Anxiety, Disaster Preparedness
Conditions
Keywords
Adolescent, Disaster Education, Disaster Literacy, Earthquake Anxiety, School Health, Nursing
Brief summary
This study aimed to determine the effect of basic disaster awareness education on adolescents' disaster literacy and earthquake anxiety levels. A pre-test post-test randomized controlled experimental study was conducted at two middle schools in Erzincan between April-June 2026. A total of 128 adolescent students aged 10-14 (64 intervention, 64 control) were included. Basic disaster awareness education was applied to the intervention group in 3 weekly sessions of approximately 40 minutes each. Data were collected using the Personal Information Form, the Disaster Literacy Scale for Adolescents (AYAOÖ, range: 29-145, higher = better literacy), and the Earthquake Anxiety Scale (DKÖ, range: 12-60, higher = greater anxiety).
Detailed description
Turkey is a high-risk country for natural disasters. Adolescents constitute an important target group for disaster preparedness education. This randomized controlled study evaluated the effect of structured disaster awareness education on both disaster literacy and earthquake anxiety. Two-stage randomization was used: schools were assigned by lottery to intervention/control groups (cluster randomization), and then students within each school were selected by stratified simple random sampling according to grade level (5th-8th grade). The intervention group received 3 weekly sessions covering earthquake preparedness, fire and flood safety, and storm/landslide/avalanche hazards. Educational methods included lecture, Q&A, hands-on demonstrations (drop-cover-hold-on drill, fire extinguisher use, disaster bag contents), brainstorming, gamification, and interactive learning activities. One week before and one week after the education program, both groups completed the same data collection tools. Statistical analyses included independent t-test, paired t-test, and effect size calculation (Cohen d, r, r²). Statistical significance was set at p\<0.05.
Interventions
BEHAVIORALIntervention
64 adolescent students (10-14 years) at one middle school in Erzincan, selected by stratified random sampling. Received 3 weekly sessions of Basic Disaster Awareness Education.
Sponsors
Erzincan Binali Yildirim Universitesi
Study design
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Primary purpose
PREVENTION
Masking
DOUBLE (Subject, Outcomes Assessor)
Masking description
Randomized
Intervention model description
Parallel Assignment
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
10 Years to 14 Years
Healthy volunteers
Yes
Inclusion criteria
* Being a 5th, 6th, 7th, or 8th grade student at one of the research middle schools in Erzincan city centre * Being aged 10-14 years * Agreeing to participate (with written parental consent and student assent) * No diagnosed mental illness * Being literate and accessible * No communication barrier
Exclusion criteria
* Having previously received any formal disaster preparedness or disaster management training
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame |
|---|---|
| Disaster Literacy Level Assessed by the Disaster Literacy Scale forAdolescents | Administered 1 week before and 1 week after the education program. Range: 29-145; higher scores indicate better disaster literacy. |
| Earthquake Anxiety Level Assessed by the Earthquake Anxiety Scale | 1 week before and 1 week after the education. Range: 12-60; higher scores indicate greater earthquake anxiety. |
Countries
Turkey (Türkiye)
Outcome results
None listed