Post-traumatic Growth among the 1999 Düzce Earthquake Survivors

The current study aimed to examine posttraumatic growth (PTG) after earthquake victimization. Variables that may be related to PTG were examined by using the Model of Life Crises and Personal Growth (Schaefer & Moos, 1992). In order to examine PTG, the roles of demographic variables, event-related variables, environmental factors, system factors, earthquake specific coping, cognitive appraisal factors, and general ways of coping responses factors were examined. One hundred ninety-nine adults (105 females and 94 males with an age range of 18 to 73) were participants of the study. The participants were from Kayna?l?, Düzce. The participants were selected on the basis of their age, gender, and the type of their houses. They were contacted through home visits. In the result section, the variables related to PTG were presented. As a result of the regression analysis, it was found that being married, perceived social support, well-being, problem-focused coping, and seeking social support coping were significant predictors of the level of PTG. The results of regression analysis also showed that general problem-focused coping was more efficient than earthquake specific active coping after earthquake victimization for the development of PTG. The article was written from the PhD thesis, titled: "Positive outcomes among the 1999 Düzce earthquake survivors: Earthquake preparedness behaviour and posttraumatic growth"