Unhealthy behaviours in disaster survivors are associated with scarcity and present bias

Extant research suggests that disaster exposure may induce unhealthy behavior, such as smoking, drinking, and eating disorder symptoms in survivors; however, the underlying the mechanisms of such behavior remain unclear. Using two field experiments in two separate disaster-affected communities in Japan (N = 337) and the Philippines (N = 187), this study found that scarcity and reinforced present-bias were associated with disaster experiences and unhealthy behavior in both locations. These experiments were conducted twice (i.e., 2-3 years and 6 years post-disaster), allowing us to examine the enduring impact of these disasters. Disaster survivors became consistently present-biased, which in turn explains variance in individuals' health-related decisions, such as body mass index, smoking, and drinking.

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Publication Details

Journal
Communications Psychology
Published
2025-11-24
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1038/s44271-025-00344-0
Citations
1
Primary Topic
Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Research
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
2.31

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Unhealthy behaviours in disaster survivors are associated with scarcity and present bias

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1 citations
Communications Psychology
Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Research
2.31
article

Unhealthy behaviours in disaster survivors are associated with scarcity and present bias

Eduardo Lucio, Jun Aida, Yasuyuki Sawada, Yusuke Kuroishi, Kei Kajisa, Hiroyuki Hikichi, Ichiro Kawachi, Takahiro Sato, Toyo Ashida, Ken Osaka, Katsunori Kondo
article en
1 citations

Abstract

Extant research suggests that disaster exposure may induce unhealthy behavior, such as smoking, drinking, and eating disorder symptoms in survivors; however, the underlying the mechanisms of such behavior remain unclear. Using two field experiments in two separate disaster-affected communities in Japan (N = 337) and the Philippines (N = 187), this study found that scarcity and reinforced present-bias were associated with disaster experiences and unhealthy behavior in both locations. These experiments were conducted twice (i.e., 2-3 years and 6 years post-disaster), allowing us to examine the enduring impact of these disasters. Disaster survivors became consistently present-biased, which in turn explains variance in individuals' health-related decisions, such as body mass index, smoking, and drinking.

Communications PsychologyVol. 3(1)
Hitotsubashi University (JP), Tokyo Medical and Dental University (JP), Harvard University (US), Hirosaki University (JP), Chiba University (JP), Tokyo University of Science (JP), Tohoku University (JP), Kyoto University (JP), GlaxoSmithKline (Australia) (AU), National Center for Geriatrics and Gerontology (JP), Institute of Science Tokyo (JP), Kitasato University (JP), The University of Tokyo (JP)
National Institutes of Health, Japan Society for the Promotion of Science
Openalex Percentile: Top 9%
Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Research
2.31
DOIOpen Access PDFOpenAlex
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