Factors Promoting Learning With a Web Application on Earthquake-Related Emotional Preparedness in Primary School

Abstract

Little is known about interventions aimed at building children's emotional resilience to combat the psychological trauma associated with future earthquakes. However, natural disasters have potentially a highly traumatic impact on children's psychological functioning. Therefore, within the Emotional Prevention and Earthquakes in a primary school project, we developed a web application promoting earthquake-related emotional preparedness called HEMOT R (Helmet for EMOTions). We studied the role of achievement emotions as factors associated to learning using the web application, coherently with the assumptions of the control-value theory. We also took into account class level and gender. We involved 64 second and fourth graders who used a nine-level web application focused on earthquake-related knowledge, emotions, and emotion regulation. We assessed children's digital self-concept, learning at the web application (operationalized as digital text comprehension), application-related achievement emotions, and text comprehension. We analyzed the data through linear and generalized linear models, and path analyses. First, our findings documented class differences in some of the examined constructs: Pride was higher for younger compared to older children, while the digital performance was higher for older compared to younger students. Second, digital self-concept was positively linked to application-related pride and relaxation. In turn, pride, relaxation, and sadness, and also text comprehension, were linked to the digital performance. With some exceptions, these relations were in line with the assumptions of the control-value theory, extending it to a context disregarded within the current literature. This knowledge is a first step to develop further interventions fostering children's resources to promote learning related to emotional preparedness.

Adults’ expectations on children’s earthquake-related emotions and coping strategies

“…Concerning disaster preparedness, they could help in the planning of training programs to prepare children for coping with emergencies (e.g. HEMOT® project, Helmet for EMOTions, https://www.hemot.eu; Raccanello et al, 2020aRaccanello et al, , 2019bRaccanello et al, , 2020b, with a particular emphasis on knowledge about earthquake-related emotions and efficacious coping strategies. Also, during an emergency, they can be helpful for identifying promptly emotions and effective coping strategies to be fostered during emergencies, as done for the development of a recent public communication campaign devoted to help adults to support children and adolescents during the COVID-19 pandemic (Raccanello et al, 2020c).…”

“…The study was conducted in accordance with the ethical guidelines of the American Psychological Association and it was approved by the Local Ethical Committee of the Department of Human Sciences, University of Verona (protocol n. 134535), as part of a larger project, the PrEmT project (Emotional Prevention and Earthquakes in primary school, Raccanello et al, 2020aRaccanello et al, , 2019bRaccanello et al, , 2020b. We administered a written questionnaire during university class time.…”

An intervention promoting understanding of achievement emotions with middle school students

“…Our data confirming the links between increased abilities on understanding emotions and ER on the one hand, and achievement emotions and performance on the other hand, support the argument for schools to devote time and attention to interventions focusing on emotions. A second implication is that fostering students' emotional competence can have positive consequences not only within the school: They could in fact be generalized to cope with the challenges presented both by everyday tasks external to the school and by extraordinary events like is the case for natural disasters such as earthquakes (Raccanello et al 2020b) or pandemics (Raccanello et al 2020c).…”

Development and Early Implementation of a Public Communication Campaign to Help Adults to Support Children and Adolescents to Cope With Coronavirus-Related Emotions: A Community Case Study

“…The faces had been drawn ad hoc within the PrEmT project and had been tested for validity in a pilot phase (Raccanello et al, 2020c). The pilot involved 233 second and fourth-graders in a naming task, in which we had shown the five faces and asked to produce a label that described each emotion being illustrated.…”

“…In line with this literature, we identified the contents of the campaign using a preliminary model of emotional preparedness for disasters that incorporates developmental changes, developed within the PrEmT project, “Emotional Prevention and Earthquakes with primary school children” ( Raccanello et al, 2019 , 2020b , c ). The model is supported by data derived from an evidence-based intervention which involved primary school children.…”