'I cannot see ahead': psychological distress, doomscrolling and dark future among adult survivors following Mw 7.7. and 7.6 earthquakes in Türkiye
Kartol A, Üztemur S, Yaşar P
BMC public health · 10 citations
How it was studied
- Design
- Cross-sectional study (indexed by PubMed)
- Studied in
- People
- Main outcome
- Health markers and function
Who paid for it
- Funding
- Independent funding
Based on full-text disclosure statement.
Publication
- Published
- 2023-12-15 · BMC Public Health · vol. 23 · issue 1 · p. 2513
- Publisher
- BioMed Central
- Cited
- 34 citations · more than 99% of similar papers · 8.8× the field average
- Impact
- Top 10% most cited in its field
- References
- 54 works
- Access
- Open access (journal) · CC-BY
- Research areas
- Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Research · Psychological and Temporal Perspectives Research · Death Anxiety and Social Exclusion
- Keywords
- 2023 Türkiye earthquakes, earthquake survivors, psychological distress, doomscrolling, future anxiety, depression, anxiety, stress, disaster mental health, mediation
- MeSH
- humans, cross-sectional studies, stress, psychological, stress disorders, post-traumatic, adult, survivors, turkey, earthquakes, surveys and questionnaires, psychological distress
3 authors
From TR
- Aslı Kartol · correspondingGaziantep University
- Servet ÜztemurAnadolu University
- Pınar YaşarGaziantep University
Abstract
Background
The earthquakes, which occurred on 6 February 2023, affecting a total of eleven provinces in Türkiye, with magnitudes of 7.7 and 7.6, and killing around 50,000 people, caused the greatest loss of life compared to previous earthquakes in Türkiye. In this study, we analyse the psychological status of the adult individuals who experienced the earthquakes three months after the earthquakes in terms of different variables.
Methods
In this research, an analytical cross-sectional study was conducted by applying face-to-face and online questionnaires to 402 adult individuals who had experienced the earthquake. The Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale (DASS-21), the Dark Future Scale and Doomscrolling Scale were applied. The relationships between variables are discussed in this study using the predictive correlational model.
Results
The results revealed that the participants had very high levels of future anxiety and moderate levels of doomscrolling after the earthquake. Although their psychological distress levels were relatively low, as the psychological distress levels of adult individuals who experienced the earthquake increased, their doomscrolling also increased. In addition, as individuals' future anxiety increases, their doomscrolling increases similarly. The mediation analysis reveals that the mediating role of future anxiety between psychological distress and doomscrolling is significant (p < .001).
Conclusion
Individuals are more exposed to negative news streams in negative life events that occur beyond their control and they need to search for information. Increased levels of depression, anxiety and stress lead to more exposure to this flow. In addition, future anxiety is also an important trigger of this behaviour. The effects of psychological distress on individuals who survived the earthquake are discussed in the context of the literature.
Abstract via Europe PMC. Copyright remains with the authors or publisher (CC BY).
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