THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN SOCIAL WORKERS’ DISASTER AWARENESS LEVELS AND SECONDARY TRAUMATIC STRESS: THE CASE OF THE KAHRAMANMARAŞ EARTHQUAKES

Social workers who serve in the field during disaster processes are among the occupational groups at risk for secondary traumatic stress, as they are continuously and indirectly exposed to the traumatic experiences of disaster victims. The aim of this study is to examine the relationship between the disaster awareness levels and secondary traumatic stress levels of social workers who actively served in the disaster area following the earthquakes centered in Kahramanmaraş on February 6, 2023. The study was designed as a descriptive and correlational survey, and was conducted with 101 social workers reached through purposive sampling who declared that they had served in the disaster area. The data were collected online by means of a Personal Information Form, the Disaster Awareness Scale, and the Secondary Traumatic Stress Scale. Descriptive statistics, Pearson and Spearman correlation analyses, and multiple linear regression analysis were used to analyze the data. The findings showed that there was no significant relationship between the total disaster awareness score and the level of secondary traumatic stress. However, a low-level, negative, and statistically significant correlation was found between the false disaster awareness subdimension and secondary traumatic stress. The multiple regression analysis indicated that the model was not statistically significant (F(4, 96) = 1.403, p = .239, R² = .055), and that the subdimensions of disaster awareness did not significantly predict secondary traumatic stress. These findings suggest that cognitive awareness regarding disasters does not, in itself, serve a directly protective function against secondary traumatic stress; nevertheless, the correlational relationship found between false disaster awareness and secondary traumatic stress should be re-examined in future studies using larger samples and models that include mediating variables.