Affiliation:
1. Academic Unit of Psychiatry and Addiction Medicine, The Australian National University Medical School, Canberra Hospital, Canberra, ACT, Australia, and Consortium of Australian-Academic Psychiatrists for Independent Policy and Research Analysis (CAPIPRA), Canberra, ACT, Australia
Abstract
Objective To provide a commentary review, for psychiatrists and trainees, on the clinical relevance of risk perception for health behaviours and outcomes. Conclusions The core dimensions of risk perception are how a person perceives the likelihood and severity of an adverse outcome in the face of a threat. The two fundamental modes of how a threat is perceived are a rapid, intuitive, affective response followed by a slower, deliberate, cognitive appraisal. Risk perception regarding health threats is influenced by: level of trust in the information source; immediacy; voluntariness; perceived consequences of the threat; an affective response of fear, especially a feeling of dread; familiarity with the threat, including past exposure; and factual knowledge of the threat. Perception of risk may by distorted by cognitive biases (heuristics), including optimistic bias. There is a strong and consistent link between risk perception and health behaviours, and, therefore, health outcomes.
Subject
Psychiatry and Mental health