Dissemination of Drinking Water Contamination Data to Consumers: A Systematic Review of Impact on Consumer Behaviors

Drinking water contaminated by chemicals or pathogens is a major public health threat in the developing world. Responses to this threat often require water consumers (households or communities) to improve their own management or treatment of water. One approach hypothesized to increase such positive behaviors is increasing knowledge of the risks of unsafe water through the dissemination of water contamination data. This paper reviews the evidence for this approach in changing behavior and subsequent health outcomes.A systematic review was conducted for studies where results of tests for contaminants in drinking water were disseminated to populations whose water supply posed a known health risk. Studies of any design were included where data were available from a contemporaneous comparison or control group. Using multiple sources >14,000 documents were located. Six studies met inclusion criteria (four of arsenic contamination and two of microbiological contamination). Meta-analysis was not possible in most cases due to heterogeneity of outcomes and study designs. Outcomes included water quality, change of water source, treatment of water, knowledge of contamination, and urinary arsenic. Source switching was most frequently reported: of 5 reporting studies 4 report significantly higher rates of switching (26–72%) among those who received a positive test result and a pooled risk difference was calculate for 2 studies (RD = 0.43 [CI0.4.0–0.46] 6–12 months post intervention) suggesting 43% more of those with unsafe wells switched source compared to those with safe wells. Strength of evidence is low since the comparison is between non-equivalent groups. Two studies concerning fecal contamination reported non-significant increases in point-of-use water treatment.Despite the publication of some large cohort studies and some encouraging results the evidence base to support dissemination of contamination data to improve water management is currently equivocal. Rigorous studies on this topic are needed, ideally using common outcome measures

Aggression : theoretical and empirical reviews /

1. Theoretical and methodological issue

The facilitation of aggression by aggression: Evidence against the catharsis hypothesis

Ninety male subjects were either attacked or treated in a more neutral manner by a male confederate. On a subsequent maze-learning task, one third of the subjects shocked the confederate, one third observed as the experimenter shocked the confederate, and one third waited for a period of time during which the confederate was not shocked. Finally, all subjects shocked the confederate as part of a code-learning task. Subjects who had been attacked and had shocked the confederate during the maze task delivered shocks of greater intensity on the code task than did subjects in the other two conditions, and the former subjects also experienced a greater reduction in diastolic blood pressure than did the latter. The results contradict the hypothesis of aggression catharsis and are discussed in terms of feelings of restraint against aggressing that a subject experiences after committing an aggressive act. The idea of aggression catharsis is popular both in conventional wisdom and in psychological writing. Certainly it seems to make sense that attacking an enemy allows the attacker to purge himself of hostility and anger toward his victim. Furthermore, in both psychoanalytic theory (e.g., Schafer, 1970) and the frustration-aggression hypothesis (Bollard, Doob, Miller, Mowrer, & Sears, 1939), the notion is expressed that aggression leads to a release of aggressive drive or instigation, so that further acts of violence are rendered less probable. This point of view stipulates a fairly simple cause-effect model: instigation produces aggressive arousal, which motivates an aggressive response, which in turn reduces arousal. The end result is a declining level of aggression. Largely because of this cause-effect assumption, however, the catharsis hypothesis has encountered troubles on empirical, methodological, and theoretical levels. Although some investigators have reported results that support the notion of catharsis (e.g., Doob, 1970; Feshbach, 19SS; Thibaut & Coules, 1952), many others have made findings that contradict it (e.g., deCharms & Wilkins, 1963; This study was supported by National Scienc

Aggression : theoretical and empirical reviews /

1. Theoretical and methodological issues2. Issues in researc

Measuring responses to humor: how the testing context affects individuals’ reaction to comedy.

Psychological studies of responses to humor employ a variety of different recording methods and modes of presentation, but few have addressed whether these methodological differences affect people's responses to comedy. In the present study, participants' expressive (laughter and smiling) and cognitive (ratings of funniness and enjoyment) responses to a popular British comedy program presented via videotape, audiotape, or in script form were measured. Behavioral response was recorded either covertly or overtly by a video camera. Mode of presentation significantly affected behavioral response: the videotape and the audiotape conditions generated significantly greater laughter and smiling than did the script condition. Although the presence of the camera was not regarded as obtrusive, its presence did inhibit laughter and depressed enjoyment (but not amusement). The paper suggests that research using humorous material should carefully consider the mode of presentation and the behavioral recording conditions employed