Examination of the relationship between perceived social support levels and post-traumatic stress disorder and depression levels of children who experienced the Kahramanmaraş earthquake

Aim: This study aims to evaluate the results by examining the effect of social support perceived by children between the ages of 6 and 12, who experienced the Kahramanmaraş-centered earthquake, on post-traumatic stress disorder and depression. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional, descriptive and relational study was conducted with 528 children between the ages of 6-12 and their parents in a container city established in the city center after the earthquake in Kahramanmaraş. In the collection of data, an Introductory Information Form, "Post-Traumatic Stress Response Scale for Children (PTSTS)", "Child Depression Scale (CDS)" and "Multidimensional Perceived Social Support Scale (MSPSS)" were used for parents. One-way analysis of variance (ANOVA), Levene test, multiple comparison test (Bonferroni or Tamhane's T2) were used to evaluate the data. Path analysis was used for model testing and Pearson correlation analysis was used to examine the relationship between scales. Results: The post-traumatic stress response scale for children had a negative effect on the multidimensional perceived social support scale (β: -0.15, p: 0.000), and the multidimensional perceived social support scale had a negative effect on the child depression scale (β: -0.48). , p:0.000) has a statistically significant effect. In addition, it was determined that the multidimensional perceived social support scale (β:0.07, p:0.007) played a mediating role in the effect of the post-traumatic stress response scale for children on the child depression scale. Conclusion: As a result of the study, it is seen that multidimensional perceived social support positively affects post-traumatic stress disorder and depression in children. The importance of effective social support in correcting the destructive effect of the earthquake is seen. Key Words: Social Support, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, Depression, Child, Earthquake.