The moderating role of posttraumatic growth in the relationship between earthquake trauma, hope, and perceived social support.

Abstract

The 6 February 2023, earthquakes in Türkiye caused extensive devastation and widespread psychological distress, yet also provided a unique context to examine resilience processes such as posttraumatic growth (PTG). This study investigated whether PTG moderates the associations between post-earthquake trauma symptoms and two adaptive outcomes: dispositional hope and perceived social support. Participants were 319 adult survivors (ages 18-65; M = 29.28, SD = 11.43; 56.7% women) from Kahramanmaraş and Hatay who completed measures of trauma symptoms, PTG, hope, and perceived social support. Correlational analyses revealed positive associations among all study variables. Moderation analyses, controlling for prior adverse experiences, demonstrated that PTG moderated the negative association between trauma symptoms and hope: only individuals with low PTG reported diminished hope in the context of elevated trauma symptoms. For perceived social support, a different pattern emerged: survivors with high PTG showed a positive association between trauma symptoms and support, suggesting that PTG may facilitate the recognition or mobilization of social resources under stress. Prior adverse experiences emerged as a significant negative predictor of perceived social support, highlighting the role of cumulative trauma history in shaping relational resources. Taken together, these findings highlight PTG's dual role as both a psychological and relational resilience mechanism. Clinically, they suggest that interventions fostering PTG may help sustain hope and strengthen social connectedness despite persistent trauma symptoms.