The psychological consequences of 6 February 2023 Kahramanmaraş earthquakes

Abstract

The Kahramanmaraş earthquakes (2023) are the largest and most destructive earthquakes witnessed in the era of the Republic of Turkey. Earthquakes lead to serious mental health disorders (MHD) such as Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) in individuals. Earthquakes that cause significant death and injury on a large scale, such as the Kahramanmaraş earthquakes, can result in various mental health disorders. Therefore, the aim of the study was to examine the effects of variables such as PTSD, event impact, psychological resilience, depression, and anxiety levels on adult earthquake survivors affected by the Kahramanmaraş earthquakes, using a quantitative research approach with survey techniques. A total of 662 earthquake survivors were reached. The effect of variables on each other was analyzed using Structural Equation Modeling (SEM). According to the findings of the study, event impact had a significant and positive effect on PTSD (β = 0.780, p = 0.000). Unexpectedly, resilience did not have a significant effect on PTSD (β=-0.04, p > 0.05). PTSD had a significant and positive effect on anxiety (β = 0.936, p = 0.000) and depression (β = 0.643, p = 0.000). Consequently, event impact’s severity increased PTSD, which in turn led to anxiety and depression. Surprisingly, psychological resilience did not serve as a protective factor against PTSD. For future research, it is recommended to examine psychological resilience with different event types, on different sample groups, and using more comprehensive and varied methods. © The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature B.V. 2024.