Development and validation of Videogame Addiction Scale for Children (VASC)

The aim of the present study was to develop a valid and reliable Videogame Addiction Scale for Children (VASC). The data were derived from 780 children who completed the Videogame Addiction Scale (405 girls and 375 boys; 48.1% ranging in age from 9 to 12 years). The sample was randomly split into two different sub-samples (sample 1, n=400; sample 2, n= 380). Sample 1 was used to perform exploratory factor analysis (EFA) to define the factorial structure of VASC. As a result of EFA, a four-factor structure comprising 21 items was obtained and explained 55% of the total variance (the four factors being "self-control," "reward/reinforcement", "problems," and "involvement"). The internal consistency reliability of VASC has found 0.89. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was performed to confirm the factorial structure obtained by EFA in the remaining half of sample (n= 390). The obtained fit indices from the CFA confirmed the structure of the EFA. The 21-item VASC has good psychometric properties that can be used among Turkish schoolchildren populations

Operating a full tungsten actively cooled tokamak: overview of WEST first phase of operation

WEST is an MA class superconducting, actively cooled, full tungsten (W) tokamak, designed to operate in long pulses up to 1000 s. In support of ITER operation and DEMO conceptual activities, key missions of WEST are: (i) qualification of high heat flux plasma-facing components in integrating both technological and physics aspects in relevant heat and particle exhaust conditions, particularly for the tungsten monoblocks foreseen in ITER divertor; (ii) integrated steady-state operation at high confinement, with a focus on power exhaust issues. During the phase 1 of operation (2017–2020), a set of actively cooled ITER-grade plasma facing unit prototypes was integrated into the inertially cooled W coated startup lower divertor. Up to 8.8 MW of RF power has been coupled to the plasma and divertor heat flux of up to 6 MW m−2 were reached. Long pulse operation was started, using the upper actively cooled divertor, with a discharge of about 1 min achieved. This paper gives an overview of the results achieved in phase 1. Perspectives for phase 2, operating with the full capability of the device with the complete ITER-grade actively cooled lower divertor, are also described

The effects of television food advertisement on children's food purchasing requests

PubMedID: 16635172Background: Children's eating habits and their food consumption have direct relations with obesity, diabetes, cancers, hypertension and coronary heart disease. Television advertisements directly affect children's eating habits and their food consumption. This study was conducted in order to examine television advertisements and children's food consumption while watching television and their desire to purchase goods that they see on television advertisements. Methods: In the first stage of the study, content analysis of the television advertisements was conducted. In the second stage of the study, a questionnaire (check list) was developed in order to examine children's food consumption while watching television and their purchasing requests while shopping in the supermarket. It was given to 347 mothers who have children aged between 3 and 8 years. Results: When the results of the study were examined it was found that the time devoted to children's programs was approximately 121 min and the advertisements during this period were approximately 35 min. A total of 344 of the 775 television advertisements shown were related to food. It was also found that most of the food advertisements were about candy/chocolate, chips, milk and milk products such as cheese, yoghurt, and breakfast cereals. The results also revealed that 89.6% of the children either drank or ate something while watching television and the food they consumed most while watching television were fruits, soft drinks, popcorn/nuts, cake, chips and candy/chocolate. The results also revealed that 40.3% of the children asked their parents to purchase the goods that they saw on the television advertisements and that 8.9% of them argued with their parents and/or cried in order for their parents to buy that particular product. It was found that the children tended to request more sweetened products such as candy, ice-cream, biscuit, cake or soft drinks. Conclusion: More than half of the food presented in television advertisements were rich in fat and sugar. Children ask their parents to buy the goods they see on television advertisements both while watching television and while shopping. Television advertisements especially affect young children's unhealthy food consumption

The immediate impacts of preschool attendance on Turkish children’s mathematics achievement

This study was conducted to investigate the immediate impacts of preschool attendance on Turkish children’s mathematics achievement. The participants were 200 children who attended or did not attend preschool. The number and operation task and the geometric shapes sorting task were used as the data collection tools. The children who attended preschool performed significantly better on the number and operation task and the geometric shapes sorting task than the children who did not attend preschool. Indeed, the multivariate regression analysis demonstrated that preschool attendance is the most important predictor of the success of children in number and operation task and the geometric shapes sorting task. © 2014 Taylor & Francis

Barriers to parental involvement in preschool education and problems encountered in process [Okul Öncesi eğitimde aile katılımı engelleri ve süreçte karşılaşılan sorunlar*]

The aim of this study was to examine problems that parents and teachers encountered during which family participation fulfills in preschool education thoroughly, with limited participants by using qualitative data collection tools. The study was conducted with two teachers who worked in an independent kindergarten affiliated to the Directorate of National Education in the province of Çukurova, Adana and the parents of 28 children from the class of these teachers. This study was conducted as a case study of qualitative research designs. Interview and observation were used as data collection tools in the research. Content analysis was used to analyze the data. As a result of the research, it was determined that the participating teachers did not have sufficient knowledge and awareness about the problems they experienced in terms of family participation with parents, family participation barriers, responsibility for family-school communication in terms of family participation and increasing parental involvement. It was determined that parents were willing to communicate with the school and participate in their children's education, but that they had no information about how they could participate, were not adequately supported by the school and the teacher, and had communication problems with the school management and teachers in terms of family involvement. It was determined that both teachers and parents have some barriers in terms of family involvement. © 2019, Hacettepe University. All rights reserved

The development of brand awareness in young children: how do young children recognize brands?

The purpose of the research is to investigate when young children develop brand awareness by means of using some clues. A total of 66 children, aged 3–5, attending a preschool participated in the research. Individual interviews were performed to investigate children's brand awareness. In line with this purpose, the brand logo, brand character and 41 flashcards containing some photos belonging to the product packaging of the brand were presented to the children. The children were instructed to say the name of the brand and the product it belonged to after looking at the photos on the cards. The results of this research showed brand awareness in children as early as 3 years old. Even 3-year-old children remembered both the brand and the product after seeing the brand's logo, packaging and character. The young children, however, had more difficulties in remembering the brand's name, and most of the time, they remembered the product but not the brand's name correctly. While the age of the children was an important predictor of brand awareness, the effect of gender was not significant. There were differences in the variety of brands that were remembered by the female and male children. Brand awareness showed an increase in direct proportion to age. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons Lt