Social norms regarding alcohol use and associated factors among university students in Turkey

Background: Misperceptions on the higher rates of peer alcohol use are predictive of increased personal use among university students. Objectives: This study aims to assess the prevalence, perceived peers’ social norms and other predictors of alcohol use in a sample of Turkish university students. Methods: This study is established upon the baseline Turkish data on alcohol use of the project Social Norms Intervention for the prevention of Polydrug usE (SNIPE). The data was obtained by a self-reported, online questionnaire from 858 students of Marmara University who were registered to the study web page. Results: Alcohol use and drunkenness rates were 62.6%, and 40.9%, respectively. Twenty point two percent of students reported drinking alcohol at least once a week in the last two months. Majority of students (70.4%) reported that religion has an important or very important role in their lives. Perceived higher frequency of peer alcohol use (p<0.000) and drunkenness (p<0.000) were significantly associated with personal alcohol use frequency. Tobacco use rate was 60.2% and positively associated with alcohol use frequency (p<0.000). In all participants, male gender (OR: 1.56; 95% CI: 1.07-2.28), giving less importance to religion (OR: 20.91; 95% CI: 10.95-39.95), tobacco use everyday/almost everyday (OR: 17.88; 95% CI: 9.33-34.29), perceived positive peer attitude towards alcohol use (OR: 2.192; 95% CI: 1.25-3.82) and perceived higher frequency of peer alcohol use (OR: 3.487; 95% CI: 1.66-7.31) were found to be associated risk factors for alcohol use. Age (OR: 1.186, CI 95%: 1.03-1.36) and perceived positive peer attitude towards alcohol use (OR: 3.86, CI 95%: 1.84-8.09) were the additional risk factors among female student whereas perceived positive peer alcohol use frequency (OR: 8.08, CI 95%: 2.40-27.10) among male students. Discussion: As the first study conducted in Turkey applying social norms theory, our results indicate the noticeable misperceptions of students regarding their peers’ alcohol use. Based on our results, targeting both tobacco and alcohol use, and a gender-sensitive approach employing social norms interventions may enhance the preventive strategies for risky alcohol use among university students

THE IMPACT OF JOB SATISFACTION ON ANXIETY AND DEPRESSION LEVELS AMONG UNIVERSTY PHYSICIANS

Doktorlarda depresyon, intihar ve madde kullanımı riski yüksektir. İş doyumu ve stres gibipsikososyal etmenlerin mental sağlık üzerine etkileri olduğu bilinmektedir.Amaç: Bu çalışmanın amacı üniversite hastanesinde çalışan hekimlerde depresyon veanksiyete düzeylerinin belirlenmesi ve iş doyumunun etkisinin incelenmesidir.Yöntem: Çalışmada Dokuz Eylül Üniversitesi Tıp Fakültesi\'nde çalışan ve sistematikörnek seçme yöntemi ile seçilen 300 hekime anket dağıtıldı, 153 hekimden yanıt alındı (%51,0). Sosyo-demografik ve çalışma yaşamı ile ilgili soruların sorulduğu, kapalı zarflardadağıtılan ve iki hafta sonra toplanan ankette depresyon ve anksiyete ölçümünde HastaneAnksiyete ve Depresyon Ölçeği kullanıldı. İş doyumunu değerlendirmek üzere tek bir soruile 1 ile 10 arasında derecelendirmeleri istendi ve işaretlenen puanlara göre iş doyumudüşük, orta ve yüksek olarak sınıflandırıldı.Bulgular: Yüksek anksiyete ve depresyon görülme sıklığı sırasıyla %18,9 ve 27,4\'tür. İşdoyumu ve anksiyete arasında anlamlı bir ilişki saptanmamıştır (p=0,239). İş doyumu düşükolanlarda, cerrahi bilimlerde çalışanlarda ve asistan konumunda çalışanlarda depresyondüzeyi anlamlı olarak yüksek bulunmuştur (p<0,0001).Sonuç: Hekimlerde anksiyete ve depresyon düzeyleri yüksek bulunmuştur. İş doyumu vedepresyon arasında ilişki saptanmıştır. Hekimlerin iş doyumları mental sağlıkları, kurumlarıve hastaları için önemlidir. İş doyumu bireysel bir sorun olarak değil kurumsal olarakdeğerlendirilmeli; izlem sistemi oluşturularak ileriye yönelik ve girişimsel çalışmalara olanaksağlanmalıdır.Studies have shown that physicians have an increased risk of mental health problemsincluding depression, suicide and substance abuse. Job satisfaction and job stress mightaffect physicians mental well being.Objective: The aim of this study was to determine the level of anxiety and depression ofmedical doctors working in a university hospital and whether job satisfaction has an impacton level of anxiety and depression.Methods: The study was completed with 153 physicians those systematically selectedfrom university medical faculty. The response rate was 51,0%. Hospital Anxiety andDepression Scale was used to measure anxiety and depression. The study group was ratedtheir job satisfaction by a continuous scale ranged one to ten. Then tertiles were calculatedin order to categorize the job satisfaction as low, modest and high.Results: Anxiety prevalence wasfound to be 18.9% and depressionwas 27.4%. Job satisfaction did notalter the anxiety levels (p=0.239).Depression were significantly higher inthe least job satisfied physicians (p<0.0001).Conclusion: Job satisfaction is an important issue for physicians\' mental well-being, theirinstitution and patients. Hence it should be considered not as an individual problem but asan organisational one. Surveillence systems should be established which allow follow-upand interventional studies

Personal and perceived peer use and attitudes towards use of non-prescribed prescription sedatives and sleeping pills among university students in seven European countries

Introduction The use of non-prescribed prescription sedatives and sleeping pills (NPPSSP) among university students has been described as an important public health issue. However, the impact of perceived social norms on students' use and attitudes towards use of NPPSSP is still unclear. Our aim was to investigate whether perceptions of peer use and approval of use are associated with students' personal use and approval of NPPSSP use. Methods Cross-sectional data from the Social Norms Intervention for the prevention of Polydrug Use (SNIPE) project containing 4482 university students from seven European countries were analyzed to investigate self-other discrepancies regarding personal use and attitudes towards NPPSSP use. Associations between personal and perceived peer use and between personal and perceived approval of use were examined using multivariable logistic regression. Results The majority (51.0%) of students perceived their peers' NPPSSP use to be higher than their personal use. 92.6% of students perceived their peers' approval of NPPSSP use to be identical or higher than their personal approval. Students perceiving that the majority of peers had used NPPSSP at least once displayed higher odds for personal lifetime use (OR: 1.95, 95% CI: 1.49–2.55). Perceived peer approval of NPPSSP use was associated with higher odds for personal approval (OR: 5.49, 95% CI: 4.63–6.51). Conclusions Among European university students, perceiving NPPSSP use and approval of use to be the norm was positively associated with students' personal NPPSSP use and approval of use, respectively. Interventions addressing perceived social norms may prevent or reduce NPPSSP use among university students

Depressive symptoms in higher education students during the COVID-19 pandemic: the role of containment measures

Background Students are a vulnerable group for the indirect impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly their mental health. This paper examined the cross-national variation in students’ depressive symptoms and whether this can be related to the various protective measures implemented in response to the initial stage of the COVID-19 outbreak. Methods Student data stem from the COVID-19 International Student Well-being Study, covering 26 countries during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. Country-level data on government responses to the COVID-19 pandemic were retrieved from the Oxford COVID-19 Tracker. Multilevel analyses were performed to estimate the impact of the containment and economic support measures on students’ depressive symptoms (n = 78 312). Results School and workplace closures, and stay-at-home restrictions were positively related to students’ depressive symptoms during the COVID-19 pandemic, while none of the economic support measures significantly related to depressive symptoms. Countries’ scores on the index of these containment measures explained 1.5% of the cross-national variation in students’ depressive symptoms (5.3%). This containment index’s effect was stable, even when controlling for the economic support index, students’ characteristics, and countries’ epidemiological context and economic conditions. Conclusions Our findings raise concerns about the potential adverse effects of existing containment measures (especially the closure of schools and workplaces and stay-at-home restrictions) on students’ mental health

Normative data and discriminative properties of short form 36 (SF-36) in Turkish urban population

BACKGROUND: SF-36 has been both translated into different languages and adapted to different cultures to obtain comparable data on health status internationally. However there have been only a limited number of studies focused on the discriminative ability of SF-36 regarding social and disease status in developing countries. The aim of this study was to obtain population norms of the short form 36 (SF-36) health survey and the association of SF-36 domains with demographic and socioeconomic variables in an urban population in Turkey. METHODS: A cross-sectional study. Face to face interviews were carried out with a sample of households. The sample was systematically selected from two urban Health Districts in Izmir, Turkey. The study group consisted of 1,279 people selected from a study population of 46,290 people aged 18 and over. RESULTS: Internal consistencies of the scales were high, with the exception of mental health and vitality. Physical health scales were associated with both age and gender. On the other hand, mental health scales were less strongly associated with age and gender. Women reported poorer health compared to men in general. Social risk factors (employment status, lower education and economic strain) were associated with worse health profiles. The SF-36 was found to be capable of discriminating disease status. CONCLUSION: Our findings, cautiously generalisable to urban population, suggest that the SF-36 can be a valuable tool for studies on health outcomes in Turkish population. SF-36 may also be a promising measure for research on health inequalities in Turkey and other developing countries

Normative misperceptions of tobacco use among university students in seven European countries: Baseline findings of the 'Social Norms Intervention for the prevention of Polydrug usE' study.

Research conducted in North America suggests that students tend to overestimate tobacco use among their peers. This perceived norm may impact personal tobacco use. It remains unclear how these perceptions influence tobacco use among European students. The two aims were to investigate possible self-other discrepancies regarding personal use and attitudes towards use and to evaluate if perceptions of peer use and peer approval of use are associated with personal use and approval of tobacco use

Personality Dimensions Associated with Food Addiction in a Sample of Pre-operative Bariatric Surgery Patients from Turkey

Food addiction (FA) has been discussed as a potential contributing factor to the multifactorial aetiology of obesity, and an increasing number of studies have been conducted in recent years to understand this construct. Our aim was to determine the prevalence of FA in a Turkish group of pre-operative bariatric surgery patients and examine the relationship between body mass index, FA and personality traits. In this cross-sectional study, adult pre-operative bariatric surgery patients (n = 140) were evaluated for the presence of FA and related clinical factors. FA and personality traits were assessed using the Turkish versions of the Yale Food Addiction Scale (YFAS) and Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI). 47.1% of the sample was found to show signs of food addiction, as assessed by the YFAS. The mean FA symptom count of the whole sample was 3.92 +/- 1.71 out of 7. We found that participants with FA had significantly higher TCI harm avoidance scores and self-transcendence total scores than those without FA (p = 0.04, p = 0.03; respectively), whereas their self-directedness scores and resourcefulness sub-scale scores were significantly lower (p = 0.03, p < 0.01; respectively). In conclusion, lower self-directedness and higher harm avoidance are the major personality traits associated with FA in pre-operative bariatric surgery patients

Personal and perceived peer use and attitudes towards use of non-prescribed prescription sedatives and sleeping pills among university students in seven European countries

Introduction The use of non-prescribed prescription sedatives and sleeping pills (NPPSSP) among university students has been described as an important public health issue. However, the impact of perceived social norms on students' use and attitudes towards use of NPPSSP is still unclear. Our aim was to investigate whether perceptions of peer use and approval of use are associated with students' personal use and approval of NPPSSP use. Methods: Cross-sectional data from the Social Norms Intervention for the prevention of Polydrug Use (SNIPE) project containing 4482 university students from seven European countries were analyzed to investigate self other discrepancies regarding personal use and attitudes towards NPPSSP use. Associations between personal and perceived peer use and between personal and perceived approval of use were examined using multivariable logistic regression. Results: The majority (51.0%) of students perceived their peers' NPPSSP use to be higher than their personal use. 92.6% of students perceived their peers' approval of NPPSSP use to be identical or higher than their personal approval. Students perceiving that the majority of peers had used NPPSSP at least once displayed higher odds for personal lifetime use (OR: 1.95, 95% CI: 1.49-2.55). Perceived peer approval of NPPSSP use was associated with higher odds for personal approval (OR: 5.49, 95% CI: 4.63-6.51). Conclusions: Among European university students, perceiving NPPSSP use and approval of use to be the norm was positively associated with students' personal NPPSSP use and approval of use, respectively. Interventions addressing perceived social norms may prevent or reduce NPPSSP use among university students

Opinions on smoking and smoking cessation: A qualitative research [Sigara ve sigara bi{dotless}rakmaya i̇lişkin görüşler: Kalitatif bir araşti{dotless}rma]

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this research is to determine the views on cigarettes, cessation of smoking for smokers and nonsmokers. MATERIAL AND METHODS: This research is the focus group investigation with 33 persons participating in Balçova's Heart Project (BAK). RESULTS: The smokers have described smoking mostly as a friend but nonsmokers have described smoking as illness, unsoundness and associated with death. The smokers have indicated that the causes of cigarette smoking are a way of coping in difficulty and being accepted as friends. All of them have said that the basic factor for cessation of smoking is self-control. Smokers have signified that service for cessation of smoking should be free, continuous and applied by experts. Informational meetings should have explanations of methods of cessation of smoking, affectivity in smoking cessation process and health differences after cessation smoking. CONCLUSION: Perceptions of cigarette smokers and nonsmokers are different. Services related to cessation of smoking should be free, continuous and given by experts. © 2014 by Turkish Thoracic Society