Disaster Medicine and Public Health Preparedness
Volume 8 – Issue 03 – June 2014
http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayIssue?jid=DMP&tab=currentissue

Editorial
The 2015 Hyogo Framework for Action: Cautious Optimism
Frederick M. Burkle Jra1, Shinichi Egawaa4, Anthony G. MacIntyrea2, Yasuhiro Otomoa5, Charles W. Beadlinga6 and John T. Walsha3
a1 Harvard Humanitarian Initiative, Harvard University and Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, Washington, DC
a2 Department of Emergency Medicine, George Washington University, Washington, DC
a3 Children’s National Health System, Washington, DC
a4 International Research Institute of Disaster Science and the Division of Surgery, Tohoku University, Sendai, Japan
a5 Department of Acute Critical Care and Disaster Medicine, Tokyo Medical and Dental University, Tokyo, Japan
a6 Center for Disaster and Humanitarian Medicine, Uniformed Services University of Health Sciences, Bethesda, Maryland.
[No abstract]

Editorial
Supporting Health in the Hyogo Framework for Action-2
James J. James
[No abstract]

Original Article
Development of a Self-Administered Questionnaire to Assess the Psychological Competencies for Surviving a Disaster
Danjun Fenga1 c1 and Linqin Jia2
a1 School of Nursing, Shandong University, China
a2 School of Psychology, Shandong Normal University, Jinan, Shandong, China.
ABSTRACT
Objective To find the psychological competencies for surviving a disaster and develop a self-report questionnaire to assess them.
Methods Interviews with 16 earthquake survivors and 16 fire fighters followed by qualitative analysis were used to find psychological competencies. Formation of the item pool, a pilot study among 20 college teachers and students, a series of principal component analyses for the data from 345 college students, and a confirmatory factor analysis for the data from 307 participants with various occupations were used to develop the Psychological Competencies for Surviving a Disaster Questionnaire (PCSDQ).
Results We found 4 psychological competencies: risk perception of a disaster, disaster knowledge and self-relief skills, low fear in a disaster, and sense of control over a disaster. The 24-item PCSDQ assessed these psychological competencies. The Cronbach alpha of PCSDQ subscales ranged from .75 to .87.
Conclusions The psychological competencies for surviving a disaster were found to be risk perception of a disaster, disaster knowledge and self-relief skills, low fear in a disaster, and sense of control over a disaster. Using the PCSDQ to assess a person’s psychological competencies for disaster survival will make it possible to provide that person with an individualized and targeted disaster self-relief education and/or training program. (Disaster Med Public Health Preparedness. 2014;0:1-9)