Huebner, Gesche M;
(2022)
The role of parenthood in worry about overheating in homes and implications for energy use - two online survey studies from the UK and the US.
Presented at: 3rd International Conference on Energy Research & Social Science, Manchester, UK.
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Abstract
Climate change brings an increase in temperatures and a higher frequency of heatwaves. Both have been linked to a rise in suicide rates and violent crime on a population level. However, little is known about the link between mental health and ambient temperatures on an individual level and for particular subgroups. Overheating poses health risks to children and can cause disturbed sleep; leading to the expectation that parents are more worried about their homes getting too hot than non-parents. We conducted two online survey studies (N = 1000 each) in the UK and the US to understand to what extent parents and an age-matched comparison group without children are worried about overheating and how they differ in their mitigation actions. Findings did not support the main hypotheses around greater overheating concern amongst parents in general, mothers or those with very young children. However, parents indicated a greater likelihood to upgrade / install air-conditioning (US) and to get electric fans (UK). Parents in the UK indicated using more mitigation options to cope with overheating and parents in the US, whilst not reporting doing more actions, were more likely to use air-conditioning to deal with overheating than non-parents. Finally, those parents who mentioned health impacts for children as a reason for concern about overheating, were more concerned about overheating than parents who had other reasons than children’s health as a reason for being concerned about overheating. In summary, being or becoming a parent might have implications for cooling energy use and parental concern; however, many open questions remain.
| Type: | Conference item (Presentation) |
|---|---|
| Title: | The role of parenthood in worry about overheating in homes and implications for energy use - two online survey studies from the UK and the US |
| Event: | 3rd International Conference on Energy Research & Social Science |
| Location: | Manchester, UK |
| Dates: | 20 - 23 June 2022 |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| Publisher version: | https://www.elsevier.com/events/conferences/intern... |
| Language: | English |
| Keywords: | overheating, energy use, parents |
| UCL classification: | UCL UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of the Built Environment UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of the Built Environment > Bartlett School Env, Energy and Resources |
| URI: | https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10158738 |
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