The Impact of Earthquakes on Women: Assessing Women's Mental Health in Aftermath of the Kahramanmaraş-centred Earthquake in Türkiye

Background: Earthquakes disproportionately affect women and exacerbate gender and social inequalities. This study aims to investigate the psychological impact of the earthquake in Türkiye on women and the associated factors.

Methods: This is a survey-based study. We collected data from 498 women residing in cities most affected by the earthquake.

Results: Participants' mean age was 27.72 ± 5.4. Over 78% of the participants lost at least one family member, and 43.7% lost at least one child due to the earthquake. The mean average of Brief Symptom Inventory (BSI) scores was 100.8 (SD = 8.37), and the Global Severity Index was 1.9 (SD = 0.16). Regression analysis showed that higher education levels predicted poor outcomes across most BSI dimensions. Losing a family member and shelter and injury status were also predictors for several mental health outcomes of the BSI subscales.

Conclusions: Earthquakes significantly impact women's well-being and may have a broader impact on the whole family. There is an urgent need to provide psycho-social interventions in the response and recovery phases of the crisis to meet the affected women's needs. This includes providing basic needs with attention to women-specific needs, restoring social networks, addressing gender-based violence and providing gender-sensitive specialized interventions for those who need further support.