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.