Although every person has thoughts about their own existence, for some these thoughts cause intense anxiety. Similarly, individuals' reactions to secondary trauma also differ. In our study, the relationship between existential anxiety and secondary traumatic stress and the regulatory effect of age on this relationship were investigated with the idea that it may contribute to determining which factors may be effective in this differentiation. The study group consisted of 608 teachers working in Adana in the 2022-2023 academic year. In the study, "Personal Information Form" was used to determine demographic characteristics, "Secondary Traumatic Stress Scale" was used to evaluate secondary traumatic stress symptoms, and "Existential Anxiety Scale" was used to evaluate the level of existential anxiety. The data obtained were analyzed using moderation package program in R Programming environment. As a result of the study, it was concluded that there was a significant relationship between existential anxiety and secondary traumatic stress; age 40-49 years had a moderating effect between anxiety of meaninglessness and involuntary affect, age 40-49 years had a moderating effect between death anxiety and involuntary affect, and age 60 and over had a moderating effect between death anxiety and avoidance and arousal. It is thought that increasing the level of knowledge of teachers about trauma, secondary trauma, coping with trauma and approaching students about trauma, expanding psychoeducation programs, increasing their awareness about existential anxiety and receiving professional support in this regard will be a protective measure.

EXISTENTIAL ANXIETY, SECONDARY TRAUMATIC STRESS, AGE