Anxiety in quake-stricken children aged 3 to 7: A screening study in Sarpol- Zahab, Iran

The present study is conducted to screen cases suspected to the anxiety in quake-stricken children aged 3-7 in Sarpol Zehab in 2017. The method was descriptive with screening design. Data was collected by Spence Preschool Anxiety Scale (PAS) from 499 mothers with children aged 3 to 7 in Sarpol Zahab city. Data was analyzed using descriptive statistics and SPSS-23 software. The study showed the overall point prevalence for anxiety as 0.47. The highest and lowest prevalence were related to the aspects of physical injury (52%) and separation anxiety (34.3%). In addition, comparing the two groups showed no significant differences in term of anxiety and its components between the two genders. the mean of anxiety prevalence among quake-stricken children was 47%, which was higher than the prevalence of anxiety disorder and its mean in the populations of the previous studies. Given the high effects of stressful events in childhood and the significance of children's mental health in natural disasters, such as quakes, the need for psychological interventions for accurate diagnosis and provision of psychological services to children and families are felt more than ever.