemic for use in research, including research with children. As scholarship from the field of science, technology and society (STS) suggests, technologies are never neutral, but embedded with social values and, as such, used by people to navigate identities and relationships. Building on childhood studies research that has shown how children appropriate and use research tools, this art…
How do embodied experiences of asthma influence caregiver conceptual models
"I don't believe it." Acceptance and skepticism of genetic health information among African-American and White smokers
Towards emplaced understandings of risk
Multifactorial causal beliefs and colorectal cancer screening
We tested a conceptual model that describes the relationship between individuals' understanding of the multifactorial nature of cancer and their self-reported colorectal cancer screening. We collected cross-sectional survey data from 205 men and women age 50-75. Data were analyzed using structural equation modeling. The proposed model had reasonable fit (RMSEA = 0.09, CFI = 0.65). Multifactorial causal beliefs were associated with cancer risk per…
A Critique of Wayland J. Hayes' "The Place of Sociology in Education"
Journal Article A Critique of Wayland J. Hayes' “The Place of Sociology in Education” Get access E. A. Waters E. A. Waters University of Tennessee Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar Social Forces, Volume 24, Issue 1, October 1945, Pages 55–56, https://doi.org/10.2307/2571519 Published: 01 October 1945
Feeling good, feeling bad, and feeling at‐risk
The recent increased interest among researchers in the ways in which emotion, mood, and affect influence risk perceptions is an important step in better understanding how people understand and perceive health risk information. However, the literature involving incidental affect (ambient mood) is not as well known. The 23 years of research examining incidental affect's influence on likelihood estimates of health hazards and life events has not pre…
Taking Stock of Unrealistic Optimism
Researchers have used terms such as unrealistic optimism and optimistic bias to refer to concepts that are similar but not synonymous. Drawing from 3 decades of research, we discuss critically how researchers define unrealistic optimism, and we identify four types that reflect different measurement approaches: unrealistic absolute optimism at the individual and group levels and unrealistic comparative optimism at the individual and group levels. …
Smokers’ beliefs about the tobacco control potential of “a gene for smoking”
Participants generated several possible tobacco control uses for genomics research findings. Our findings suggest that tobacco control experts should consult with smokers prior to implementing tobacco control measures. The potential public health benefits of genetics and genomics research related to tobacco use cannot be realized until communication strategies that are most likely to encourage and support tobacco avoidance decisions, and minimize…
Perceptions of cancer as a death sentence
Research suggests that perceiving cancer as a death sentence is a critical determinant of health care-seeking behaviors. However, there is limited information regarding the prevalence of this perception in the US population. Cross-sectional analysis of data (n = 7674 adults) from the 2007-2008 administration of the nationally representative Health Information National Trends Survey (HINTS 3) was performed. A majority (61.6%) of respondents percei…
A Primer on Unrealistic Optimism
People display unrealistic optimism in their predictions about countless events, believing that their personal future outcomes will be more desirable than can possibly be true. We summarize the vast literature on unrealistic optimism by focusing on four broad questions: What is unrealistic optimism, when does it occur, why does it occur, and what are its consequences? Unrealistic optimism can be operationalized in multiple ways; is commonplace ye…
Avoiding cancer risk information
"I don't believe it." Acceptance and skepticism of genetic health information among African-American and White smokers
Health Literacy and Use and Trust in Health Information
There is a need to investigate which health information sources are used and trusted by people with limited health literacy to help identify strategies for addressing knowledge gaps that can contribute to preventable illness. We examined whether health literacy was associated with people's use of and trust in a range of potential health information sources. Six hundred participants from a GfK Internet survey panel completed an online survey. We a…
Smokers’ unprompted comments on cigarette additives during conversations about the genetic basis for nicotine addiction
Participants had distinct beliefs about cigarette additives, each of which seemed to serve a purpose. Although mistrust may complicate communication about the health risks of tobacco use, health communication experts could use smokers' existing beliefs and feelings to better design more effective anti-smoking messages
Differences in Rural and Urban Health Information Access and Use
PURPOSE: Rural residents may have lower access to and use of certain health information sources relative to urban residents. We investigated differences in information source access and use between rural and urban US adults and whether having low health literacy might exacerbate rural disparities in access to and use of health information. METHODS: Six hundred participants (50% rural) completed an online survey about access and use of 25 health i…
‘Don’t know’ responding and estimates of perceived risk
Individuals sometimes report that they don’t know their risk for a health problem, but many studies of illness risk perception do not provide a ‘don’t know’ (DK) response option. We examined how providing versus not providing a DK option affected responding – either the number of DK responses when the option was provided or the number of skips when a DK option was not provided. We also examined whether it systematically affected perceived risk es…
Cultural worldviews and perceived risk of colon cancer and diabetes
Individuals with different cultural worldviews conceptualize risks in distinct ways, yet this work has not extended to personal illness risk perception. The purpose of this study was to 1) examine the relationships between two types of cultural worldviews (Hierarchy-Egalitarian; Individualism-Communitarianism) and perceived risk (perceived severity and susceptibility) for diabetes and colon cancer, 2) test whether health literacy modifies the abo…
Causes and consequences of uncertainty about illness risk perceptions
We identified determinants of uncertainty about perceived risk judgments and demonstrated that uncertainty is associated with lower engagement in risk-reducing behavior. We found that people likely have metacognitive awareness of when their judgments are overly pessimistic, resulting in uncertainty and that question context (more constraints) and people's time orientation (future orientation) are associated with lower uncertainty. Uncertainty abo…
Examining strategies for addressing high levels of ‘I don’t know’ responding to risk perception questions for colorectal cancer and diabetes
Objective Many people say they ‘don’t know’ their risk for common diseases (DK responders). Inadequate health literacy and higher disease information avoidance may suppress risk knowledge and thereby increase DK responding. Study goals were to examine two plausible interventions to address the health education needs of DK responders. Design: Participants were identified in a pre-screener as DK responders for either diabetes or colorectal cancer (…
Agency beliefs are associated with lower health information avoidance
Background: Avoiding health information is relatively common and is associated with lower knowledge of health risks and lower engagement in protective health behaviour. Health information avoidance likely limits the effectiveness of health communication interventions. Objective: To identify beliefs associated with avoiding health information. Design: Two cross-sectional studies. Setting: Two representative samples of adults residing in the USA. M…
Not Breathing Easy
Recent health policy in the United States encourages an outsourcing of labor from professional practice into domestic spaces, where in theory, medical professionals supply the training, technologies, and guidance needed to discharge responsibility for care to patients or caregivers. Mattingly et al. (2011) term this labor "chronic homework," describing the relationship between the assigning and undertaking of medical care at the borders of profes…
Dismissing “Don’t Know” Responses to Perceived Risk Survey Items Threatens the Validity of Theoretical and Empirical Behavior-Change Research
Since the middle of the 20th century, perceptions of risk have been critical to understanding engagement in volitional behavior change. However, theoretical and empirical risk perception research seldom considers the possibility that risk perceptions do not simply exist: They must be formed. Thus, some people may not have formulated a perception of risk for a hazard at the time a researcher asks them, or they may not be confident in the extent to…
Racial/Ethnic Differences in Prosocial Beliefs and Prevention Behavior During the Covid-19 Pandemic
Prevention is political
This differential response may affect virus transmission patterns and poses a considerable challenge for health communications efforts
Towards emplaced understandings of risk
Examining commonsense epidemiology
Commonsense epidemiology-how lay people think about diseases and their causes and consequences-can influence how people respond. We examined three lay epidemiological beliefs about 20 triggers and 19 symptoms among 349 caregivers of children with asthma. Our findings contradicted the prevalence-seriousness hypothesis (perceived prevalence and seriousness correlate negatively). The data partially supported the prevalence-control hypothesis (percei…
Multifactorial causal beliefs and colorectal cancer screening
We tested a conceptual model that describes the relationship between individuals' understanding of the multifactorial nature of cancer and their self-reported colorectal cancer screening. We collected cross-sectional survey data from 205 men and women age 50-75. Data were analyzed using structural equation modeling. The proposed model had reasonable fit (RMSEA = 0.09, CFI = 0.65). Multifactorial causal beliefs were associated with cancer risk per…
How do embodied experiences of asthma influence caregiver conceptual models
Leveraging Math Cognition to Combat Health Innumeracy
Rational numbers (i.e., fractions, percentages, decimals, and whole-number frequencies) are notoriously difficult mathematical constructs. Yet correctly interpreting rational numbers is imperative for understanding health statistics, such as gauging the likelihood of side effects from a medication. Several pernicious biases affect health decision-making involving rational numbers. In our novel developmental framework, the natural-number bias—a te…
Psychology (26 works) · Medicine (24 works) · Social Psychology (17 works) · Behavioral Health and Interventions (11 works) · Perception (11 works) · Psychiatry (10 works) · Risk perception (9 works) · Asthma (8 works) · Environmental health (8 works) · Health care (8 works)