Master thesis entitled: The Role of Volunteer Efforts in Mitigating the Impacts of Emergency Weather Conditions on the Community in the Emirate of Sharjah: A Field Study
This study sought to analyze the role of volunteer efforts in mitigating the impacts of emergency weather conditions on the community in the Emirate of Sharjah during April 2024. It examined the relationship between social support—in its instrumental (practical) and emotional dimensions—and psychological resilience among affected residents, in addition to exploring psychological resilience among volunteers and its association with volunteering motivations, functions, previous experiences, and participation characteristics.
The study adopted a descriptive–analytical methodology and was conducted on a sample of 300 participants, evenly divided between 150 volunteers and 150 affected residents. The questionnaire was translated and adapted into Arabic. The measurement tools included the Brief Social Support Scale (BSSS), the Brief Resilience Scale (BRS), and the Volunteer Functions Inventory (VFI). Appropriate statistical methods were employed, including descriptive statistics, independent-samples t-tests, chi-square tests, and correlation coefficients.
The findings indicated that higher perceived social support, along with its relevance to the nature of need, contributes to enhanced psychological adjustment among residents. The results also revealed a positive correlation between perceived social support and psychological resilience among both residents and volunteers. The study further identified the nature of the challenges and damages experienced by families, which had a broad impact on daily life and showed no statistically significant association with income level. Significant gender differences were found in favor of females in the dimensions of instrumental (practical) support, emotional support, and support-seeking, while no significant differences were observed in overall psychological resilience. With respect to nationality, citizens recorded higher mean scores in most dimensions of social support and volunteer motivations (p < .001; MD ≈ 0.29–0.54), whereas no significant differences were found in psychological resilience between the two groups. In addition, volunteering experience and frequency of participation were associated with certain motivational dimensions (values, enhancement, and knowledge) as well as indicators of psychological resilience among volunteers.
The results suggest that the effectiveness of community response during emergencies is closely linked to the balanced organization of instrumental (practical) and emotional support pathways, as well as ensuring equitable access to such support. This approach enhances psychological adaptation and reduces the impact of stress. Accordingly, the study recommends developing mechanisms for organizing reports, establishing support points within neighborhoods, designing training programs based on volunteer functions, utilizing supportive technologies, and adopting monitoring and evaluation systems to improve performance. The study also notes the limitations of its cross-sectional design and highlights the need for future longitudinal and experimental studies to strengthen causal interpretations and assess the effectiveness of interventions.
Keywords: social support, instrumental support, psychological resilience, volunteer motivation, weather emergencies, community response.
