Investigation of the mediating role of hope in the relationship between gratitude and psychological vulnerability in traumatized adolescents

This study aims to examine the mediating role of hope in the relationship between gratitude and psychological vulnerability in adolescents who have experienced trauma. In addition, the study aimed to examine the relationships among gratitude, psychological vulnerability, and hope, and the psychological vulnerability levels of traumatized adolescents according to variables such as gender, parental attitudes, and perception of academic success. The research is a descriptive study. The study group consist of a total of 378 8th grade students, 207 girls and 171 boys, studying at a public school in İstanbul. The Gratitude Scale, Hope Scale in Children, Psychological Vulnerability Scale, Trauma Experience Screening Form and Personal Information Form prepared by the researcher were used as data collection tools in the study. During the data collection phase, the forms were duplicated and applied to individuals face to face, one at a time. The findings obtained within the framework of the research were analyzed in a computer environment with a quantitative data analysis package program. In the first stage, preliminary analyses were carried out and Pearson Correlation Analysis was applied to examine the relationships between the research variables. When the relationships betweeen the variables were examined, it was seen that there were positive relationships between gratitude and hope, negative relationships between gratitude and psychological vulnerability, and negative relationships between hope and psychological vulnerability. In order to examine the dependent variable of the study, psychological vulnerability, in terms of gender, parental attitude and perception of academic success, t-test for independent samples and one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) were used. As a result of the study, it was observed that the psychological vulnerability levels of adolescents who experienced trauma were higher in girls, in those with variable-inconsistent parenting attitudes, and in adolescents who did not see themselves as successful. In the next stage of the research, the PROCESS macro developed by Hayes (2018) and the contemporary approach were used to examine the mediating variable role of hope in the relationship between gratitude and psychological vulnerability. Bootstrap confidence intervals were evaluated to test the statistical significance and magnitüde of the mediation effect. According to the results obtained, it was concluded that hope plays a full mediating role in the relationship between gratitude and psychological vulnerability. The results are discussed within the scope of information obtained in the literatüre and suggestions are presented to researchers and practitioners. Keywords: Gratitude, hope psychological vulnerability, trauma, adolescents, mediator variable