Residents' expectancies of stress stimuli, behavioural outcome and behavioural control as a key to health inequities in the context of noise action planning: A conceptual model and its empirical translation

Noise action planning according to the Environmental Noise Directive (END) requires residents' motivation and capability to participate in the process of selecting and localizing noise abatement and noise protection measures. However, population strategies whose effectiveness primarily rests on individual residents's agency are supposed to produce additional health inequities. We therefore present a conceptual model explaining unequal participation and health chances in relation to residential exposure to traffic noise. Drawing on four concepts (reformulated learned helplessness model, Model on household's Vulnerability to the local Environment, Cognitive Activation Theory of Stress, Reserve Capacity Model), we study a cognitive process involving stimulus, outcome, and control expectancies as predictors of civic engagement, generalised patterns, and health. Moreover, we discuss potential analytical strategies based on the special data structure resulting from an on-going epidemiological cohort study. We may use its annual follow-up procedure to administer a model-specific questionnaire to its participants. Thus, we are enabled to combine cross-sectional data from our questionnaire and the regular follow-up with longitudinal data from three waves. Further, we plan to contextualise individual-level associations by adding noise exposure as modelled by END noise maps and residential neighbourhood variables to our statistical equations.