GNGTS 2023 - Atti del 41° Convegno Nazionale

Session 2.2 GNGTS 2023 Life satisfaction during temporary housing after an earthquake: comparing three cases in Italy D. Di Bucci 1 , F. Del Missier 2 , M. Dolce 3 , A. Galvagni 4 , F. Giordano 1 , A. Patacca 5 , E. Pezzi 5 , G. Scurci 5 , L. Savadori 5 1 National Civil Protection Department, Italy 2 Department of Life Sciences, University of Trieste, Italy 3 Dipartimento di Strutture per l’Ingegneria e l’Architettura, University of Naples “Federico II”, Italy 4 Protezione Civile della Provincia Autonoma di Trento, Italy 5 Dipartimento di Economia e Management, University of Trento, Italy The occurrence of a disaster, whether of natural or anthropogenic origin, has a huge impact on the population affected also in terms of people who have lost their homes. We have analyzed the life satisfaction of displaced people accommodated in temporary housing after three strong earthquakes that occurred in Italy in 2009 (Abruzzo), 2012 (Emilia) and 2016-17 (Central Italy), in areas characterized by quite different socio-economic and infrastructural contexts. Information was obtained through an anonymous survey on a large number of variables related to temporary housing type and quality, social support and social network, individual psychological resources and preparedness, and psychophysical health. Responses were collected through face-to-face and telephone interviews, stand-alone paper-and-pencil questionnaires, or online (N = 261). Different predictors significantly explained life satisfaction in each of the three earthquakes. The perceived quality of the accommodation was the only predictor of life satisfaction during temporary housing in the 2009 Abruzzo earthquake; it was a predictor also in the 2012 and negligibly in the 2016-17 cases. The type of accommodation (e.g., camper, tent, house of friends, hotel, rented house, temporary housing modules) was a weak predictor, and only in the 2012 case. Earthquake preparedness was a predictor in the 2012 earthquake, but not in the 2009 and 2016-17 ones. The protection net (e.g., relatives, friends, neighbours, colleagues, public institutions) was a predictor only in the 2016-17 earthquake, whereas perceived social support and place attachment were predictors only in the 2012 earthquake; none of them was instead a predictor in the 2009 earthquake. Almost none of the psychophysical variables (e.g., symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder, experience with death and suffering, emotional wellbeing, individual resilience capability, individual psychological vulnerability) was a predictor of life satisfaction in any of the three earthquakes.