The relationship between post-earthquake trauma and psychological resilience: A cross-sectional study among teachers

This study examines the relationship between teachers’ post-earthquake trauma levels and their psychological resilience following the earthquakes that struck Kahramanmaraş, Türkiye, on February 6, 2023. The sample consisted of 479 teachers working in schools in Kahramanmaraş. Data were collected using the Post-Earthquake Trauma Level Scale and the Brief Resilience Scale and analyzed through correlation and structural regression analyses. The findings revealed moderate, negative, and significant relationships between all dimensions of post-earthquake trauma and psychological resilience. Structural regression analysis further demonstrated that among the trauma dimensions, only emotional restriction was significantly associated with psychological resilience, whereas behavioral problems, affective responses, cognitive restructuring, and sleep problems showed no significant associations. The structural model demonstrated acceptable fit to the data (CFI = .91, TLI = .90, RMSEA = .06, SRMR = .06; 90% CI [.058, .068]) and explained 42% of the variance in psychological resilience.