The Effect of Basic Disaster Awareness Education on Disaster Literacy and AnxietyLevels in Adolescents

The Effect of Basic Disaster Awareness Education Given to Adolescents on Disaster Literacy and Earthquake Anxiety Levels: A Pre-Test Post-Test Randomized Controlled Study

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).

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.

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