The psychological impacts of indirect exposure to ongoing terrorist attacks on a group of Turkish university students: A qualitative analysis

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Tezin Türü: Yüksek Lisans

Tezin Yürütüldüğü Kurum: Orta Doğu Teknik Üniversitesi, Sosyal Bilimler Enstitüsü, Psikoloji Bölümü, Türkiye

Tezin Onay Tarihi: 2017

Öğrenci: DENİZ OKAY

Danışman: AYŞE NURAY KARANCI

Özet:

The purpose of the current study was to explore the psychological impacts of indirect victimization to ongoing terrorist attacks on college students. For this purpose, qualitative research methodology was adopted. 10 undergraduate students who were living in Ankara, Turkey were recruited as participants. They were vicariously exposed to ongoing terrorist attacks through various media resources. Semi-structured interviews were conducted and these data were analyzed using interpretative phenomenological analysis. The results of this analysis revealed four superordinate themes. These themes were: evaluations about terrorism and Turkey, the characteristics of events, psychological impacts and coping. The results displayed that the ongoing attacks seemed to have become a significant traumatic experience for the youth in this study, which affected various aspects of their lives. Though most of the psychological impacts were more short-lived, there were still many positive and negative impacts that were still enduring. Further, it was found that participants used various coping strategies, both in the short- and long-term to deal with the situation. These results were in accordance with the current literature and pointed out to extensive psychological impacts of ongoing terrorism that spread out to the indirect population; and thus reflect the need for a well-organized disaster preparedness system.