article_1748267_1786702727 1786702727 Kıbrıs Ruh Sağlığı Enstitüsü Cyprus Turkish Journal of Psychiatry and Psychology KTPP Dergisi 1302-7840 06 24 2026 8 2 İrem Yıldırım Van Yüzüncü Yıl Üniversitesi https://orcid.org/0009-0002-5961-6291 Zöhre Kaya VAN YÜZÜNCÜ YIL ÜNİVERSİTESİ https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9211-3632 This study aims to examine the relationships between exposure to traumatic images on social media, emotional contagion, secondary traumatic stress, and self-care. The research was conducted with 447 young and adult individuals. The data collection tools included a Personal Information Form, the Secondary Traumatic Stress Scale for Social Media Users, the Emotional Contagion Scale, and the Mindfulness-Based Self-Care Scale. Pearson Correlation Analysis was used to examine the relationships between the variables. Regression analysis was conducted using the PROCESS v3.4 macro developed for SPSS to examine the mediating role of self-care. The results revealed a significant positive relationship between following earthquake posts and secondary traumatic stress. A significant positive relationship was found between emotional contagion and secondary traumatic stress. In contrast, a significant negative relationship was observed between two sub-dimensions of self-care skills -physical care and supportive structure- and secondary traumatic stress. It was found that the total self-care score did not mediate the relationship between emotional contagion and secondary traumatic stress. The findings indicate that traumatic content encountered on social media can have a direct and powerful impact on individuals. The limited effect of self-care suggests that individuals' ways of coping with emotional burdens on social media may require more profound psychological interventions. 06 24 2026 10 27 2025 131 138 10.35365/ctjpp.26.2.03 https://dergipark.org.tr/en/doi/10.35365/ctjpp.26.2.03 Akın, A., Uysal, R., & Akın, Ü. (2015). The validity and reliability of the Turkish form of the emotional contagion scale. Anemon Muş Alparslan University Journal of Social Sciences, 3(2), 97-104. https://doi.org/10.18506/anemon.28290 Aydın Sunbul, Z., Malkoc, A., Aslan Gordesli, M., Arslan, R., & Cekici, F. (2018). Mindful Self-Care Scale (MSCS): Adaptation and validation in a normative Turkish sample. European Journal of Educational Research, 6(4), 887-892. https://doi.org/10.12973/eu-jer.7.4.887 Balcı Çelik, S., & Altınışık, M. S. (2021). Adaptation of the Secondary Traumatic Stress Scale to Turkish for social media users: A reliability and validity study. Turkish Psychological Counseling and Guidance Journal, 11(60), 1-12. Barsade, S. G., Coutifaris, C. G., & Pillemer, J. (2018). Emotional contagion in organizational life. Research in Organizational Behavior, 38(1), 137-151. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.riob.2018.11.005 Bride, B. E. (2007). Prevalence of secondary traumatic stress among social workers. Social Work, 52, 63-70. http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/sw/52.1.633 Büyüköztürk, Ş. (2017). Sosyal Bilimler İçin Veri Analizi El Kitabı. Ankara: Pegem Akademi. ISBN:978-975-6802-74-8. Chan, A. K. M., Nickson, C. P., Rudolph, J. W., Lee, A., & Joynt, G. M. (2020). Social media for rapid knowledge dissemination: early experience from the COVID-19 pandemic. Anesthesia, 75(12), 1579-1582. https://doi.org/10.1111/anae.15057 Cohen, S., & Wills, T. A. (1985). Stress, social support, and the buffering hypothesis. Psychological Bulletin, 98(2), 310-357. https://psycnet.apa.org/doi/10.1037/0033-2909.98.2.310 Cook-Cottone, C. P., & Guyker, W. M. (2018). The development and validation of the Mindful Self Care Scale (MSCS): An assessment of practices that support positive embodiment. Mindfulness, 9(1), 161-175. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12671-017-0759-1 Coviello, L., Sohn, Y., Kramer, A. D., Marlow, C., Franceschetti, M., Christakis, N. A., & Fowler, J. H. (2014). Detecting emotional contagion in massive social networks. Plos One, 9(3), e90315. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.00903155 Doherty, R. W. (1997). The emotional contagion scale: A measure of individual differences. Journal of Nonverbal Behavior, 21, 131-154. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1024956003661 Ewer, P. L., Teesson, M., Sannibale, C., Roche, A., & Mills, K. L. (2014). The prevalence and correlates of secondary traumatic stress among alcohol and other drug workers in Australia. Drug Alcohol Review, 34(3), 252-258. https://doi.org/10.1111/dar.12204 Ferrara, E., & Yang, Z. (2015). Measuring emotional contagion in social media. Plos One, 10(11), e0142390. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0142390 Figley, C. R. (1995). Compassion Fatigue: Coping with Secondary Traumatic Stress Disorder in Those Who Treat Traumatized. New York: Routledge. ISBN:9780203777381 Figley, C. R., & Kleber, R. J. (1995). Beyond the “victim”. In R. J. Kleber, C. R. Figley, & B. P. R. Gersons (Eds.), Beyond Trauma. The Plenum Series on Stress and Coping. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4757-9421-2_5 Figley, C. R. (2002). Compassion fatigue: Psychotherapists' chronic lack of self-care. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 58(11), 1433-1441. https://doi.org/10.1002/jclp.10090 Garfin, D. R., Silver, R. C., & Holman, E. A. (2020). The novel coronavirus (COVID-2019) outbreak: Amplification of public health consequences by media exposure. Health Psychology, 39(5), 355-357. https://doi.org/10.1037/hea0000875 Garland, E. L., Gaylord, S. A., & Fredrickson, B. L. (2010). Positive reappraisal mediates the stress-reductive effects of mindfulness. Journal of Health Psychology, 15(3), 289-299. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12671-011-0043-8 Goldenberg, A., & Gross, J. J. (2020). Digital emotion contagion. Trends in Emotion Contagion, 24(4), 316-328. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tics.2020.01.009 Hatfield, E., Cacioppo, J. T., & Rapson, R. L. (1992). Primitive emotional contagion. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 14(3), 151-177. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781139174138 Hatfield, E., Cacioppo, J. T., & Rapson, R. L. (1994). Emotional Contagion. Paris: Cambridge University Press. ISBN:0521449480,9780521449489. Kaniasty, K. (2012). Predicting social psychological well‐being following trauma: The role of postdisaster social support. Psychological Trauma: Theory, Research, Practice, and Policy, 4(1), 22-33. https://psycnet.apa.org/doi/10.1037/a0021412 Kanwal, F., & Yousaf, T. (2022). Media exposure induced secondary traumatic stress among university students of Pakistan: Role of personal variables. Journal of Pakistan Psychiatric Society, 19(3), 1-14. https://doi.org/10.63050/jpps.19.03.209 Karabacak Çelik, A. (2023). Deprem sonrası travma belirtileri, umut ve iyi oluş arasındaki ilişkinin incelenmesi. TRT Akademi, 8(18), 574-591. https://doi.org/10.37679/trta.1275268 Killian, K. D. (2008). Helping till it hurts? A multi-method study of burnout, compassion fatigue, and resilience in clinicians working with trauma survivors. Traumatology, 14, 31-44. https://psycnet.apa.org/doi/10.1177/1534765608319083 Koca, B., & Eryücel, S. (2024). Social Media addiction and sources of spirituality among university students during the COVID-19. Kıbrıs Türk Psikiyatri ve Psikoloji Dergisi, 6(4), 346-353. https://doi.org/10.35365/ctjpp.24.4.06 Kramer, A. D., Guillory, J. E., & Hancock, J. T. (2014). Experimental evidence of massive-scale emotional contagion through social networks. Psychological and Cognitive Science, 111(24), 8788-8790. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1320040111 Lazarus, R. S., & Folkman, S. (1984). Stress, Appraisal, and Coping. Springer Publishing Company. ISBN: 0826141927,9780826141927. Lee, M. T., & Theokary, C. (2021). The superstar social media influencer: Exploiting linguistic style and emotional contagion over content? Journal of Business Research, 132, 860-871. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2020.11.014 Lovallo, W. R. (2016). Stress and Health: Biological and Psychological Interactions. Sage Publications. https://doi.org/10.4135/97814522335433 Mancini, M. N. (2019). Development and validation of the secondary traumatic stress scale in a sample of social media users [Doctoral thesis]. Cleveland State University. https://engagedscholarship.csuohio.edu/etdarchive/1132 Moreno, M. A., Ton, A., & Selkie, E. (2021). Social media use and mental health in crises: A scoping review. Journal of Adolescent Health, 68(2), 319-328. https://doi.org/10.1097/01.NAJ.0001069496.00684.f6 Newell, J. M., & MacNeil, G. A. (2010). Professional burnout, vicarious trauma, secondary traumatic stress, and compassion fatigue. Best Practices in Mental Health, 6, 57-68. https://doi.org/10.70256/607490pbruec Norris, F. H., Friedman, M. J., & Watson, P. J. (2002). 60,000 disaster victims speak: Part II. Summary and implications of the disaster mental health research. Psychiatry, 65, 240-260. https://doi.org/10.1521/psyc.65.3.240.20169 Perez, L., Jones, J., Englert, D. R., & Sachau, D. (2010). Secondary traumatic stress and burnout among law enforcement investigators exposed to disturbing media images. Journal Police and Criminal Psychology, 25, 113-124. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11896-010-9066-7 Pinilla, A., Tamayo, R. M., & Neira, J. (2020). How do induced affective states bias emotional contagion to faces? A three- dimensional model. Frontier Psychology, 11(97). https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.00097 Prochazkova, E., & Kret, M. E. (2017). Connecting minds and sharing emotions through mimicry: A neurocognitive model of emotional contagion. Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews, 80, 99-114. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neubiorev.2017.05.013 Rauvola, R. S., Vega, D. M., & Lavigne, K. N. (2019). Compassion fatigue, secondary traumatic stress, and vicarious traumatization: A qualitative review and research agenda. Occupational Health Science, 3(3), 297-336. https://doi.org/10.1007/s41542-019-00045-1 Russell, J. A. (2003). Core affect and the psychological construction of emotion. Psychological Review, 110(1), 145-172. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-295X.110.1.145 Saakvitne, K. (2002). Shared trauma: The therapist's increased vulnerability. Psychoanalytic Dialogues, 12(3), 443-449. https://doi.org/10.1080/10481881209348678 Salston, M., & Figley, C. R. (2003). Secondary traumatic stress effects of working with survivors of criminal victimization. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 16(2), 167-174. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1022899207206 Schachter, S., & Singer, J. (1962). Cognitive, social, and physiological determinants of emotional state. Psychological Review, 69(5), 379-399. https://psycnet.apa.org/doi/10.1037/h0046234 Secker, R. M. M., & Braithwaite, E. C. (2021). Social media-induced secondary traumatic stress: Can viewing news relating to knife crime via social media induce PTSD symptoms. Psychreg Journal of Psychology, 5(2), 23-37. https://doi.org/10.17605/OSF.IO/Q9MBH Shapiro, S. L., Carlson, L. E., Astin, J. A., & Freedman, B. (2006). Mechanisms of mindfulness. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 62(3), 373-386. https://doi.org/10.1002/jclp.20237 Steinert, S. (2021). Corona and value change. The role of social media and emotional contagion. Ethics and Information Technology, 23, 59-68. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10676-020-09545-z Türk, B. (2022). Korona sürecinde sosyal medyada duygusal bulaşma: Olumsuz duygusal iklim ve değer değişimi. Pazarlama ve Pazarlama Araştırmaları Dergisi, 15(2), 347-378. https://doi.org/10.15659/ppad.15.2.971519 van der Kolk, B. A. (2014). The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, And Body in The Healing of Trauma. Penguin Books. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.7049744 Zhong, B., Huang, Y., & Liu, Q. (2021). Mental health toll from the coronavirus: Social media usage reveals Wuhan residents’ depression and secondary trauma in the COVID-19 outbreak. Computers in Human Behavior, 114. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2020.106524