Behavioral Impact of Disaster Education: Evidence from a Dance-Based Program in Indonesia

Despite its potential role in reducing disaster mortality, the rigorous evaluation of the impact of disaster education on children’s disaster responses, such as evacuation behavior, is scarce. This study examines the impact of a newly introduced Indonesian program on students’ earthquake response. The program is carefully designed based on psychological theories and anecdotal lessons from different countries. It is also easy to understand and cost-effective. Exploiting the fact that the treatment schools for the pilot program were selected based on two observable criteria, we employ the propensity score weighting estimation. The results show positive effects on perception regarding students’ ability to cope with disaster risk and likelihood of taking appropriate response during an earthquake. The participants are also more likely to self-learn and have higher knowledge of disaster risks. Furthermore, there exists a significant effect on earthquake response even among students with poor learning attitude at school. This feature is preferable for disaster education in developing countries, as those residing in disaster-vulnerable areas tend to have poor educational background

Formal Education and Disaster Response of Children: Evidence from Coastal Villages in Indonesia

Although children are exposed to a high mortality risk during disasters, what determines their disaster response, especially during earthquakes, remains largely unexplored. The goal of this study is to examine the association between formal education and earthquake response. Using a unique survey collected from elementary school students in the coastal villages of Indonesia, we show that students’ attitude to learning science is positively associated with their risk perception, perceived coping ability, knowledge about the disaster mechanism and response, and propensity to respond appropriately. Parents’ disaster experience also significantly affects these outcomes. In contrast, attitude to religious class explains none of outcomes. Locus of control is associated with perception and knowledge, but not the response. Our findings suggest that the effects of education on the disaster mortality of children could vary with the school curriculum

The (CTG)n polymorphism in the NOTCH4 gene is not associated with schizophrenia in Japanese individuals

BACKGROUND: The human NOTCH4 gene is a candidate gene for schizophrenia due to its chromosomal location and neurobiological roles. In a British linkage study, NOTCH4 gene polymorphisms were highly associated with schizophrenia. In a Japanese case-control association study, however, these polymorphisms did not show significant associations with schizophrenia. We conducted a case-control study with Japanese subjects to explore an association between the triplet repeat polymorphism in the NOTCH4 gene and schizophrenia, including subtypes of schizophrenia, longitudinal disease course characteristics, and a positive family history for psychoses. METHODS: We examined the (CTG)n repeat polymorphism in the NOTCH4 gene among 100 healthy Japanese individuals and 102 patients with schizophrenia (22 paranoid, 38 disorganized, 29 residual, 64 episodic, 31 continuous, 42 with prominent negative symptoms, and 46 with positive family histories) using a polymerase chain reaction-based, single-strand conformational polymorphism analysis. RESULTS: Five different alleles consisting of 6, 9, 10, 11, and 13 repeats of CTG (Leu) in patients with schizophrenia, and 4 alleles consisting of 6, 9, 10, and 11 repeats in controls were found. No significant differences in genotype or allele frequencies of repeat numbers were found between controls and patients. In addition, there were no associations between the polymorphism and schizophrenia subtypes, longitudinal disease course characteristics, or positive family history of the patients. CONCLUSIONS: Our data suggest a lack of association between the NOTCH4 gene triplet repeat polymorphism and schizophrenia in Japanese individuals

Formal Education and Disaster Response of Children: Evidence from Coastal Villages in Indonesia

Although children are exposed to a high mortality risk during disasters, what determines their disaster response, especially during earthquakes, remains largely unexplored. The goal of this study is to examine the association between formal education and earthquake response. Using a unique survey collected from elementary school students in the coastal villages of Indonesia, we show that students’ attitude to learning science is positively associated with their risk perception, perceived coping ability, knowledge about the disaster mechanism and response, and propensity to respond appropriately. Parents’ disaster experience also significantly affects these outcomes. In contrast, attitude to religious class explains none of outcomes. Locus of control is associated with perception and knowledge, but not the response. Our findings suggest that the effects of education on the disaster mortality of children could vary with the school curriculum

Behavioral Impact of Disaster Education: Evidence from a Dance-Based Program in Indonesia

Despite its potential role in reducing disaster mortality, the rigorous evaluation of the impact of disaster education on children’s disaster responses, such as evacuation behavior, is scarce. This study examines the impact of a newly introduced Indonesian program on students’ earthquake response. The program is carefully designed based on psychological theories and anecdotal lessons from different countries. It is also easy to understand and cost-effective. Exploiting the fact that the treatment schools for the pilot program were selected based on two observable criteria, we employ the propensity score weighting estimation. The results show positive effects on perception regarding students’ ability to cope with disaster risk and likelihood of taking appropriate response during an earthquake. The participants are also more likely to self-learn and have higher knowledge of disaster risks. Furthermore, there exists a significant effect on earthquake response even among students with poor learning attitude at school. This feature is preferable for disaster education in developing countries, as those residing in disaster-vulnerable areas tend to have poor educational background