Determination of hopelessness levels of earthquake victims who do and do not do sports (Gaziantep province example)

Traumatic situations experienced by children during their developmental period, such as earthquakes, also negatively affect their future lives. Sports are seen as one of the most effective methods in facilitating the healing process of negative emotional states left by earthquakes. In this study, it was aimed to determine the hopelessness levels of children who were affected by the earthquake and those who did not participate in sports. For this purpose, the necessary disaster management awareness was raised for children and families and the importance of sports in healing negative thoughts about the future was emphasized. This study, which aims to determine the hopelessness levels of children who were affected by the earthquake and those who did not participate in sports, has a descriptive nature based on the views of earthquake-affected children. The universe of the study consists of students who did sports and those who did not do sports in Gaziantep province, one of the provinces affected by the earthquakes centered in Kahramanmaraş on February 6, 2023, and the sample group consists of a total of 600 students who did sports and those who did not do sports, who were reached by simple random sampling method. The scales and personal information form used in this study were applied to earthquake-affected children in the sample group of the study voluntarily. The data collection tool consists of 2 parts. In the first part, the personal information form prepared by the researcher, which will reveal the personal information of the earthquake victim children, was used; in the second part, the Beck Hopelessness Scale was used. There are 20 questions in the scale. Cronbach Alpha reliability coefficient for the Beck Hopelessness Scale is 0. 826. The data were calculated with descriptive statistics regarding the scores the participants received from the variables using a statistics program. T-test and one-way analysis of variance Anova (Tukey) tests were applied as hypothesis tests to the data showing normal distribution. It was concluded that the hopelessness levels of the earthquake victim children who participated in the study and did not participate in sports showed a significant difference according to their sports activities (p<0.05). It was also concluded that the hopelessness levels of the earthquake victim children did not show a significant difference according to the variable of location in the earthquake, the variable of house damage in the earthquake, the variable of receiving psychological treatment and the variable of losing a loved one in the earthquake (p>0.05). It is suggested that sports are important in facilitating the adaptation of earthquake-stricken children to their disrupted routines and to regain their mental health, and that support activities carried out after the earthquake will also contribute positively.