Applying the common sense model to measure representations of arsenic contaminated well water.

Theory-based research is needed to understand how people respond to environmental health risk information. Both the common sense model (CSM) of self-regulation and the mental models approach propose that information shapes individuals' personal understandings that, in turn, influence their decisions and actions. We compare these frameworks and explain how the CSM was applied to describe and measure mental representations of arsenic contaminated well water. Educational information, key informant interviews, and environmental risk literature were used to develop survey items to measure dimensions of cognitive representations (identity, cause, timeline, consequences, control) and emotional representations. Surveys mailed to 1,067 private well users with moderate and elevated arsenic levels yielded an 84 % response rate (n = 897). Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses of data from the elevated arsenic group identified a factor structure that retained the CSM representational structure and was consistent across moderate and elevated arsenic groups. The CSM has utility for describing and measuring representations of environmental health risks, thus supporting its application to environmental health risk communication research.