Evaluation of death anxiety and effecting factors in a Turkish sample

Previous research indicates that people with higher levels of self-actualization have lower death anxiety and that negative emotional states are related to death anxiety. The aim of this study is to investigate the relationship between death anxiety and self-actualization, depression, and trait anxiety. A Turkish sample of 116 undergraduates and adults completed Templer’s Death Anxiety Scale, Personal Orientation Inventory, Beck Depression Inventory, and State-Trait Anxiety Inventory’s Trait Anxiety Form. Hierarchical regression analysis showed that the only significant predictors of death anxiety were trait anxiety and gender. The correlation between death anxiety and self - actualization was found to be negative and statistically significant (p < .001). Women had significantly higher death anxiety compared to men; whereas death anxiety mean scores did not show significant differences by age group and the belief in afterlife. In conclusion, this study supports the assumptions of the existential school regarding the association between death anxiety and self-actualization

Relationship between social problem-solving skills of children attending private preschool education institutions and their mothers’ level of empathy and emotion regulation strategies

Bu çalışmanın temel amacı, özel okul öncesi eğitim kurumlarına devam eden çocukların sosyal problem çözme becerileri ile annelerinin empati düzeyi ve duygu düzenleme stratejileri arasındaki ilişkilerin incelenmesidir. Çalışmanın ikincil amacı ise çocukların sosyal problem çözme beceri düzeyinin birtakım sosyodemografik özelliklere göre değişip değişmediğinin araştırılmasıdır. Çalışmaya İzmir ilinin Buca, Bornova, Urla ve Konak ilçelerinde yer alan 8 özel okul öncesi eğitim kurumuna devam eden çocuklar ve onların anneleri katılmıştır. Örneklemde 97 çocuk ve annesi bulunmaktadır. Veri toplama amacıyla sosyodemografik bilgi formu, Wally Sosyal Problem Çözme Testi, Empati Ölçeği ve Duygu Düzenleme Ölçeği kullanılmıştır. Yapılan analizler sonucunda çocukların sosyal problem çözme beceri puanları ile annelerinin kullandıkları duygu düzenleme stratejilerinden “duyguları baskılama” ve “bilişsel yeniden değerlendirme” ve empati puanları arasında anlamlı bir ilişkiye rastlanmamıştır. Analiz sonuçlarına göre sosyal problem çözme beceri puanları çocuğun cinsiyetine, ebeveynlerinin ayrı veya birlikte oluşuna, evde büyük ebeveyn yaşayıp yaşamamasına, okula başlamadan önce bakım verenin kim olduğuna, okul öncesi eğitim kurumlarında geçirilen süreye, teknoloji kullanımına ayrılan günlük süreye, anne ve babanın öğrenim durumuna göre anlamlı düzeyde farklılaşma göstermezken, kardeşin olup olmamasına göre farklılaşma göstermiştir. Kardeşi olan çocukların sosyal problem çözme beceri puanları, kardeşi olmayan çocuklara göre anlamlı düzeyde daha düşük bulunmuştur. Elde edilen veriler literatür ışığında tartışılmıştır.The main objective of this study was to examine the relationship between social problem-solving skills of children attending private preschool education institutions and their mothers’ empathy levels and emotion regulation strategies. The secondary objective of the study was to investigate differences in children’s social problem solving skills according to various socio-demographic characteristics. Children who attended 8 private preschool education institutions located in the Buca, Bornova, Urla, and Konak districts of İzmir and their mothers participated. The sample consisted of 97 children and their mothers. Data were collected using the socio-demographic information form, Wally Social Problem Solving Test, Empathy Quotient, and Emotion Regulation Questionnaire. Social problem solving was not related to mothers’ empathy level and emotion regulation strategies, namely “suppression of emotions” and “cognitive reappraisal”. Social problem solving scores did not significantly differ according to children’s gender, their parents being together or separated, having grandparents residing with the family, who the caregiver was prior to preschool, duration of preschool education, duration of daily use of technology, and parents’ educational level. Social problem solving scores showed significant differences according to whether children had siblings or not. Children with siblings had significantly lower social problem solving scores compared to children with no siblings. The findings were discussed in the light of the literature

Health-related quality of life in multiple sclerosis: Links to mental health, self-esteem, and self-compassion

Objective: To examine the association of health-related quality of life (HRQoL) with mental health, self-esteem, and self-compassion in multiple sclerosis (MS) patients

Efficacy of a school based cognitive behavioral group psychotherapy for anxious children: A pilot study

Çalışmanın amacı yüksek kaygı düzeyine sahip çocuklarda okul temelli bir bilişsel davranışçı grup terapisinin (BDGT) etkililiğini sınamaktır. Bu seçkisiz kontrollü çalışmada, deney (N = 11) ve müdahale almayan kontrol gruplarının (N = 11) 9 haftalık BDGT öncesi ve sonrası Çocukluk Çağı Kaygı Bozuklukları Özbildirim Ölçeği (SCARED), Çocuklar İçin Sürekli Kaygı Envanteri ve Çocuklar İçin Depresyon Ölçeği puanları karşılaştırılmıştır. Mann-Whitney U testiyle grupların ön test puanları arasındaki farklar incelenmiştir. Deney ve kontrol gruplarının ön test ve son test puanları ise Wilcoxon İşaretli Diziler testi ile karşılaştırılmıştır. Kontrol grubunun aksine, deney grubunun sürekli kaygı, ayrılık kaygısı ve sosyal kaygı puanları müdahale sonrasında anlamlı farklılık göstermiştir. Bu ölçümlere dair etki büyüklükleri de yüksek bulunmuştur. Panik bozukluk/anlamlı somatik yakınmalar, yaygın kaygı bozukluğu, okul korkusu, SCARED toplam puanı ve depresyon açısından iki grupta da ön test-son test sonuçları arasında anlamlı fark bulunmamıştır. Çalışma, uygulanan okul temelli BDGT’nin çocuklarda kaygı belirtilerini azaltmada etkili olduğuna dair birtakım kanıtlar sunmaktadır.This study aimed to test the efficacy of a school based cognitive behavioral group psychotherapy (CBGP) in children with elevated anxiety. This randomized controlled study compared pre-test and post-test Screen for Child Anxiety Related Emotional Disorders (SCARED), State-Trait Anxiety Inventory for Children and Depression Scale for Children scores of the experiment (N = 11) and control groups (N = 11) following a 9-session CBGP. Pre-test scores were compared using MannWhitney U test. Differences between pre-test and post-test scores were examined using Wilcoxon Signed Rank Test. There were significant differences in trait, separation, and social anxiety post-test scores in the experiment but not in the control group. Effect sizes of these measures were also high. In both groups, there were no significant differences between panic disorder, generalized anxiety disorder, school phobia, SCARED total, and depression pre-test and post-test scores. This study provided some evidence on the efficacy of the school-based CBGP

Efficiency calibration of a coaxial HPGe detector-Marinelli beaker geometry using an 152Eu source prepared in epoxy matrix and its validation by efficiency transfer method

In this study, an in-house 152Eu calibration source was produced from a custom epoxy matrix with a density of ρ = 1.14 g cm−3, which is chemically stable and durable form after its solidification. The homogeneity of 152Eu in matrix was obtained better than 98%. For a Marinelli beaker geometry, an efficiency calibration procedure was applied to a n-type, coaxial, 78.5% relative efficient HPGe detector in the energy range of 121.7–1408.0 keV by using in-house 152Eu calibration source. Then the measured efficiencies for Marinelli geometry were compared with the results calculated by MEFFTRAN and ANGLE softwares for the validation. Although MEFFTRAN and ANGLE have two different efficiency transfer algorithms to calculate the efficiencies, they usually need to use a reliable and accurate reference efficiency values as input data.Hence, reference efficiency values were obtained experimentally from a multinuclide standard source for the same detector- Marinelli geometry. In the present source characterization, the corrections required for self-absorption and true coincidence summing effects for 152Eu gamma-rays were also obtained for a such close counting geometry condition. The experimental results confirmed the validity of efficiency calculations obtained by MEFFTRAN and ANGLE softwares that are calculation tools. Keywords: Gamma-ray spectrometry, Marinelli geometry, Epoxy, 152Eu, In-house source preparation, Efficiency transfer, MEFFTRAN, ANGL

Investigation of thermal neutron detection capability of a CdZnTe detector in a mixed gamma-neutron radiation field

The aim of this study was to investigate the thermal neutron measurement capability of a CdZnTe detector irradiated in a mixed gamma-neutron radiation field. A CdZnTe detector was irradiated in one of the irradiation tubes of a 241Am-Be source unit to determine the sensitivity factors of the detector in terms of peak count rate (counts per second [cps]) per neutron flux (in square centimeters per second) [cps/neutron·cm−2·s−1]. The CdZnTe detector was covered in a 1-mm-thick cadmium (Cd) cylindrical box to completely absorb incoming thermal neutrons via 113Cd(n,γ) capture reactions. To achieve, this Cd-covered CdZnTe detector was placed in a well-thermalized neutron field (f-ratio = 50.9 ± 1.3) in the irradiation tube of the 241Am-Be neutron source. The gamma-ray spectra were acquired, and the most intense gamma-ray peak at 558 keV (0.74 γ/n) was evaluated to estimate the thermal neutron flux. The epithermal component was also estimated from the bare CdZnTe detector irradiation because the epithermal neutron cutoff energy is about 0.55 eV at the 1-mm-thick Cd filter. A high-density polyethylene moderating cylinder box can also be fitted into the Cd filter box to enhance thermal sensitivity because of moderation of the epithermal neutron component. Neutron detection sensitivity was determined from the measured count rates from the 558 keV photopeak, using the measured neutron fluxes at different irradiation positions. The results indicate that the CdZnTe detector can serve as a neutron detector in mixed gamma-neutron radiation fields, such as reactors, neutron generators, linear accelerators, and isotopic neutron sources. New thermal neutron filters, such as Gd and Tb foils, can be tested instead of the Cd filter due to its serious gamma-shielding effect