Development and validation of the Earthquake Obsession Scale

Area of Science:

• Psychology
• Disaster Mental Health
• Psychometrics

Background:

• Natural disasters like earthquakes pose significant threats to mental health.
• The long-term psychological impact of earthquakes necessitates understanding specific anxieties.
• Earthquake obsession is a potential consequence affecting daily life and well-being.

Purpose of the Study:

• To psychometrically evaluate a new Earthquake Obsession Scale (EOS).
• To investigate the relationship between earthquake obsession and psychological variables such as doomscrolling, death distress, and mental well-being.
• To explore the mediating roles of doomscrolling and death distress in the link between earthquake obsession and well-being.

Main Methods:

• Cross-sectional study involving 732 adults from Türkiye.
• Administration of the Earthquake Obsession Scale (EOS), Doomscrolling Scale, Death Distress Scale, and Mental Well-Being Scale.
• Psychometric analysis including reliability, validity, correlational, and mediation analyses.

Main Results:

• The EOS demonstrated a two-factor structure with good internal consistency, convergent, and discriminant validity.
• Earthquake obsession showed positive correlations with doomscrolling and death anxiety, and a negative correlation with mental well-being.
• Doomscrolling and death distress were found to mediate the relationship between earthquake obsession and reduced well-being.

Conclusions:

• The validated Earthquake Obsession Scale (EOS) is a reliable tool for measuring earthquake-related obsessive thoughts.
• Earthquake obsession is significantly associated with negative psychological outcomes, including increased doomscrolling and death anxiety, and decreased mental well-being.
• Interventions targeting doomscrolling and death distress may help mitigate the negative psychological effects of earthquake obsession.