Post-traumatic growth in school psychological counselors during the COVID-19 epidemic: The role of mindfulness and the transforming power of suffering

The purpose of this study is to reveal whether school counselors' scores of mindfulness and transformative power of pain are significant predictors of post-traumatic growth during the COVID-19 Pandemic. The research conducted is a descriptive research. The sample of the study consists of 415 school psychological counselors who filled out the online form. Research data; Along with the participant information form prepared by the researcher, Post Traumatic Growth Scale was collected through The Mindfulness Scale and the Transformative Power of Suffering Scale. With the completion of the data collection process, in the preliminary analyzes made in computer environment, it was evaluated whether their distribution showed normal distribution according to the category of each independent variable. Central tendency measures, kurtosis and skewness coefficients, kolmogrov smirnov and shapiro wilk tests and histograms of distributions were examined and normality assessments were made from a multiple perspective. Parametric tests were used for distributions showing normal distribution characteristics, and nonparametric alternatives of parametric tests were used for distributions not showing normal distribution characteristics. Multiple regression analysis, Pearson moments multiplication correlation analysis, independent sample t test, one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) and kruskal wallis h test were used in the calculations. When the findings of the study were examined, it was concluded that mindfulness scores of the school counselors did not significantly predict post-traumatic growth, but the transformative power of pain scores predicted two-thirds of post-traumatic growth. It was observed that the transformative power of suffering and mindfulness scores were significantly associated with the sub-dimensions of post-traumatic growth. It has been observed that the post-traumatic growth of school counselors differs according to the state of having childhood trauma, the need for psychiatric treatment and psychological support during the pandemic period, and according to the years of service. It was observed that there was no significant difference according to gender and the level they serve. The results were discussed in the context of the findings and the literature, and recommendations were made in relation to the results.