Background and aims. For children, the traumatic psychological impact of natural disasters such as earthquakes has been documented. Also the study of children’s earthquake-related emotions and coping strategies has gathered increasing attention. However, little is known on the corresponding adults’ representation. Examining the influence of earthquake experience: (a) we hypothesized adults to consider fear more salient than sadness, during and after earthquakes, and (b) we explored how adults represent the efficacy of coping strategies related to children’s fear and sadness. Methods. The participants were 569 Italian university students with different earthquake experience (no experience/damage: 70%; experience with damage: 30%). Referring to what happens during and after earthquakes, they were asked to list children’s (a) expected emotions, and (b) coping strategies for diminishing fear and sadness. We coded (a) the number of fear and sadness terms; (b) the presence of 13 coping strategies (Zimmer-Gembeck & Skinner, 2011), i.e. problem solving, information-seeking, helplessness, escape, self-reliance, support-seeking, delegation, social isolation, accomodation, negotiation, submission, opposition, and support-giving (agreement for reliability: 95%). Results. We used Generalized Linear Mixed Model. Fear was reported more frequently than sadness, and more frequently during vs. after earthquakes (and vice versa for sadness). Some coping strategies were reported rarely (≤ 5%: helplessness, escape, delegation, social isolation, negotiation, submission, opposition, and support-giving). Among the others, problem solving, information-seeking, self-reliance, and support-seeking were more salient for fear vs. sadness, and vice versa for accommodation. Problem solving was more salient during vs. after earthquakes, and vice versa for accommodation. These effects partially depended from earthquake experience. Conclusions. Our findings enable to deepen the knowledge on adults’ emotional representation of earthquakes, filling a gap in the literature. At an applied level, they can help professionals to develop prevention trainings to prepare children to disasters, promoting their knowledge on earthquake-related emotions and efficacious coping strategies.
Adults’ representation of children’s emotions and coping strategies related to earthquakes
Raccanello D.;Barnaba V.;Burro R.
2019-01-01
Abstract
Background and aims. For children, the traumatic psychological impact of natural disasters such as earthquakes has been documented. Also the study of children’s earthquake-related emotions and coping strategies has gathered increasing attention. However, little is known on the corresponding adults’ representation. Examining the influence of earthquake experience: (a) we hypothesized adults to consider fear more salient than sadness, during and after earthquakes, and (b) we explored how adults represent the efficacy of coping strategies related to children’s fear and sadness. Methods. The participants were 569 Italian university students with different earthquake experience (no experience/damage: 70%; experience with damage: 30%). Referring to what happens during and after earthquakes, they were asked to list children’s (a) expected emotions, and (b) coping strategies for diminishing fear and sadness. We coded (a) the number of fear and sadness terms; (b) the presence of 13 coping strategies (Zimmer-Gembeck & Skinner, 2011), i.e. problem solving, information-seeking, helplessness, escape, self-reliance, support-seeking, delegation, social isolation, accomodation, negotiation, submission, opposition, and support-giving (agreement for reliability: 95%). Results. We used Generalized Linear Mixed Model. Fear was reported more frequently than sadness, and more frequently during vs. after earthquakes (and vice versa for sadness). Some coping strategies were reported rarely (≤ 5%: helplessness, escape, delegation, social isolation, negotiation, submission, opposition, and support-giving). Among the others, problem solving, information-seeking, self-reliance, and support-seeking were more salient for fear vs. sadness, and vice versa for accommodation. Problem solving was more salient during vs. after earthquakes, and vice versa for accommodation. These effects partially depended from earthquake experience. Conclusions. Our findings enable to deepen the knowledge on adults’ emotional representation of earthquakes, filling a gap in the literature. At an applied level, they can help professionals to develop prevention trainings to prepare children to disasters, promoting their knowledge on earthquake-related emotions and efficacious coping strategies.
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