LI Jing, ZHU Jingzheng, SHEN Tong
[Objective] Over the years, earthquake accidents have emerged as significant geological disasters, causing substantial and persistent human casualties and property losses that are difficult to avoid. Despite the growing public awareness regarding the importance of acquiring earthquake self-rescue knowledge and skills, practical improvements are not yet evident. This is attributed to the inherent fear in humans in response to intense stimuli from earthquake disasters, leading to severe stress reactions that hinder the execution of self-rescue actions, making the effective application of earthquake self-rescue knowledge challenging. [Methods] This study focuses on assessing and improving stress levels among the public while facilitating the smooth execution of self-rescue actions during real earthquake scenarios. This study involved 16 male and 16 female participants who conducted simulated experiments at an earthquake experience center. The experimental process included baseline measurements, measurements during progressive seismic events of magnitudes 3-7, and measurements during seismic intermissions. Respiratory and electromyographic measurements were used to collect data on the neural and behavioral dimensions of stress during baseline and stress periods. Significance analysis was conducted using the paired samples Wilcoxon signed rank test to time-domain and frequency-domain indicators that exhibited differences. Individual seismic stress level reference values were calculated on the basis of fluctuations in individual data compared with the overall data. Using the K-means clustering method, the distribution of different stress response levels was determined. In addition, the paper reviewed previous research findings and constructed the “S-O-R-A” earthquake “stimulus-response” model, which encompasses earthquake risk information perception, risk information understanding, self-rescue decision-making, and self-rescue execution stages. The study identified 13 factors related to seismic stress levels, including basic qualities, emergency knowledge, skills, experience, awareness, personality, emotional stability, visual reactivity, auditory reactivity, attention, memory, thinking, and physical fitness. An experimental plan was established for measurement based on the Jinshuju platform, PsyLAB, and the BCS-400 digital backforce gauge. By correlating seismic stress level reference values with influencing factors using Kendall's Tau-b method and employing multiple linear regression analysis, we ranked the importance of each influencing factor and provided recommendations based on significant factors for improving earthquake stress responses. [Results] Physiological measurements revealed that indicators such as minimum value, mean value, standard deviation, variance, and mean frequency in respiratory signals, as well as maximum value, minimum value, mean value, standard deviation, variance, root mean square, and mean absolute value in electromyographic signals, exhibited differences during the experimental process, indicating their effectiveness as indicators for calculating stress levels. Based on regression analysis results, among the influencing factors, emergency skills (67.9%), earthquake training (58.4%), emotional stability (44.8%), visual reaction power (39.8%), auditory reaction power (39.0%), and memory (30.5%) were the six most significant factors affecting seismic stress levels in the public. Furthermore, to help the public overcome stress responses, the study proposed 12 recommendations, including “establishing popular science channels, innovating educational works, enhancing training participation, promoting practical training, improving memory capacity, strengthening cognitive memory, emphasizing technological empowerment, optimizing visual training, conducting specialized courses, enhancing auditory reaction, prioritizing psychological counseling, and conducting psychological construction,” and presented a mind map. [Conclusions] This study provides researchers with experimental design and calculation methods for assessing seismic stress levels while identifying factors that effectively improve earthquake stress responses and offering recommendations to the public. By effectively improving stress responses, the public can utilize their acquired self-rescue knowledge and skills, thereby enhancing their response to earthquakes.
