Evaluation of the effect of the social isolation due to Covid-19 on the syptomps of secondary traumatic stress in workers o f non-governmental organizations

The obscurity during the pandemic and not having enough information on the disease and treatment methods caused for serious measures to be taken: closing the borders, suspending flights, banning all tourism activities, restricting socio-cultural activities, switching to remote working, being isolated and the obscurity of how long all these would take place. All these measures had serious economic, physical, social and psychological repercussions for people. The measures and life style changings during the pandemic have caused fear, anxiety, stress and despair in people. Furthermore, it is a known fact that workers of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) were exposed to indirect trauma. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the effects of social isolation due to Covid-19 on the symptoms of secondary traumatic stress in workers of NGOs. The participants of the study consist of 300 psychologists and social service specialists working in NGOs during Covid-19. Each participant is assesed by the sociodemographic variables questionnaire and post-traumatic stress symptoms scale. Causal research method is used in this study. Based on the findings of the study, there is a direct correlation between the social isolation experienced by workers enduring secondary trauma and the symptoms of secondary traumatic stress. Another finding of the study is that there is also a direct correlation between participants' sociodemographic variables and the symptoms of secondary traumatic stress. Additionally, when analysed through hierarchical regression, social isolation predicts symptoms of traumatic stress.