From Death Distress to Flourishing Amid the Ongoing Türkiye Earthquakes: Future Anxiety,Post-traumatic Growth,and Trauma-Related Meaning Making

Abstract

This study investigated the psychological processes linking death distress to flourishing within the context of an ongoing earthquake threat. Guided by Terror Management Theory and the Meaning-Making Model, a moderated serial mediation model (PROCESS Model 92) was tested in which death distress predicted flourishing through future anxiety and post-traumatic growth (PTG), with trauma-related meaning-making (TRMM) moderating the pathway future anxiety to PTG. Data were collected from 494 adults residing in a seismically active region. Results showed that death distress directly and negatively predicted flourishing. Future anxiety and PTG functioned as significant mediators, forming a serial indirect pathway. TRMM significantly moderated the association between future anxiety and PTG, weaking the detrimental effect of anxiety and facilitating growth at higher levels of meaning-making. These findings suggest that mortality-related distress may, under specific cognitive conditions, contribute to transformative psychological outcomes rather than solely to maladjustment.

Keywords

death distress future anxiety post-traumatic growth flourishing trauma-related meaning-making moderated serial mediation model

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