Odnos stresa, osjećaja koherentnosti i anksioznosti od smrti u vrijeme elementarnih nepogoda

The aim of the research was to examine the relationship between perceived stress, sense of coherence and death anxiety in natural disasters, such as earthquake in Zagreb and COVID19, and to examine the contribution of sense of coherence and death anxiety in predicting perceived stress. The research was conducted on a sample of 460 participants who experienced an earthquake in Zagreb on March 22, 2020, and the data were collected online in the fourth week after the earthquake. The Perceived Stress Scale was used to assess stress, the Collet-Lester Fear of Death Scale was used to assess death anxiety, and the sense of coherence was examined with the Abbreviated Version of the Coherence Measurement Scale. The results showed that older participants had a stronger sense of coherence compared to younger participants, while younger participants had greater death anxiety than older participants. Participants with the highest level of education had a stronger sense of coherence than participants with an undergraduate degree as well as participants with a high school diploma. Correlation analysis showed that perceived stress was negatively associated with a sense of coherence and positively associated with death anxiety, while sense of coherence and death anxiety were negatively associated. Hierarchical regression analysis showed that individuals who had lower sense of coherence, greater death anxiety and were more concerned about the coronavirus, experienced higher levels of perceived stress during natural disasters. Hierarchical regression analysis carried out on a sample of women and men separately, showed that among women, statistically significant predictors of perceived stress were sense of coherence, death anxiety and concern about coronavirus, while among men, statistically significant predictors of perceived stress were age, sense of coherence and concern about coronavirus. The results of this research can provide guidelines in planning psychological help and support for people in natural disasters.