Международный журнал неотложной психической помощи и устойчивости человека

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Picture Books and Reading Aloud to Support Children after a Natural Disaster: An Exploratory Study

Mutya San Agustin, Carmen Ramos-Bonoan, Riza Lorenzana, Perri Klass and Robert Needlman

Objective: Picture books have been used after disasters to support children’s recovery, without empirical validation. This study explored the long-term effects of a modified Reach Out and Read (ROR) intervention after a typhoon in the Philippines.

Methods: Two months following Typhoon Haiyan, doctors trained parents and children in reading aloud and distributed picture books. Thirteen months later, participants described their reactions to the typhoon and the intervention, and answered the CRIES-8 trauma symptom questionnaire.

Results: Subjects were 113 working-class parents and their children, 6 months to 11 years of age. At follow-up, 47% mentioned the books in response to an open-ended question about interventions that had helped them. Qualitative responses indicated the books were seen in equal measure as supporting education and helping children to feel happy again; nonetheless 21% of the children scored in the clinical range on the CRIES-8. Higher CRIES-8 scores were associated with severity of initial stress reactions (but not extent of injury, death, and loss), and with more recent use of the intervention books.

Conclusion: More than a year following a natural disaster, survivors recalled being helped by a modest intervention providing picture books and guidance about reading aloud; many continued using the books. Recent book use was associated with higher post-traumatic symptoms. Book-based interventions may help to mitigate the effects of natural disasters.