Capacity to Striving for Goals and Coping with Earthquake Stress in University Students After the Kahramanmaraş Earthquakes

Authors : Ayşin Çetinkaya Büyükbodur, Ayşegül Kılıçlı, Murat Genç, Ümmet Erkan

Pages : 300-315

Doi:10.26466/opusjsr.1529740

View : 299 | Download : 158

Publication Date : 2024-10-15

Article Type : Research Paper

Abstract :Earthquakes are natural disasters that cause loss of life, property, and can lead to mental health issues such as PTSD. The Kahramanmaraş Earthquakes, which caused widespread destruction across Turkey on February 6, 2023, significantly impacted the psychosocial well-being of university students. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between the symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder, coping strategies with earthquake stress, and striving for goals and the factors affecting them in university students after the 6 February earthquakes in Turkey. The mean scale scores of the participants were ESCS (46.0±8.7) high, SGS (40.8±6.1) moderate, and PSS-SR (32.9±12.0) moderate. According to the sociodemographic characteristics of the participants and their experiences in the earthquake, the mean scores of ESCS and PSS-SR and the median score value of SGS showed a significant difference (p<.01). A negative correlation was found between PSS-SR and ESCS and SGS (p<.01). In addition, the goals give up sub-dimension of SGS is the factor that most positively predicts PTSD. In this context there is a need to develop coping strategies for earthquake stress and the capacity to struggle for goals in university students. For this reason, universities and mental health professionals should develop programs and practices to help students achieve goals in their lives and develop strategies to cope with earthquake stress.
Keywords : Earthquake, Trauma, Earthquake Stress, Striving for Goals, University Students