A Study on the Relationship between Individual Disaster Resilience, Earthquake Fear, and Psychological Resilience of Health Technician Candidates
Emrah Gökkaya, İsmet Çelebi, Elçin BalcıIn this study, the relationship between individual disaster resilience, fear of earthquakes, and psychological resilience of health technician candidates who will work in disasters and the factors associated with them were examined. The data collected from 882 health technician candidates were analysed. Frequency analyses were performed to assess the data structure and some descriptive analyses. We analyzed the relationship between scales and variables with Pearson Correlation test. Multiple regression analysis (Enter model) was conducted to examine the effects of psychological and individual disaster resilience on earthquake fear. The independent samples t-test was used to analyse the difference between socio-demographic variables and the scales, and the One Way ANOVA test was used to analyse the difference between the type of disaster experienced and the scales. Because of the research, it was found that there was a significant positive relationship between individuals’ psychological resilience and disaster resilience and a significant negative relationship between individuals’ fear of earthquakes. It was found that the mean scores of the scale were close to the middle level; women had higher disaster resilience and more fear of earthquakes; participants who experienced earthquakes had higher individual disaster resilience; and senior students had higher individual disaster resilience and psychological resilience. To increase the individual disaster resistance of health technician candidates, decrease their fear of earthquakes, and increase their psychological resilience, it is recommended to increase the number of disaster-related courses in their curricula, increase disaster drills in cooperation with public institutions and organisations, and benefit from social support programmes.
Sağlık Teknikeri Adaylarının Bireysel Afet Direnci, Deprem Korkusu ve Psikolojik Sağlamlık Durumları Arasındaki İlişki Üzerine Bir Araştırma
Emrah Gökkaya, İsmet Çelebi, Elçin BalcıBu çalışmada, afetlerde görev yapacak olan sağlık teknikeri adaylarının, bireysel afet direnci, deprem korkusu ve psikolojik sağlamlık durumları arasındaki ilişki ile ilişkili olduğu faktörler incelendi. Araştırmada 882 sağlık teknikeri adayından toplanan veriler analiz edildi. Veri yapısını değerlendirmek ve bazı tanımlayıcı analizler için frekans analizleri yapıldı. Ölçekler ile değişkenler arasındaki ilişki Pearson Korelasyon testi ile analiz edildi. Psikolojik sağlamlık ve bireysel afet direncinin deprem korkusuna etkisini incelemek için çoklu regresyon analizi (Enter modeli) yapıldı. Sosyodemografik değişkenler ile ölçekler arasındaki farkı incelemek için bağımsız grupta t-testi, deneyimlenen afet türü ile ölçekler arasındaki fark analizi için One Way ANOVA testi kullanıldı. Araştırma sonucunda bireylerin psikolojik sağlamlıkları ile bireysel afet direnç dirençleri arasında pozitif yönde, deprem korkusu ile arasında negatif yönde anlamlı bir ilişki olduğu saptandı. Ölçek puan ortalamalarının orta düzeye yakın olduğu; kadınların afet direncinin daha yüksek ve deprem korkusunun daha fazla olduğu; deprem deneyimleyen katılımcıların bireysel afet direncinin daha yüksek olduğu; son sınıf öğrencilerinin bireysel afet direncinin ve psikolojik sağlamlıklarının daha yüksek olduğu saptandı. Sağlık teknikeri adaylarının bireysel afet dirençlerinin artması, deprem korkularının azalması ve psikolojik sağlamlıklarının yüksek olması için müfredatlarında afetler ile ilgili derslerin çoğaltılması, kamu kurum ve kuruluşları ile ortaklaşa afet tatbikatların artırılması, sosyal destek programlarından yararlanması önerilmektedir.
Our study aimed to examine the relationship between individual disaster resilience, fear of earthquakes, and psychological resilience of health technician candidates who will serve in disasters and the factors related to them. For this purpose, the research was carried out with university students studying at the vocational school of health services of a university in Turkey. Because the study aimed to reach all students, the sample selection method was not used. A Google Forms questionnaire was used to collect data. The data collection form consists of four parts: a personal information form, an individual disaster assessment scale form, an earthquake fear scale form, and a psychological resilience scale form. Participants were reached through social media groups and e-mail. Data were collected between February and March 2024. Prior to the research, the participants were informed about the research content, research questions, and considerations during data collection. The duration of answering the questionnaire was approximately 20 minutes, and data were collected after obtaining ethics committee approval and institutional permission. Statistical analysis of the study data was performed using the SPSS 25.0 package. The skewness coefficient was used to test the suitability of the research data for normal distribution. The sociodemographic characteristics of the participants were calculated as numbers and percentages, and the characteristics of the scales were calculated as mean, standard deviation, minimum, and maximum values. We analyzed the relationship between all scales and subscales used and the age variable using the Pearson Correlation test. In addition, multiple regression analysis (Enter model) was conducted to examine the effect of psychological resilience and individual disaster resilience assessment and its subdimensions on the fear of earthquakes. The independent group t-test was used to analyse the difference between the participants’ age, gender, and class in education variables and the scales used. A one-way ANOVA test was used to analyse the difference between the types of disaster experienced by the participants and the scales used. The LCD test, a post hoc test, was used to investigate which variable was significant in the significant results according to the one-way ANOVA test. A p value less than 0.05 was considered significant.
After the analyses, it was determined that the mean earthquake fear level, individual disaster resilience, and psychological resilience scale scores of the participants were close to the middle level. However, a low significant positive relationship was determined between the psychological resilience of the participants and their individual disaster resistance. It can be seen that as individuals’ psychological resilience increases, individual disaster resistance also increases. In addition, it was determined that there was a significant negative relationship between the psychological resilience of the participants and the fear of earthquakes. It was determined that the fear of earthquake decreased as individual disaster resilience and psychological resilience of participants increased. As the last finding of our research, it was determined that the factors affecting the fear of earthquake, individual disaster resilience, and psychological resilience of the participants were gender, type of disaster, and grade level; female participants had higher individual disaster resilience and more fear of earthquake; participants who experienced earthquakes had higher individual disaster resilience; and senior students had higher individual disaster resilience and psychological resilience.
Based on the results of the research, to increase the individual disaster resistance of health technician candidates, to decrease their fear of earthquakes, and to increase their psychological resilience, it is recommended to increase courses related to disasters in the Education/Training curriculum, to increase drills jointly with public institutions and organisations related to disasters, and to benefit from social support programmes.