Abstract:

Abstract enThis study relies on information obtained from teachers to compare the behavioral/emotional problems of preschool children with and without previous experience of earthquakes with respect to the variables of sex and mother’s educational level. The study sample comprised a total of 482 children, 210 of whom were attending preschools in the Sultandağı (Afyon) earthquake zone (study group) and the remaining 272 attending preschools in Ankara (control group). “The Caregiver-Teacher Report Form for Ages 11/2 _ 5; C-TRF / 11/2 â€"5” and the “Demographic Data Teacher Form” were used as the data collection instruments. The results suggested that experiencing earthquakes and the variable of mother’s educational level did not create a meaningful difference in children’s behavioral/emotional problems. However, it was observed that the variable of sex caused a meaningful difference in the participating children’s behavioral/emotional problems, independently from the experience of earthquakes. It was found that teachers viewed boys as having more somatic problems, and girls as having more attention problems.

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