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This page is an AI-assisted Turkish summary of the study presented at the 26th World Congress of Psychiatry. The study belongs to the presenting authors; please refer to the original source when citing it.

SO355

The relationship between cognitive avoidance and life engagement among earthquake survivors: Two years after the 2023 Kahramanmaraş earthquakes

THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN COGNITIVE AVOIDANCE AND ENGGEMENT TO LIFE IN INDIVIDUALS WHO HAVE EXPERIENCED EARTHQUAKES: 2 YEARS AFTER THE 2023 KAHRAMANMARAŞ EARTHQUAKES

Two years after the earthquakes, greater use of cognitive avoidance strategies is associated with lower levels of life engagement among earthquake survivors.

This study aimed to determine the relationship between the use of cognitive avoidance strategies and life engagement among survivors two years after the 2023 Kahramanmaraş earthquakes. Using a descriptive design, data were collected from 279 adults between November 2025 and May 2026 via Google Forms using a Sociodemographic Form, the Cognitive Avoidance Scale (CAS), and a scale measuring life engagement (identified as the Commitment to Living Scale in the poster’s methods section and the Life Engagement Scale, LES, in the tables). Descriptive statistics, correlation analyses, and regression analyses were performed. The mean CAS total score was 65.16 ± 20.58, and the mean LES score was 24.06 ± 4.60. A significant negative correlation was found between LES scores and CAS total scores (r=-0.166, p<0.01). Among the subscales, suppression (r=-0.195) and thought substitution (r=-0.234) showed significant correlations (p<0.01), whereas distraction, transformation, and avoidance of triggers showed no significant associations. The multiple linear regression model was significant (F(3,275)=10.834; p=0.000; adjusted R2=0.096; Durbin-Watson=1.969); suppression (B=-0.480; Beta=-0.492; t=-3.786; p=0.000) and substitution (B=-0.611; Beta=-0.581; t=-4.567; p=0.000) negatively predicted life engagement. In conclusion, participants’ use of cognitive avoidance was low to moderate, while their level of life engagement was good; greater avoidance was associated with lower life engagement. Mental health and psychiatric nurses are encouraged to implement cognitive and meaning-focused interventions to strengthen life engagement among earthquake survivors.

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