Did socioeconomic status influence psychological preparedness for potential disaster of resident around lapindo mud disaster

Abstract

Lumpur Sidoarjo or known as LUSI is geologicall disaster that has been going on for 14 years since 2006. It is consider as the world’s largest mud volcano eruption. It bring tremendous impact to the livelihood of the resident live around the site. People live around the site mostly relied on the ponds as a living thus LUSI bring a devastated impact to the local communities. The condition has bring negative impact not only to their economic condition but also to their mental health. Study found that there are growing number of people live around the site that experience psychological problem. Psychological preparedness for disaster is one of the factors that could help people in coping with stress after disaster strike. Previous study has found that most of the resident live around the LUSI site has average level of psychological preparedness. Research on psychological preparedness found that one of the factor that associated with psychological preparedness is socioeconomic status. It is said that people with low socioeconomic would also have a low level psychological preparedness. However, the relationship between socioeconomic status and the psychological preparedness in resident around lapindo mud disaster (LUSI) was unclear. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the relationship between socioeconomic status and the psychological preparedness for potential disaster among resident around lapindo mud disaster. The study was conducted in Sidoarjo. Survey research was applied using a Psychological Preparedness for Potential Disaster scale as a mean to identify the psychological preparedness of the Sidoarjo people.