The Relationship of Perceived Social Support with Smoking and Sleep in Adolescent Survivors of the Kahramanmaraş Earthquakes

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Abstract

Disasters such as earthquakes are damaging and traumatic events that cause serious problems in many fields. Earthquakes affect the physical and mental health of vulnerable adolescents. This cross-sectional study was conducted with adolescents after the earthquakes that occurred in southern Türkiye on February 6, 2023. The aim of the study was to examine the relationship between perceived social support and smoking, sleep quality and insomnia among adolescent earthquake survivors. The study was conducted in the Central district of Adıyaman city. The data were collected from earthquake-survivor adolescents aged between 13–18, enrolled in nine different high schools (N = 1579). Data were collected face-to-face in October-November 2023 using the Multidimensional Perceived Social Support Scale (MPSSS), Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), Bergen Insomnia Scale (BIS) and Smoking Assessment Questionnaire. SPSS 26.0 was used for data analysis. The mean age of the adolescents was 15.40 ± 1.12 years and 55.7% were females. Adolescents who smoked had lower perceived social support. A weak negative correlation was found between perceived social support and sleep quality (r = − .24, p < .001) and insomnia (r = − .20, p < .001). There was a moderate correlation between the family subdimension of social support and sleep quality (r = − .32, p < .001) and between the family subdimension and insomnia (r = − .32, p < .001). In conclusion, social support can be considered a important factor against smoking and sleep problems among adolescent survivors of earthquakes. It is recommended that the relationship between social support and smoking and sleep quality be investigated in cohort studies.

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