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Factors Associated with Pregnant Women’s Perceived Stress and Coping Styles after the Devastating Earthquake in Turkey

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 May 2025

Aslıhan Turan Alagoz ,
Esra Biçer ,
Rukiye Sülü Dursun  and
Ebru Gozuyesil
Aslıhan Turan Alagoz
Affiliation:
Midwifery Department, Karatay University Faculty of Health Sciences, Konya, Turkey
Esra Biçer
Affiliation:
Midwifery Department, Çukurova University, Health Sciences Institute, Adana, Turkey
Rukiye Sülü Dursun*
Affiliation:
Midwifery Department, Çukurova University, Health Sciences Institute, Adana, Turkey
Ebru Gozuyesil
Affiliation:
Midwifery Department, Çukurova Universitesi, Faculty of Health Sciences, Adana, Turkey
*
Corresponding author: Rukiye Sülü Dursun; Email: rkysulu@gmail.com
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Abstract

Objectives

This study aims to determine the factors associated with pregnant women’s perceived stress and coping styles after the devastating earthquake in Turkey.

Methods

This descriptive and cross-sectional study was conducted with 419 pregnant women between March 15 and May 15, 2023. Data were collected through the “Personal Information Form,” the “Perceived Stress Scale,” and the “Coping with Earthquake Stress Scale.”

Results

In this study, while the variables of employment status (P = 0.045) and number of pregnancies (P = 0.004) affected perceived stress, the variables of age (P = 0.049), income status (P = 0.003), place of residence (P = 0.036), and employment status (P = 0.001) were found to affect coping skills with earthquake stress. The Religious Coping sub-scale was a predictive factor on perceived stress (P = 0.002). In addition, a negative and linear relationship was found between the mean total score of the Perceived Stress Scale, the “Religious Coping” (P = 0.006, r = -0.134), “Positive Reappraisal” (P = 0.031, r = -0.106), and the total score of Coping with Earthquake Stress Scale (P = 0.005, r = -0.135).

Conclusions

This study found that there were some factors affecting the perceived stress and coping strategies of women after the earthquake, and the pregnant women used coping skills more as their perceived stress decreased; especially, they used religious coping and positive reappraisal strategies more.

Keywords

pregnancyearthquakeperceived stresscoping strategies

Information

Type
Original Research
Information
Disaster Medicine and Public Health Preparedness , Volume 19 , 2025 , e118
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2025. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of Society for Disaster Medicine and Public Health, Inc

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Footnotes

This study was presented as a summary paper at the 7th International 6th National Midwifery Congress.

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