1 ׀ INTRODUCTION
The coronavirus (CoV), the causative agent of COVID-19, can cause a wide range of diseases, from mild infections to potentially fatal infections. While some CoV types can be found in humans and even circulate among humans, some types (such as SARS-CoV transmitted by cats and MERS-CoV transmitted by Bactrian camels) can be found in animals and infect humans.1 It has been stated that COVID-19 disease, defined as “2019-nCoV” in the literature, is different from its previous types but it did not originate in a laboratory as a bioweapon as it is a naturally mutating virus.2 It has also been confirmed that the coronavirus has infected people on all continents except Antarctica.3
Moreover, relevant studies have reported that pandemic has caused economic, social, and psychological traumas all over the world.4,5 It has also been noted that individuals’ post-traumatic reactions may differ, from anxiety, depression, and post-traumatic stress disorder in some individuals to positive changes in dimensions such as the meaning of life, improvement of relationships, and perception of personal empowerment in some others.6 In post-traumatic growth, there is a positive experience of change and an increase in functionality level, emerging with the struggle after vital post-crisis. Post-traumatic empowerment, on the other hand, brings about reordering priorities and making sense of life, improving relationships, increasing self-awareness, realizing new possibilities, and experiencing psychosocial and spiritual changes. Studies examining the effects of pandemics/epidemics/outbreaks on change, development, and empowerment in individuals and society have reported that such health crises caused fear, anxiety, and panic in the masses due to their deadly nature.7-9 but also resulted in positive outcomes such as increased assistance, solidarity, and self-awareness among people and realizing new possibilities.10 Positive changes in the aftermath of trauma are defined as “perceived benefit,” “stress-related growth,” or “post-traumatic growth”.11 Initially, post-traumatic growth was studied on people exposed to trauma such as earthquakes and other natural disasters.12,13 Later, it began to be studied in the healthcare field. Post-traumatic growth was mostly studied on those with life-threatening diseases such as cancer and coronary artery disease.14-17 and on parents with kids with health problems.18,19 (18, 19).
The present study aims to investigate whether the COVID-19 pandemic has had a positive effect on Turkish society in terms of post-traumatic growth and the factors that may affect this situation.