Examining the effects of the environmental crisis on individuals from the perspective of ecological social work

The aim of this mixed methods research is to examine the relationship between resilience, eco-anxiety and disaster preparedness levels of adults in the context of ecological social work and to explore the experiences of flood affected people. A convergent parallel design was used in the mixed methods research. The data of the study (quantitative + qualitative) were collected simultaneously, and in the quantitative part of the study, data were collected from 408 individuals among the adults living in Edirne province; in the qualitative part, 41 individuals who had previously been affected by floods among the participants of the quantitative research were interviewed. In the quantitative part of the study, "Demographic Information Form", "Brief Resilience Scale (BRS)", "Eco-Anxiety Scale (HEAS-13)" and "Disaster Praparedness Scale" were used; in the qualitative part, 'Interview Form' was used. Quantitative data were analysed separately using SPSS 25.0 and AMOS 23.0, and qualitative data were analysed separately using MAXQDA 2024. As a result of the analyses, a significant and negative relationship was found between resilience and eco-anxiety, and a significant and positive relationship was found between resilience and disaster preparedness. However, no significant relationship was found between eco-anxiety and disaster preparedness. The resilience of the participants was found to be at an average level, while eco-anxiety and disaster preparedness were found to be lower than average. It was observed that the participants who mentioned the relationship between floods and climate change reported that they were worried and anxious about the future in this regard. Given the positive effects of increasing resilience on eco-anxiety and disaster preparedness, it is important to increase psychosocial support activities to develop individual and social resilience in the disaster preparedness phase. In the context of the findings of the study, it was observed that ecological social work practices can contribute to the development of individual and social resilience to environmental problems and support sustainable social life. In this direction, it is recommended to adopt protective and preventive social work practices.