Psychological resilience and life satisfaction as predictions of marital adjustment among married earthquake victims after the February 6, 2023 earthquake

The earthquakes that occurred on February 6, 2023, profoundly affected individuals' lives not only on a physical level but also on psychological and social dimensions. Such large-scale disasters are thought to impact not only the mental health of married individuals but also their marital relationships and levels of marital adjustment. In this context, it is anticipated that psychological resilience and life satisfaction may predict marital adjustment. The aim of this study is to examine whether psychological resilience and life satisfaction predict marital adjustment among married individuals affected by the earthquakes of February 6, 2023. The sample of the study consisted of a total of 416 married individuals affected by the earthquake, including 249 women (59.9%) and 167 men (40.1%), selected through convenience and criterion sampling methods. In order to collect data, the Adult Psychological Resilience Scale was used to measure adults' levels of psychological resilience, the Life Satisfaction Scale was employed to assess levels of life satisfaction, and the Marital Adjustment Scale was used to determine the levels of marital adjustment. A Personal Information Form was also administered to identify participants' demographic characteristics. The collected data were analyzed using IBM SPSS 23.0 software. Pearson correlation analysis, stepwise multiple regression analysis, and independent samples t-test were conducted. The analyses revealed that the variables of psychological resilience and life satisfaction together significantly explained 20.3% of the total variance in the dependent variable, marital adjustment. Furthermore, a significant difference was found in marital adjustment levels between men and women, in favor of men. The findings were discussed within the framework of the relevant literature, and recommendations were made for researchers, professionals working in the field of marriage and family counseling, and policymakers.