ORİJİNAL MAKALE / ORIGINAL ARTICLE

Balıkesir Sağlık Bilimleri Dergisi / BAUN Sağ Bil Derg

Balıkesir Health Sciences Journal / BAUN Health Sci J
ISSN: 2146-9601- e ISSN: 2147-2238
Doi: https://doi.org/10.53424/balikesirsbd.1056775

An Investigation of Psychological Resilience and Core Belief Levels of Women During the
COVID-19 Pandemic and Affecting Factors
Ruveyde AYDIN 1, Songül AKTAŞ 2, Dilek KALOĞLU BİNİCİ 3
1
Ondokuz Mayıs University, Faculty of Health Sciences, Department of Nursing
2
Karadeniz Technical University, Faculty of Health Sciences, Department of Midwifery
3
Artvin Çoruh University, Faculty of Health Sciences, Department of Nursing
Geliş Tarihi / Received: 12.01.2022, Kabul Tarihi / Accepted: 21.04.2022
ABSTRACT
Objective: The aim of the study is to determine the psychological resilience and core belief levels of women during the COVID-
19 pandemic period and examine the affecting factors. Material and Methods: The study is in a cross-sectional design. The data
were collected from 792 women using the Descriptive Information Form, the Psychological Resilience Scale, and the Core
Beliefs Inventory. Descriptive statistics and the Ordinary Least Square Regression analysis were used to analyze the data.
Results: The mean score of the “psychological resilience scale” was 66.50±13.40 and “core beliefs inventory” was 27.87±10.76.
The COVID-19 fear score of women was found to be 6.31±1.98 out of 10. The psychological resilience levels were higher in
working women, older women, and those with higher education levels (p<0.05). A negative significant relationship was found
between the fear of COVID-19 and psychological resilience (p<0.05), and a positive correlation was found between women's age,
working status, psychological resilience, and core belief levels (p<0.05). Conclusion: The mean score of psychological resilience
and core beliefs of women in the COVID-19 pandemic was found to be moderately good. Some socio-demographic
characteristics and factors can affect women's resilience and core beliefs.
Keywords: COVID-19, Psychological Resilience, Core Belief, Women Health.

COVID-19 Pandemi Sürecinde Kadınların Psikolojik Sağlamlık ve Temel İnanç Düzeyleri

ve Etkileyen Faktörlerin İncelenmesi
ÖZ
Amaç: Çalışmada amaç; COVID-19 pandemi sürecinde kadınların psikolojik sağlamlık ve temel inanç düzeyini belirlemek ve
etkileyen faktörleri incelemektir. Gereç ve Yöntem: Çalışma kesitsel tiptedir. Araştırmanın verileri Google anket aracılığı ile
online olarak 792 kadından toplanılmıştır. Verilerin toplanılmasında tanıtıcı bilgi formu, Psikolojik Sağlamlık Ölçeği ve Temel
İnançlar Ölçeği kullanılmıştır. Verilerin analizinde tanımlayıcı istatistikler (sayı, yüzde, toplam puan) ve the Ordinary Least
Square Regression (OLSR) analizi kullanılmıştır. Bulgular: Kadınların ‘’psikoloji sağlamlık ölçeği’’ puan ortalaması
66.50±13.40 ‘’temel inançlar ölçeği’’ toplam puanı 27.87±10.76 bulunmuştur. Kadınların COVID-19 korku puanı 10
üzerinden 6.31±1.98 olarak saptanmıştır. Yaşı ve eğitim düzeyi yüksek olan ve çalışan kadınların psikolojik sağlamlık düzeyinin
daha yüksek olduğu saptanmıştır (p<0.05). COVID-19 korkusu ile psikolojik sağlamlık arasında negatif yönde anlamlı ilişki
bulunmuştur (p<0.05). Kadınların yaşı, çalışıyor olması ve psikolojik sağlamlık düzeyi ile temel inanç düzeyi arasında pozitif
yönde bir ilişki bulunmuştur (p<0.05). Sonuç: COVID-19 pandemisinde kadınların psikolojik sağlamlık ve temel inançlar puan
ortalamasının moderately good olduğu ortaya koyulmuştur. Bazı sosyo-demografik özellikler ve COVID-19 korkusu gibi
durumlar kadınların psikolojik sağlamlılık ve temel inançlarını etkileyebilmektedir.
Anahtar kelime: COVID-19, Psikolojik Sağlamlık, Temel İnanç, Kadın Sağlığı.

Sorumlu Yazar / Corresponding Author: Songül Aktaş, Karadeniz Technical University, Faculty of Health Sciences,
Department of Midwifery, Trabzon, Türkiye.
E-mail: songulbora52@gmail.com

Bu makaleye atıf yapmak için / Cite this article: Aydın, R., Aktaş, S., & Kaloğlu Binici, D. (2022). An investigation of
psychological resilience and core belief levels of women during the covid-19 pandemic and affecting factors. BAUN Health Sci
J, 11(3),368-376. https://doi.org/10.53424/balikesirsbd.1056775

BAUN Health Sci J, OPEN ACCESS https://dergipark.org.tr/tr/pub/balikesirsbd

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License

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 Aydın et al. Psychological Resilience and Core Belief

INTRODUCTION Cai, Hu, Wei, Wu, Du, Chen, & Li, 2020). The
The COVID-19 pandemic has caused many people to psychological resilience levels of individuals affect
become ill and die worldwide, and people still suffer their reactions to the events during the pandemic and
from its negative impacts such as social isolation, fear, are very effective in coping with this difficult condition,
anxiety (WHO, 2020). Countries all over the world protecting their mental health, and realizing their goals
have taken various restrictions and measures (stay at (Kılınç & Sis Çelik, 2021).
home/social isolation/quarantine, work from home, A national comprehensive study conducted in the early
online education, restriction in public transportation, days of the pandemic in the United States showed that
closure of workplaces and social areas, etc.) to prevent individuals with higher levels of education and middle-
and reduce the transmission of Coronavirus 19 aged or adult individuals had higher resilience levels.
(COVID-19) (Brooks, Webster, Smith, Woodland, Besides, those with high levels of psychological
Wessely, Greenberg, & Rubin, 2020). resilience had a low level of pandemic-related stress
The COVID-19 pandemic has caused individuals to (Riehm et al., 2021). Psychological resilience is a
change their daily life activities, experience fear of protective factor in coping with the difficulties
death, and lose many people from their families or encountered in the COVID-19 pandemic (Coulombe,
immediate circles (Riehm, Brenneke, Adams, Gilan, Pacheco, Cox, Khalil, Doucerain, Auger, & Meunier,
Lieb, Kunzler, Smail, Holingue, Stuart, & Kalb, 2021). 2020; Luu, 2021; Riehm et al., 2021), and affects the
This pandemic has adversely affected the health, core beliefs of the individual.
economy, and socio-cultural life of the 8 billion world Core beliefs are the individuals’ perceptions of
population (Li et al., 2020) and caused an themselves, other people, and the world (Luu, 2021).
unprecedented disaster in human history and a global For example, the belief “the world is a safe place, no
trauma (Chen & Bonanno, 2020). harm will ever come to me, etc.” is a core belief of the
The COVID-19 pandemic has had negative economic individual. Pandemic, war, disaster, accidents, etc. can
and health impacts on people, including job loss, have a shocking effect on individuals and cause them to
financial difficulties, inability to benefit from health question their core beliefs. The core beliefs like “the
services adequately, high levels of stress, anxiety, fear world is a safe place, no harm will ever come to me,
of virus transmission and death, and mental health etc.” can be shaken by situations like “being diagnosed
problems like depression and post-traumatic stress with cancer”, “being at war” “mother losing her baby”
disorder (Satici et al., 2020; Wang, Pan, Wan, Tan, Xu, and questioning/struggling against core beliefs may
Ho, & Ho, 2020). Women who have a more caring role begin (Lianchao & Tingting, 2020). As a result of this
in the family and who are going through other special questioning, there can be a constructive and positive
processes such as pregnancy, childbirth, and interpretation and change as well as a negative change
breastfeeding have been influenced more intensely about the event (such as cancer, COVID-19 infection)
(Aydin & Aktaş, 2021). Worldwide, women mostly in the core beliefs (Luu, 2021; Riehm et al., 2021). The
have the caregiver role in the family. Two out of every fact that individuals struggle with core beliefs may be a
three women perform house cleaning, childcare, sign that they can enter the process of making a positive
education, and cooking within the caregiver role of the meaning to events, gain new alternatives and
family (CDC, 2021). The economic difficulties, perspectives, enter a positive path in their lives, and
spouse/partner violence, the increase in workload due to show post-traumatic development (Eze, Ifeagwazi, &
staying at home and gender roles, and the problems Chukwuorji, 2020). The COVID-19 pandemic can
related to women-specific periods such as pregnancy affect women's core belief levels by creating a
and childbirth during the pandemic have caused traumatic effect (Riehm et al., 2021). Therefore, all
women's psychosocial health to deteriorate more than health professionals working in the field of women's
men (Benassi, Vallone, Camia, & Scorza., 2020; CDC, health have significant responsibilities in identifying the
2021; Roberto, Sellon, Cherry, Hunter-Jones, & factors that affect women's levels of psychological
Winslow 2020). Deterioration of psycho-social health is resilience and core beliefs and supporting them to gain
associated with deterioration of psychological resilience positive coping methods with traumatic experiences in
and shaking of core beliefs. challenging periods such as the COVID-19 pandemic.
Psychological resilience is defined as an individual's The aim of this study is to determine the psychological
ability to adapt to challenges effectively and restore resilience and core belief levels of women during the
balance (Yıldırım et al., 2020). It includes the concepts COVID-19 pandemic and affecting factors. Much has
of growing, developing, and getting better. Many been written about the effects of the COVID-19
factors such as gender, age, education level, type of pandemic on women's mental health problems
trauma, exposure to trauma, economic situation, social (depression, anxiety, etc.) during the pandemic;
support, current, and previous life stressors affect the however, there is a paucity in the literature in terms of
level of resilience (Bonanno, Galea, Bucciarelli, & factors affecting women's resilience and core belief
Vlahov, 2007; Machisa, Christofides, & Jewkes, 2018). levels during the pandemic (Kılınç & Sis Çelik, 2021;
Various studies reported the psychological resilience of Lai et al., 2020). Studies on the core beliefs of women
women during the COVID-19 pandemic to be moderate in the pandemic are quite limited. This study was
(Kılınç & Sis Çelik, 2021) and low (Lai, Ma, Wang, carried out based on such a need, and it is believed to

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 Aydın et al. Psychological Resilience and Core Belief

fill the gap in the literature and contribute to the The Descriptive Information Form: Created by the
planning of new strategies for the protection and researchers in line with the literature, the form consists
promotion of women's psychological health during the of nine questions about the socio-demographic
pandemic. characteristics of women like age, gender, marital
The questions of this study are as follow status, and working status, and the fear of experiencing
What is the level of the psychological resilience of COVID-19.
women during the COVID-19 pandemic? The Connor–Davidson Psychological Resilience
What is the level of the core belief of women during the Scale: The scale was developed by Connor and
COVID-19 pandemic? Davidson (2003) and adapted into Turkish culture by
What are the factors affecting the level the Karaırmak (2010). It consists of 25 items in a 5-point
psychological resilience and core belief levels of Likert type (0 “Not true at all” - 4 “Always true”). The
women during the COVID-19 pandemic? scores to be obtained from the scale are between 0-100.
High scores indicate high levels of psychological
MATERIALS AND METHODS resilience. The total cronbach alpha of the scale is 0.92.
Study type In this study, the cronbach's alpha value was found to
The study is cross-sectional and analytical type. be 0.91.
Population and sample The “Core Beliefs Inventory”:The inventory was
The population of the research consists of women living developed by Cann, Calhoun, Tedeschi, Kilmer, Gil-
in Turkey. Inclusion criteria of the study were (1) being Rivas, Vishnevsky, & Danhauer, (2010) and adapted
a volunteer, (2) knowing Turkish, (3) using one of the into Turkish by Haselden (2014). The scale consists of
WhatsApp or social media accounts, (4) being literate, two factors, Core Beliefs About Other People and Core
(5) not having a comprehension problem, and (6) not Beliefs About Self, and nine questions. The scale is a
having a psychiatric disorder. The participants were six-point Likert type (0=not at all, 6=a very great
reached by private messages and open posts from the degree). High scores indicate a possible deterioration in
researchers' WhatsApp and social media accounts, and assumptions about the world. The general Cronbach's
they were asked to forward the questionnaire to the alpha coefficient of the scale is 0.87, 0.90 for the core
individuals in their family and social circle. The sample beliefs about the “other people” sub-factor, and 0.82 for
size was determined by performing the G-Power the core beliefs about the “self” sub-factor. In this
analysis. The sample calculation is based on the study, The Cronbach's alpha value was found to be
difference between the two averages in the G-Power 0.90.
analysis. In the calculation, the type 1 error rate was Data evaluation and analysis
(ɑ)=0.05, and the power of the study (1- β) was 95%. In the analysis of the data, the SPSS package program
The sample size was calculated based on the Karaırmak was used. Percentage and frequency were utilized to
(2010) study. The analysis showed that the sample size present participants’ socio-demographic information.
should be at least 446 people to obtain the 95% power To understand the relationship between psychological
ratio at the 95% confidence interval. In this study, 792 resilience scale total score (𝑃𝑅𝑆 ), core belief inventory
people were reached, considering the possibility of total score (𝐶𝐵𝐼 ), and personal characteristics, the
missing and extreme values due to online data Ordinary Least Square Regression (OLSR) was
collection. conducted. 𝑃𝑅𝑆 and core belief inventory total score 𝐶𝐵𝐼
Data collection were taken as dependent variables in the proposed two
The data were collected using the “Descriptive regression models. Additionally, age, education level,
Information Form”, the “Psychological Resilience family type, marital status, working status, the status of
Scale” and the “Core Beliefs Inventory” between June having children, the status of obeying the 14 rules of
2021 and August 2021 through “Google online COVID-19 pandemic, the status of losing a family
Survey”. The survey form was sent by the researchers member due to COVID-19, and COVID-19 fear status
to the "WhatsApp" line on the mobile phones of the were taken as independent variables of both proposed
women, and the researchers shared the survey form models using the OLSR. The dependent and
from social media accounts such as "Facebook, Twitter, independent variables of the study can be summarized
Instagram". as given in Table 1.

Table 1. Dependent and independent variables of psychological resilience scale total score (𝑷𝑹𝑺 ) and core belief
inventory total score (𝑪𝑩𝑰 ) using OLS regression.
𝑃𝑅𝑆 Psychological resilience scale total score
𝐶𝐵𝐼 Core belief inventory total score
Covariates
𝐶19𝐹 Status of COVID-19 fear

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 Aydın et al. Psychological Resilience and Core Belief

Table 1. (Continue) Dependent and independent variables of Psychological Resilience Scale total score (𝑷𝑹𝑺 ) and
Core Belief Inventory total score (𝑪𝑩𝑰 ) using OLS regression.
Dummy Variables
Age_2 (If the participant age is between 26-35 years:1, otherwise: 0)
Age_3 (If the participant age is higher than 35 years:1, otherwise: 0)
Education_2 (If the participant education level as high school: 1, otherwise: 0)
Education_3 (If the participant education level as university (undergraduate and graduate): 1,
otherwise: 0)
Family type (If family type is nuclear family:1, otherwise:0)
Marital status (If the participant is married:1, otherwise:0)
Working status (If the participant is working:1, otherwise:0)
Status of having children (If the participant has child/children:1, otherwise:0)
Status of obeying the 14 rules_2 (If the participant does not obey the 14 COVID-19 pandemic rules:1,
otherwise:0)
Status of obeying the 14 rules_3 (If the participant partially obeys the 14 COVID-19 pandemic rules:1,
otherwise:0)
Status for losing family member (If the participant loss a family member caused by COVID-19:1, otherwise:0)
*𝑃𝑅𝑆 is also used independent variable as covariates in the second model.

To determine the most effective parameters on the ƍ j= Obtained coefficients of the variables in the
psychological resilience scale total score (𝑃𝑅𝑆 ) and developed model (j=1,….,2),
core belief inventory total score (𝐶𝐵𝐼 ), a regression u=A disturbance term.
analysis was conducted, and two models were Ethical consideration
proposed for each dependent variable. The developed Approval for the research was obtained from the
models include qualitative and quantitative variables Rectorate of XXX University, Scientific Research and
and named as Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA) Publication Ethics Committee (No: XXX), and the
model. The equation of the proposed model for 𝑃𝑅𝑆 COVID-19 Scientific Research Board of the Turkish
can be summarized in Eq. 1 and for 𝐶𝐵𝐼 in Eq. 2. Ministry of Health (No: XXX). Online informed
𝑃𝑅𝑆 = ꞵ0 + ꞵ1 Age_2 + ꞵ2 Age_3 + ꞵ3 Education_2 + ꞵ4 consent was obtained from the participants in the
Education_3+ ꞵ5 Family Type + ꞵ6 Marital Status study. The research was conducted in line with the
+ ꞵ7 Working Status + ꞵ8 Status of having Declaration of Helsinki.
Children + ꞵ9 Status_of_obeying_14_rules_2
+ ꞵ10 Status_of_obeying_14_rules_3 + ꞵ11 Status RESULTS
for losing family member + ƍ1 𝐶19𝐹 + u (1) The mean age of women was 30.92±9.66 years, and
𝐶𝐵𝐼 = ꞵ0 + ꞵ1 Age_2 + ꞵ2 Age_3 + ꞵ3 Education_2 + ꞵ4 most of them had undergraduate and post-graduate
Education_3+ ꞵ5 Family Type + ꞵ6 Marital Status education (69%). About half of the women were
+ ꞵ7 Working Status + ꞵ8 Status of having married (46%), had an income-generating job
Children + ꞵ9 Status_of_obeying_14_rules_2 (52%), and had children (42%). In Table 2, 87% of
+ ꞵ10 Status_of_obeying_14_rules_3 + ꞵ11 women obeyed the COVID-19 14 rules, and 26%
Status for losing a family member + ƍ1 𝐶19𝐹 + ƍ2 𝑃𝑅𝑆 lost a family member due to COVID-19. The
+ u (2) COVID-19 fear score was found to be 6.31 out of
where: 10. As seen in Table 3, the total mean score of the
ꞵ0= A constant term, “psychological resilience scale” was 66.50±13.40
ꞵi= Dummy variables of the model (i≠0), and “core beliefs inventory” was 27.87±10.

Table 2. Descriptive characteristics of the women (n=792).

Descriptive Characteristics n %
Age
18-25 years 287 36
26-35 years 267 34
36+ years Mean: 0.92±9.66 238 30
Education level
Primary school 76 10
High school 164 21
Bachelors’ degree and post-graduate 552 69

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 Aydın et al. Psychological Resilience and Core Belief

Table 2 (Continue) Descriptive characteristics of the women (n=792).

Marital status n %
Married 365 46
Single 427 54
Family type
Nuclear 716 90
Extended 76 10
Working status
Yes 409 52
No 383 48
Status of having children
Yes 335 42
No 457 58
Status of obeying COVID-19 pandemic rules
Yes 688 87
No 27 3
Partly 77 10
Losing a family member due to COVID-19
Yes 208 26
No 584 74
The mean score of COVID-19 fear
Mean: 6.31±1.98

Table 3 The total mean score of the women's resilience and core beliefs scale.
Scales Min Max Mean SD
Psychological Resilience Scale 17 96 66.50 13.40
Core Beliefs Inventory 0 25 27.80 10.76
SD:Standard deviation.

According to the Ordinary Least Square Regression disturbances are distributed normally because of the big
(OLSR) model multicollinearity, heteroscedasticity and sample size (792 participants) based on the Central
model specification error problems were examined by Limit Theorem and Shapiro-Wilk W normality test. As
using diagnostic tests, and results are given in Table 4 seen in Table 4, the proposed model was found
for the proposed model. After checking significant for 𝑃𝑅𝑆 (F=41.69, p=0.000) and 𝐶𝐵𝐼 (F=4.54,
multicollinearity, heteroscedasticity, and model p=0.000).
specification error problems, it was assumed that

Table 4 Ordinary least square regression model results for Psychological Resilience Scale (PRS) and Core Beliefs
Inventory (CBI).
Variables 𝐏𝐑𝐒 𝐂𝐁𝐈
β St. E. t p β St. E. t p
Constant Term 88.24 2.75 32.09 0.000* 17.54 3.91 4.48 0.000*
Age_2 2.25 1.10 2.05 0.041* -0.50 1.08 -0.46 0.645
Age_3 3.21 0.79 2.16 0.031* 3.51 1.64 2.14 0.035*
Education_2 -1.33 1.51 -0.89 0.375 0.46 1.48 0.32 0.752
Education_3 3.14 1.39 2.27 0.024* -1.54 1.36 -1.13 0.260
Family Type -1.78 1.29 -1.38 0.168 -0.94 1.27 -0.75 0.456
Marital Status 1.83 1.30 1.41 0.158 1.62 1.28 1.27 0.204
Working Status -2.32 0.87 -2.69 0.007* 2.15 0.98 0.64 0.010*
Status of having children 0.36 1.38 0.27 0.791 1.94 1.35 1.43 0.153
Status of obeying 14 rules 2 1.09 2.12 0.52 0.605 0.94 2.07 0.45 0.650
Status of obeying 14 rules 3 -0.71 1.30 -0.55 0.584 -1.47 1.27 -1.16 0.248
Status of losing a family member 0.75 1.02 0.74 0.458 -0.66 1.00 -0.66 0.508

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 Aydın et al. Psychological Resilience and Core Belief

Table 4 (Continue) Ordinary least square regression model results for Psychological Resilience Scale (PRS) and
Core Beliefs Inventory (CBI).
Variables 𝐏𝐑𝐒 𝐂𝐁𝐈
β St. E. t p β St. E. t p
Status of COVID-19 fear -3.94 0.23 -17.42 0.000* -0.15 0.26 -0.61 0.543
𝑃𝑅𝑆 ― 0.15 0.03 4.38 0.000*
Prerequisite analysis results for regression analysis
Max. VIF 1.56 (no multicollinearity problem) 3.89 (no multicollinearity problem)
White Test p=0.156 (no heteroscedasticity p=0.112 (no heteroscedasticity
problem) problem)
Shapiro-Wilk W Normality Test p=0.189 (disturbances are normally p=0.126 (disturbances are normally
distributed) distributed)
Ramsey Reset Test p=0.356 (no model specification error p=0.287 (no model specification error
problem) problem)
*Significant at 0.05 level.

As a result of the Ordinary Least Square Regression conducted by Roberto et al (2020), the level of
(OLSR) model performed to examine the predictive psychological resilience of women was found to be
effect of women's characteristics on resilience in Table close to high with a score of 77.94. Lai et al. (2020).
4, the effects of age, education level, working status, reported the psychological resilience of health workers
and fear of COVID-19 on resilience were found to be to be poor. In the study in which the short form of the
statistically significant (p=0.000 < 0.05). However, the resilience scale was used by Karaşar and Yaşam (2020)
examination of the effect of each variable on in the COVID-19 pandemic, it was found that the
psychological resilience revealed that age and education psychological resilience score of women was
level had a positive (β=2.25, p=0.041 for age 2; β=3.21, moderately good with 21.53±3.79 out of 30 points. It is
p=0.031 for age 3 and β=3.14, p=0.024 Education 4) thought that the difference in the levels of resilience in
and working status and COVID-19 fear had a the COVID-19 pandemic may be due to the different
significantly negative predictive effect (β=-2.32, scales, samples, culture, and time of the research.
p=0.007 for working status; β=-3.94, p=0.000 for status In this study, as the age of women increased, their
of COVID-19 fear). In addition, family type (p=0.168), psychological resilience tended to increase. In a study
marital status (p=0.158), the status of having children conducted in America in the early days of the pandemic
(p=0.791), the status of obeying the 14 rules of COVID- in which more than 6000 people participated, it was
19 and losing a family member due to COVID-19 seen that middle-aged or adult individuals experienced
(p=0.458) had no predictive effect on resilience higher psychological resilience (Riehm et al., 2021). In
(p>0.05). a study conducted during the COVID-19 pandemic in
The regression coefficients (β) in Table 4 show that Turkey, psychological resilience increased as age
among the 10 independent variables, age (β=3.51) is the increased (Kılınç & Sis Çelik, 2021), which is
strongest predictor of core belief, followed by working consistent with the study of Kimhi, Marciano, Eshel, &
status (β=2.15) and psychological resilience (0.15), Adini, (2020), and Kimter (2020). However, there are
respectively. The β coefficients of the other independent some other studies showing that psychological
variables ranged from -0.15 to 1.94. Age (p=0.035 for resilience decreases with age (Kimhi & Eshel, 2019).
age3), working status (p=0.010), and resilience level In this study, as the education level of women increased,
(p=0.000) were found to predict core beliefs statistically the level of psychological resilience increased.
significantly (p≤0.05). Literature has citations that there is a positive
relationship between education level and psychological
DISCUSSION resilience level (Kımter, 2020; Riehm et al., 2021). The
This study aimed to determine the psychological reason for this is thought to be because individuals’
resilience and core belief levels of women in the education levels increase, their awareness of the
COVID-19 pandemic and the affecting factors. situation increase, and they take the necessary
Resilience is vital for coping with distress, uncertainty, precautions, and their skills to cope with the traumatic
and change effectively. The psychological resilience event improve (Kımter, 2020). In some studies, no
levels of individuals have decreased during the relationship was found between education level and
pandemic (Yıldırım et al., 2020). psychological resilience level (Deniz, Çimen, & Yüksel,
In the study, the mean score of women's psychological 2020; Kılınç & Sis Çelik, 2021).
resilience was moderately good with 66.50±13,40 out of According to the results, there was no significant
100. A study conducted with nurses during the COVID- difference between psychological resilience levels based
19 pandemic found that the mean score of psychological on marital status, family type, and having children in
resilience of nurses was 64.28, which was similar to our this study, which is supported by some studies (Benassi
study (Kılınç & Sis Çelik, 2021). In another study et al., 2020; Kılınç & Sis Çelik, 2021), while

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 Aydın et al. Psychological Resilience and Core Belief

contradicted by Kimter, 2020). In a study conducted in 2021). While an inverse relationship was expected
Italy, mothers experienced higher levels of stress than between the level of resilience and shaking in core
others during the COVID-19 pandemic and having a beliefs in studies, it was noteworthy that a positive
child does not make a difference in terms of relationship emerged during the pandemic period. On
psychological resilience (Benassi et al., 2020). this result, both the ongoing pandemic/trauma and the
In this study, an inverse relationship was found between process of making sense of the trauma and the effort to
the working status of women and their level of have psychological resilience and struggle to question
resilience. This may be because households generally core beliefs are believed to be effective. On the other
stay at home during the pandemic period, adding the hand, while evaluating women's core belief and
burden of housework to the workload of working psychological resilience levels, their religious and
women (Roberto et al., 2020). To our knowledge, there spiritual dimensions should also be taken into
is no study in the literature investigating the relationship consideration. In a study in which 80.6% of the sample
between working status and resilience level. However, consisted of women, it was determined that there was a
the results of the studies on the relationship between the close correlation between spiritual cope and
perception of economic level and the level of resilience religiousness and also emotional distress during the
were found to differ (Kılınç & Sis Çelik, 2021). COVID-19 pandemic (Margetić et al., 2022).
Psychological resilience acts as a shield in finding the The limitation of this study is that the data were
meaning of life, making sense of the event, gaining a collected during the partial lockdown and gradual
positive perspective, and coping with the undesirable normalization process of the COVID-19 pandemic.
situation (Roberto et al., 2020). In this study, there is an
inverse relationship between fear of COVID-19 and CONCLUSION
resilience. In other words, women with high This study showed that the mean scores of women's
psychological resilience have a lower fear of COVID- psychological resilience and core beliefs during the
19. Kimhi et al. (2021) have showed a negative close COVID-19 pandemic were moderately good. Some
relationship between the COVID-19 sense of danger socio-demographic variables like age, education level,
and psychological resilience. Various studies have working status, and fear of COVID-19 affect women's
demonstrated that psychological resilience is a resilience and core beliefs. It is suggested that all health
significant resource in coping with negative feelings professionals, especially women's health nurses,
(worry, anxiety, depression, etc.) caused by COVID-19 midwives, and physicians involved in the field of
(Kasapoğlu, 2020; Kimhi et al., 2020; Riehm et al., women's health should carry out more quantitative and
2021; Yıldırım et al., 2020). qualitative research that “reveal the psychological
Shaking of the core beliefs of the individual after resilience and coping level of women” in extraordinary
traumatic or undesirable situations is the leading factor situations such as pandemics and wars. These studies
for positive changes (Cann et al., 2010). After the will contribute to “making the situation/problem
traumatic event, the individuals’ questioning about the visible”. In addition, training on “education for
world and their position in the world can negatively developing emotion regulation strategies, psycho-
affect their lives, but it can also contribute to their education, developing problem-solving skills, making
attempts to make sense of life and lead them on the way sense of life” should be organized by a multidisciplinary
to recovery. In this study, the total score of the women's team during extraordinary times like pandemics and
core beliefs scale was moderately good with wars, which will help protect and improve women's
27.87±10.76. mental health.
Limited studies have been conducted on core beliefs.
Conflicting results were obtained between the struggle Conflict of Interest: The authors have no conflict of
with core beliefs and socio-demographic (age, gender, interest to declare
education, etc.) variables in the relevant studies (Cann et
al., 2010; Haspolat, 2019; Luu, 2021), which may be Author Contributions
because shaking in core beliefs is a cognitive process Plan, design: RA, SA, DKB; Material, methods and
and a personal experience. Milman, Lee, Neimeyer, data collection: RA, SA, DKB; Data analysis and
Mathis, & Jobe, (2020) found a significant relationship comments: RA, SA; Writing and corrections: RA,
between being diagnosed with COVID-19, losing SA, DKB.
someone due to COVID-19, and the level of shaking in
core beliefs. In this study, a statistically significant
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