Mindfulness Practices in Earthquake Survivor Nursing Students

The Effect of Mindfulness Practices on Positive Thinking and Stress Coping Behaviors of Earthquake Survivor Nursing Students

Disaster; They are natural, technological or human-induced events that cause physical, economic and social losses for all or certain segments of the society, and stop or interrupt normal life and human activities. Disasters are often unavoidable. They often come suddenly and cause great suffering to the survivors. As natural disasters, especially earthquakes occur frequently in Turkey; cause human and economic losses. The 7.7 and 7.6 magnitude earthquakes in Kahramanmaraş, which occurred in February 2023 and are described as the disaster of the century, affected ten provinces, namely Gaziantep, Hatay, Osmaniye, Adıyaman, Adana, Malatya, Kilis, Diyarbakır, Şanlıurfa and Elazığ, apart from the epicenter. Nursing students who were exposed to this earthquake were adversely affected physically, psychologically, socially and economically. The psychological effects of severe traumatic events such as earthquakes are not seen in all people to the same degree. However, the reactions of individuals to traumatic situations differ in terms of both their positive thinking skills and their ability to use stress coping mechanisms.

Positive thinking is the ability to see the bright side of things and makes people more creative and constructive. Approaching events positively and evaluating them with positive thoughts also affect the quality of individuals' daily lives. Positive thinking is also linked to positive emotions, optimism, hope, joy, and happiness. Positive thinking is one of the factors that affect the quality of life and relationships. Individuals with positive thinking characteristics always keep the expectation that good events will happen, and their perspectives and approaches to events are in this direction. Individuals who have such expectations are individuals who can adapt to distressing situations or difficulties more easily than those who do not.

In this way, the individual can gain a more optimistic perspective, reduce the amount of stress he experiences and strengthen the mechanism of coping with stress.

Many studies show that; Positive thinking skills are an important factor in coping with stress and anxiety, problem solving, happiness, academic performance and even health. The fact that positive thinking skills and mechanisms for coping with stress have such an important role in human life and behavior made us think that we can also benefit from mindfulness practices in strengthening these concepts. The study was shaped within this framework and it was aimed to reveal the effect of mindfulness practices on the positive thinking skills of nursing students and the level of coping mechanisms with stress.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Nursing Student; Earthquake
• Intervention / Treatment: Behavioral: mindfulness practices

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 48
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• Turkey
  • Yozgat, Turkey
    • Betül

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: Adult
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Exposure to earthquake
• Volunteer to participate in the study

Exclusion Criteria:

• Using other relaxation techniques with a similar effect in the last 3 months and at the time of the study
• Being on medication for psychiatric reasons

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Supportive Care
• Allocation: Randomized
• Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
• Masking: Single

Number of Arms

2

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
No Intervention: Control
Experimental: Mindfulness	Behavioral: mindfulness practices; Mindfulness, according to Kabat-Zinn, is "to pay attention to the present moment in a purposeful way, without judgment." Being conscious involves both attention and awareness. Conscious awareness is an observer in the background of the state of consciousness, constantly observing the inner and outer environment. It is to direct our awareness and attention to our experiences in the present moment in an accepting way with our whole body and thoughts.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Change in Positive Thinking Level	This form will be used to measure the positive thinking level of nursing students. In the research, it will be applied three times in total, before the application of mindfulness, after the eighth session and after the end of mindfulness practices.	8 weeks

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Change in the Level of Coping with Stress for Nursing Students	This form will be used to measure the level of coping with stress in nursing students. In the research, it will be applied three times in total, before the application of mindfulness, after the eighth session and after the end of mindfulness practices.	8 weeks

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Bozok University
• Collaborators: Bayburt University

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): May 6, 2023
• Primary Completion (Actual): June 6, 2023
• Study Completion (Actual): August 6, 2023

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: June 24, 2023
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: June 30, 2023
• First Posted (Actual): July 3, 2023

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): March 29, 2024
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: March 28, 2024
• Last Verified: March 1, 2024

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Other Study ID Numbers: BayburtU

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: UNDECIDED

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No