The mediating role of psychological resilience and experiential avoidance in the relationship between self differentiation and post-traumatic growth and post-traumatic stress

Individuals who experience traumatic experiences sometimes show symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder, while sometimes they can overcome this process more strongly and experience post-traumatic growth. The psychological process of individuals after trauma is closely related to their emotional, cognitive and social structures. One of the most important factors that cause differentiation in this process is the family of origin. According to Bowen's family systems theory, an individual's early family relationships determine the level of self-differentiation. Self-differentiation is the capacity of an individual to distinguish his/her own feelings and thoughts from others and can significantly affect psychological adjustment after trauma. In this study, the relationship between self-differentiation and PTSD and PTG was examined through the variables of experiential avoidance and psychological resilience. By adopting an integrative approach, a comprehensive model was created by combining concepts from different theoretical approaches such as intergenerational family therapy and acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) while examining the factors associated with PTSD and PTG. The study was conducted with the participation of 495 adults living in 11 provinces who directly experienced the Kahramanmaraş earthquakes that occurred in Turkey on February 6. Personal information form, Differentiation of Self Inventory - Short Form (DSI-SF), Brief Resilience Scale (BRS), Posttraumatic Growth Inventory (PTGI), Acceptance and Action Questionnaire-II (AAQ-II) and Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Checklist (PTSD) were used in the study. In this study, in which the relationships between the research variables were examined, the relational model, one of the quantitative research designs, was used. While descriptive analyses were conducted with SPSS program, JASP and AMOS programs were preferred for structural equation modeling (SEM) studies. According to the results of the study, there was a descriptive relationship between self-differentiation and PTSD, but no relationship was found with posttraumatic growth. At the same time, while experiential avoidance and psychological resilience mediated the relationship between self-differentiation and PTSD, experiential avoidance and psychological resilience did not mediate the posttraumatic growth variable. As a result, it is recommended that experts working with PTSD should conduct programs to reduce experiential avoidance and increase psychological resilience in individuals.