Children of the Flood: The Effect of Flood on the Psychological Resilience of Children

Abstract

The Philippines' geographical location is along the typhoon belt. It is visited by an average of 20 typhoons every year, which leave trails of devastation. Despite this yearly occurrence, Filipinos, including children, remain resilient as they encounter such adversities. There have been some studies about Filipino resiliency and coping strategies amidst disasters; however, the literature on the resiliency of Filipino children during the disaster and its psychological effect remains underexplored. This study explored the psychological resilience of children affected by floods using a phenomenological framework. The findings of this study reveal that the psychological effects of the annual flood to the children relate to the following: emotion (sympathy and fear), behavior (securing their belongings, preparing food, staying in high places, cleaning, searching for lost things, and listening to weather forecast), and cognition (anxiousness, attentiveness, preparedness, sense of responsibility for others, and awareness of the importance of trees). This study also determined the main factors affecting the children's coping strategy: dependency on their parents, being accustomed to flood, their family, and their faith. The most outstanding and significant factor that significantly influences the children's coping strategy to become psychologically resilient is the culture of bayanihan in their community