Relationship between obsessive beliefs and symptoms in patients with obsessive compulsive disorder

Introduction: Misinterpretation of intrusive thoughts because of obsessive beliefs has been thought to be important in the development of obsessive compulsive symptoms. In current study, (I) the difference between OCD patients and healthy controls in regard of obsessive beliefs and (II) the relation of obsesive beliefs with the prevelance and severity of obsessive compulsive symptoms was investigated. Methods: The current study included 47 OCD patients and 44 healthy controls who have same properties with regard to age, sex and duration of education. All subjects were applied to Obsessive Beliefs Scale, Maudsley Obsessive Compulsive Scale, Hamilton Depression Rating Scale and Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale. OCD patients were applied to Yale Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale as well as the other scales. Results: In analyses by controlling depression and anxiety scores, OCD patients had significantly higher scores than controls, with regard to all subscales of Obsessive Beliefs Scale. Also, prevalence of obsessive compulsive symptoms other than cleaning were correlated with obsessive beliefs about “responsibility and threat estimation” and “perfectionism and need for certainty”. Hovewer, there was no correlation in between severity of obsessive compulsive symptoms and subscale scores of Obsessive Beliefs Scale. Conclusion: Excluding the effects of depression and anxiety, generally the results suggests that obsessive beliefs have an important role for development of obsessive compulsive symptoms. Future studies of seperated OCD subgroup with regard to obsessive compulsive symptoms will be helpful in determinig the difference among these subgroups in regard of obsessive beliefs. © 2015 by Turkish Association of Neuropsychiatry

Identifying Gifted Preschoolers in Turkey: The Reliability and Validity of the Turkish-Translated Version of the GRS-Preschool/Kindergarten Form

The reliability and validity of the Turkish-translated version of the Gifted Rating Scales (GRS) were tested on 30 preschool teachers who provided ratings for a total of 390 preschoolers aged ranging from 4 years, 0 months to 6 years, 11 months. Results indicated that the reliability and validity of all five of the GRS-P subscales were high. Confirmatory factor analysis provided support for the five-factor model, corroborating other validation studies. Results found a significant difference in gender for artistic talent and motivation, but otherwise no effect for gender. There was no significant difference across age groups. The present study provides preliminary support for a Turkish-translated version of the GRS-P. Implications for the rating scale’s use as a viable screening instrument in Turkey to assist in early, pre-school gifted identification were discussed

Empathising and systematising in children with and without autism spectrum disorder

It is known that children with autism are insufficient in building empathy. A part of the difficulties in social interaction may originate from the lack of empathy. This research consists of two studies. First study is adaptation of the “Child Empathy Systemizing Quotient” (EQ-SQ) to Turkish culture which is prepared considering the behaviour characteristics of children in the Autism Spectrum Conditions (ASC) group, and realizing its validity and reliability. This research is conducted with 760 children with typical development processes, aged 9 – 16. The findings show that the Turkish EQ-SQ is a valid and reliable tool. The second study is conducted with 112 children, 32 of them having ASC and 80 not. Through this quotient, the empathy and systematizing abilities of children with ASC are compared with their peers who demonstrate typical development processes. The EQ-SQ levels of the participants are evaluated with their mothers and their demographical values are taken from the mothers. In line with the findings in the literature, the empathy skills of children diagnosed with ASC are significantly lower than children with typical development processes. Among the children with typical development processes, females’ empathy skills are shown to be significantly higher than males.

Determining professionalism in Turkish students nurses

Characteristics of the nursing profession include educational standards, professional organizations, commitment, autonomy, continuing education, body of knowledge and competencies, social value, and a code of ethics. This study was carried out with the aim of determining the professional attitudes of nursing students in Turkey. It was a descriptive study. This study was conducted in 25 nursing schools that provide graduate level nursing education in Turkey. The sample of the study included 1412 final year nursing students who were selected by random sampling from nursing schools offering education at bachelor level. Data was collected using a questionnaire, which included demographic characteristics of students and an Inventory to Measure Professional Attitudes in Student Nurses (IPASN). The mean score of IPASN was 4.1 ± 0.5 and the areas the highest mean scores were for autonomy, competence and continuous education whilst lowest ones were for  cooperation, contribution to scientific knowledge, and participating in professional organizations. In conclusion, the overall mean scores of professional attitudes for nursing students were found to be satisfying and some recommendations were made to improve subgroups scores

Çocuklarla Felsefe Öğretim Programı’nın Okul Öncesi Dönemdeki Çocukların Eleştirel Düşünme Becerileri Üzerindeki Etkililiği

The construct that came into our lives with the term ‘philosophy for children’ (P4C) in 1970s is a method of developing critical thinking in children through philosophical dialogue created by the American philosopher Matthew Lipman. This approach is improved in cooperation with the enrichment of a group’s point of view. The approach of philosophy for children is also known as ‘philosophy with children’ (PwC) promoted by different philosophers who have worked in this field in addition to Lipman’s studies. The purpose of this study is to understand the effectiveness of philosophy with children curriculum on critical thinking. With this purpose, the following questions were asked: “What are the effects of the ‘philosophy with children’ curriculum on development of children’s critical thinking skills?”, “Does the effectiveness of the ‘philosophy with children’ curriculum vary based on the type of school they attend?”, “What are the opinions of the children who participated in the ‘philosophy with children’ curriculum regarding this program?” The study used a quasi-experimental design without a control group. The pre-test and post-test data of the groups were collected using the “Scale of Critical Thinking through Philosophical Inquiry” developed for pre-school children. Additionally, in order to achieve social validity for the research, semi-structured interviews were conducted with the study group and the 3 teachers who acted as observers along the study. According to the findings, it was seen that the ‘philosophy with children’ curriculum was effective on critical thinking skills. According to the pre-test data, there was no significant difference between the critical thinking scores of the children at state school and the children at private school before the start of the program. After the implemented program, in the light of the post-test outcomes, the critical thinking scores of both groups were observed to increase. In both experimental groups, the overall scores and sub-scale scores of critical thinking were found “medium” in the pre-test, and “high” in the post-test. The analysis on the opinions of the students and the teachers on the program revealed that they generally had positive impressions.1970li yıllarda çocuklar için felsefe ‘philosophy for children (P4C)’ terimi ile hayatımıza giren bu yaklaşım Amerikan felsefeci Matthew Lipman tarafından önerilen, felsefi diyalog yoluyla çocuklarda eleştirel düşünmenin geliştirilmesi yöntemidir. Çocuklar için felsefe yaklaşımı Lipman’ın çalışmalarına ek olarak faklı felsefecilerin de bu alanda çalışması ile günümüzde çocuklarla felsefe ‘philosophy for children (PhwC)’ olarak da bilinmektedir. Bu araştırmanın amacı çocuklarla felsefe öğretim programının eleştirel düşünme üzerindeki etkililiğini ortaya çıkarmaktır. Bu amaçla aşağıdaki sorulara cevap aranmıştır: “‘Çocuklarla Felsefe’ eğitim programının çocukların eleştirel düşünme becerilerinin gelişimi üzerindeki etkileri nasıldır?”, “‘Çocuklarla Felsefe’ öğretim programının etkililiği çocukların devam ettiği okul türüne göre farklılık göstermekte midir?”, “‘Çocuklarla Felsefe’ öğretim programına katılan çocukların bu programa ilişkin görüşleri nelerdir?”. Çalışmada kontrol grupsuz yarı deneysel desen kullanılmıştır. Grupların ön test ve son test verileri, araştırma kapsamında okul öncesi dönemdeki çocuklar için geliştirilen “Felsefi Sorgulama Yoluyla Eleştirel Düşünmenin Değerlendirilmesi Ölçeği” kullanılarak toplanmıştır. Buna ek olarak, çalışmanın sosyal geçerliğini sağlamak amacıyla çalışma grubu ve çalışma süresince gözlemci olarak yer alan 3 öğretmenle yarı yapılanmış görüşme yapılmıştır. Bulgulara göre ‘çocuklarla felsefe’ öğretim programının eleştirel düşünme becerileri üzerine etkili olduğu görülmüştür. Ön test verilerine göre, programın uygulanmasından önce özel ve devlet okuluna devam eden çocukların eleştirel düşünme becerileri puanları arasında anlamlı farklılık bulunamamıştır. Uygulanan program sonrasında son test puanları ışığında her iki grubun da eleştirel düşünme becerileri puanlarının yükseldiği görülmüştür.  Her iki deney grubunda eleştirel düşünme becerisi puanlarının ölçeğin tamamında ve alt ölçeklerde ön testte “orta” düzey iken son testte “yüksek” düzey olduğu görülmüştür. Öğrenci ve öğretmenlerin çalışmaya yönelik görüşleri incelendiğinde genel olarak olumlu bir izlenime sahip oldukları görülmüştür

Depressive symptomatology among university students in Denizli, Turkey: Prevalence and sociodemographic correlates

Aim: To determine overall and subgroup prevalence of depressive symptomatology among university students in Denizli, Turkey during the 1999-2000 academic year, and to investigate whether sociodemographic factors were associated with depressive symptoms in university students. Methods: A stratified probability sample of 504 Turkish university students (296 male, 208 female) was used in a cross-sectional study. Data were obtained by self-administered questionnaire, including questions on sociodemographic characteristics and problem areas. The revised Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) was used to determine depressive symptoms of the participants. BDI scores 17 or higher were categorized as depressive for logistic regression analysis. Student t-test and linear regression were used for continuous data analysis. Results: Out of all participants, 26.2% had a BDI score 17 or higher. The prevalence of depressive symptoms increased to 32.1% among older students, 34.7% among students with low socioeconomic status, 31.2% among seniors, and 62.9% among students with poor school performance. The odds ratio of depressive symptoms was 1.84 (95% confidence interval [CI], 1.03-3.28) in students with low socioeconomic status and 7.34 (95% CI, 3.36-16.1) in students with poor school performance in the multivariate logistic model. The participants identified several problem areas: lack of social activities and shortage of facilities on the campus (69.0%), poor quality of the educational system (54.8%), economic problems (49.3%), disappointment with the university (43.2%), and friendship problems (25.9%). Conclusions: Considering the high frequency of depressive symptoms among Turkish university students, a student counseling service offering mental health assistance is necessary. This service should especially find the way to reach out to poor students and students with poor school performance

Türkiye’de ulusal akne haftasında yapılan bilgilendirme seminerlerinin katılımcıların akne hakkındaki bilgi düzeylerine etkisi

Background and Design: To investigate the contribution of informative presentations about acne vulgaris and questionnaires administered before and after informative meetings on patients' awareness and consciousness. Materials and Methods: Participants were asked to fill out a 20-question survey before and after informative seminars in hospitals and secondary and high schools as part of National Acne Week. The level of statistical significance was set as p <= 0.05. Results: A total of 466 participants completed the survey before and after the seminar, and the mean age of the participants was 17.4 +/- 6.9. Before the seminar, 31.1% of participants thought that acne is originated from the liver, whereas this figure decreased to 16.7% after the seminar. In all, 47.6% of participants consulted doctors and 23.9% consulted social media to seek information about acne; however, after receiving training, 77% preferred to consult a doctor. Of the participants, 51.1% were expecting to see the results of acne treatment in 1 or 2 weeks, whereas 83.3% stated that the effects would be seen in 2 or 3 months after the seminar. When the participants' educational background was grouped as "secondary-high school-other," a statistically significant difference was obtained (p<0.05). Conclusion: Our study features both patients' misconceptions and their incorrect attitudes about acne, and their level of knowledge improved significantly as a result of educational seminars. The relative benefit derived from educational seminars was positively related to the participants' highest level of education.Amaç: Akne vulgaris ile ilgili bilgilendirme toplantısı öncesi ve sonrasında uygulanan anket formları ile bilgilendirici sunumların akne hakkındaki farkındalık ve bilinç düzeylerine katkısını incelemek amaçlanmaktadır. Gereç ve Yöntem: Ulusal Akne Haftası kapsamında hastane, ortaokul ve lise dengi okullarda verilen bilinçlendirme eğitimi öncesi ve sonrasında katılımcılardan 20 soruluk bir anket doldurmaları istendi. İstatistiksel anlamlılık düzeyi p≤0,05 olarak kabul edildi. Bulgular: Eğitim öncesi ve sonrasında anket formunu dolduran 466 kişinin yaş ortalaması 17,4±6,9 idi. Eğitim öncesi katılımcıların %31,1’i aknenin karaciğer kaynaklı olduğunu düşünürken, eğitim sonrası bu oran %16,7’ye indi. Akne hakkında bilgi almak için eğitim öncesi katılımcıların %47,6’sı doktora, %23,9’u sosyal medyaya başvururken, eğitim sonrası %77’si doktora başvurmayı tercih edeceğini belirtti. Katılımcıların %51,1’i akne tedavisinin 1-2 hafta içerisinde etkisini göstereceğini beklerken, eğitim sonrası %83,3’ü 2-3 ay kullandıktan sonra yanıt alınabileceğini belirtti. Kişilerin öğrenim durumları, “ortaokul-lise-diğer” olarak gruplandırıldığında, eğitim sonrası gruplar arasında öğrenim durumlarına göre istatistiksel olarak anlamlı bir farklılık saptandı (p=0,005). Sonuç: Çalışmamız bireylerin hem akne hakkındaki yanlış bilgi ve tutumlarını ön plana çıkarmakta, hem de hekimlerin vereceği eğitim seminerleri ve bilgilendirme toplantıları ile bilgi düzeylerinde kayda değer bir gelişme sağlanacağını göstermektedir

COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy and Its relationship with illness risk perceptions, affect, worry, and public trust: An online serial cross-sectional survey from Turkey

Objective: A better understanding of public attitudes towards vaccination and recognition of associated factors with vaccine hesitancy or refusal is important regarding the control of the pandemic. Our aim was to analyze the public's attitudes toward COVID-19 vaccines and to identify factors affecting them. Materials and Methods: Data were drawn from the Turkish COVID-19 Snapshot Monitoring, between July-December 2020, a serial online cross-sectional survey. The sample comprised 3888 adult respondents. Attitudes to vaccines and trust were investigated in 3 periods corresponding to the timeline of pandemic-related events in Turkey. Results: In the third period of our study, in parallel with the increase in the spread of COVID-19, vaccine hesitancy/refusal increased significantly from 43.9% to 58.9% (P < .001). The significant predictors of vaccine refusal were female gender, being elder, and conspiracy thinking. Having a chronic illness, worrying more about loved ones and the health system being overloaded were significant predictors of vaccine willingness. Less compliance with preventive measures, less knowledge of prevention, reduced risk perception, and higher perception of media hype were COVID-19 variables that correlated with vaccine refusal. Trust in the Ministry of Health and medical professional organizations (e.g., Turkish Medical Association) was the lowest in the third period and vaccine refusal was significantly related to the decreased trust (P < .001, P = .002). Conclusion: Most respondents (approximately 60%) refused or hesitated to get a COVID-19 vaccine, though acceptability should be monitored when a vaccine becomes available. Health authorities should consider public trust, risk perception, and behavioral factors to improve COVID-19 vaccine acceptability

Behaviors and pandemic-related knowledge, perceptions, worry content, and public trust in a Turkish sample

Background: This study aimed to explore the effect of knowledge, COVID-19-related perceptions, and public trust on protective behaviors in Turkish people. Methods: Data were collected from an online survey (Turkish COVID-19 Snapshot Monitoring) conducted between July 2020 and January 2021. The recommended protective behaviors (hand cleaning, wearing a face mask, and physical distancing) to prevent COVID-19 were examined. The impacts of the following variables on protective behaviors were investigated using logistic regression analysis: knowledge, cognitive and affective risk perception, pandemic-related worry content, public trust, conspiracy thinking, and COVID-19 vaccine willingness. Results: Out of a total of 4210 adult respondents, 13.8% reported nonadherence to protection behavior, and 86.2% reported full adherence. Males and young (aged 18–30 years) people tend to show less adherence. Perceived self-efficacy, susceptibility, and correct knowledge were positively related to more adherence to protective behavior. Perceptual and emotional factors explaining protective behavior were perceived proximity, stress level, and worrying about the relatives who depended on them. Trust in health professionals and vaccine willingness were positive predictors, while conspiracy thinking and acquiring less information (<2, daily) were negative predictors. Unexpectedly, trust in the Ministry of Health showed a weak but negative association with protection behavior. Conclusions: Perceived stress, altruistic worries, and public trust seem to shape protection behaviors in addition to individuals’ knowledge and cognitive risk perception in respondents. Males and young people may have a greater risk for nonadherence. Reliable, transparent, and culture-specific health communication that considers these issues is required

Adherence to systemic therapy in patients with psoriasis during the COVID-19 pandemic: A multicenter study

Background: Adherence to treatment is important in chronic dermatological diseases. There are limited data regarding the adherence to treatment in patients with psoriasis during the COVID-19 pandemic. Aims: We aimed to determine the rates of adherence to systemic treatments in patients with psoriasis and to identify the causes of non-adherence during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional multicenter study from May 2021 to August 2021. A questionnaire including items regarding sociodemographic characteristics of the patients, disease-related characteristics, and treatment-related characteristics were filled out by the physicians. The Psoriasis Area Severity Index (PASI), Hospital Anxiety, and Depression Scale, and the Dermatology Life Quality Index were calculated. The rate of adherence and non-adherence to treatment and reasons for non-adherence to treatment were examined. Results: A total of 342 patients with psoriasis were included (182 male/160 female) in the study. The mean age of the patients was 45.9 ± 14.2 years. The average duration of psoriasis was 192 ± 134.7 months. While the rate of adherence to treatment was 57.6%, the rate of non-adherence to treatment was 42.4%. There were no significant differences with respect to adherence to treatment in comparison with oral and injection-therapy groups. The most frequent reasons for non-adherence to treatment were inability to go to the hospital (19.2%), concern about the COVID-19 infection (16.3%), discontinuation of the treatment by the doctor (13.7%), inability to reach the doctor (7.3%), and inability to have access to the medication (7.3%). Conclusion: Adherence to oral and injection therapies was fairly high among our patients with psoriasis during the COVID-19 pandemic. Psoriasis severity and duration of medication use had a negative impact on adherence to treatment