Abstract:

Individuals encounter at least one negative experience or traumatic event in their lifetime and react differently to these experiences. While some develop vulnerability in the face of such events, others grow stronger. Psychological resilience is the individual’s ability to display healthy development despite negative experiences or to positively adapt to challenging situations. Risk factors and protective factors play an important role in the development of resilience. Therefore, the current study aimed to investigate the effect of burnout as a risk factor and the sense of belonging as a protective factor in explaining psychological resilience. Particularly, this study mainly investigated the mediating role of burnout in the relationship between the sense of belongingness and psychological resilience among university students who had experienced at least one traumatic event. The age of the participants varied between 17 and 35 (M = 24.17, SD = 3.90). General Belongingness Scale, the Resilience Scale for Adults (RSA), and the Burnout Measure, Short Version were used as data collection tools. In data analysis, Pearson Product Moment Correlation and Structural Equation Modeling were performed. It was found that the fit indices established in the research provided good fits and the obtained coefficients were statistically significant. The theoretical model confirmed that burnout plays an intermediary role and significantly affects the relationship between the general sense of belongingness and psychological resilience.

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