A Systematic Review of Empirical Research on Behavioral Drivers of Households' Flood Risk Adaptation Over Time and Across Regions

ABSTRACT Empirical research on households' flood risk adaptation behavior has gained significant attention. While several reviews have already summarized the general progress in this research domain, no study has systematically assessed the progress toward addressing identified research gaps in this field over time and across geographic regions. Therefore, we conducted a systematic review ( n = 352) to assess the distribution and scope of empirical studies over time and across regions. Applying content and statistical analyses, we assess the distribution of case studies across countries, regions, and flood risk levels, and the share of studies addressing key research gaps related to methods, theoretical frameworks, behavioral drivers, and adaptation behaviors. We find that the number of studies on drivers of households' flood risk adaptation has significantly increased over the last two decades. However, relevant studies are still rare in many countries, particularly in those facing the highest flood risks located in the Global South, with some exceptions in South and Southeast Asia, Latin America, and Western Africa. In addition, general research progress toward addressing key research gaps is low, particularly concerning the rare application of mixed‐method approaches and longitudinal data collection. In contrast, significant progress is observed for the use and adaptation of theoretical frameworks over the last two decades. Furthermore, the research scope significantly differs across regions, without clear regional patterns. Our findings thus highlight that future research on household flood risk adaptation behavior should be progressively conducted in countries most at risk and strongly build on identified research gaps to ensure accelerated progress. This article is categorized under: Human Water > Water Governance Science of Water > Water and Environmental Change Water and Life > Conservation, Management, and Awareness