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Examination of Post-Earthquake Trauma Levels of Individuals Affected by February 6, 2023 Earthquakes

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 July 2025

Mukadder Özkan Bardakcı
Affiliation:
https://ror.org/045hgzm75 Selçuk University , Beyşehir Ali Akkanat School of Applied Sciences, Social Work Department – Konya, Türkiye
Çağatay Serkan Kaya
Affiliation:
https://ror.org/03a1crh56 Afyon Kocatepe University , Sandıklı School of Applied Sciences, Social Work Department – Afyonkarahisar, Türkiye
Şükrü Bardakcı*
Affiliation:
Konya Provincial Directorate of Youth and Sports – Konya, Türkiye
*
Corresponding author: Şükrü Bardakcı; Email: sukru.bardakci42@gmail.com

Abstrac

Objectives

This study aimed to investigate the relationship between pre-earthquake and earthquake-related characteristics and post-earthquake trauma levels of individuals affected by the February 6, 2023 Kahramanmaraş earthquakes.

Methods

The study is in survey design, one of the quantitative research methods. The participants consist of individuals affected by the earthquake and staying in temporary accommodation centers (student dormitories) in Konya province. A survey including a personal information form and a scale for determining the Post-Earthquake Trauma Levels was administered face to face to 334 volunteer participants.

Results

Adults aged 30-46, those trapped under debris, those injured in the earthquake, those who lost a family member, a relative, a neighbour or a friend, and those who received psychological support after the earthquake are in the risk group in terms of high post-earthquake trauma levels.

Conclusions

The findings reveal the groups in which the traumatic effects of earthquakes on adults are high. It is important to prepare intervention programs by considering the needs of these groups in psychosocial interventions to be carried out after the earthquake.

Information

Type
Original Research
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2025. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of Society for Disaster Medicine and Public Health, Inc

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