Towards better child protection programmes:a qualitative evaluation of Youth Disseminating Life Skills Programme

The present study aimed to assess the acceptability of a 12-week training programme, Youth Disseminating Life Skills Programme whose aims were to help university students acquire knowledge on and to increase sensitivity towards child abuse and neglect by adopting a qualitative methodology. The sample consisted of 13 university students who took part in the Youth Disseminating Life Skills Programme (10 female, 3 male: mean age 22 years; age range: 20–31). With the help of a general interview guide, the focus group meetings were held. Established conventions guided the analysis. Participants recounted feelings about and benefits of the Programme, and ways to improve the Programme. Feelings about the Programme included both positive (e.g. feeling hopeful) and negative feelings (e.g. feeling traumatised). Participants recounted a variety of benefits of the Programme (e.g. correcting some myths about child abuse). Participants proposed some ways whereby the Programmecouldbeimproved.Some findingscouldbeinterpretedin terms of existing literature/theory. Other findings extended the literature and could be viewed as targets for future child protection programmes

Symptoms of anxiety and depression during the COVID-19 pandemic in six European countries and Australia - Differences by prior mental disorders and migration status

Background: Little is known about changes of mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic in potentially disadvantaged groups. We investigated changes in anxiety and depression symptoms during the first year of the pandemic in six European countries and Australia by prior mental disorders and migration status. Methods: Overall, 4674 adults answered a web-based survey in May-June 2020 and were followed by three repeated surveys up to February 2021. Information on psychosocial, financial and demographic, living conditions, prior mental disorders, depression and anxiety symptoms during the pandemic and migration status was collected. Weighted general estimation equations modelling was used to investigate the association between prior mental disorders, migration status, and symptoms over time. Results: Most participants were <40 years old (48%), women (78%) and highly educated (62%). The baseline prevalence of depressive and anxiety symptoms ranged between 19%-45% and 13%-35%, respectively. In most countries, prevalence rates remained unchanged throughout the pandemic and were higher among people with prior mental disorders than without even after adjustment for several factors. We observed interactions between previous mental disorders and symptoms of anxiety or depression over time in two countries. No difference by migration status was noted. Limitations: Convenience sampling limits generalizability. Self-assessed symptoms of depression and anxiety might involve some misclassification. Conclusions: Depression and anxiety symptoms were worse among individuals with prior mental disorders than without, but there was no clear trend of worsening mental health in the observed groups during the observed period

Impairments in psychological functioning in refugees and asylum seekers

© 2024 The Author(s). This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY), https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Refugees are at increased risk for developing psychological impairments due to stressors in the pre-, peri- and post-migration periods. There is limited knowledge on how everyday functioning is affected by migration experience. In a secondary analysis of a study in a sample of refugees and asylum seekers, it was examined how aspects of psychological functioning were differentially affected. 1,101 eligible refugees and asylum seekers in Europe and Türkiye were included in a cross-sectional analysis. Gender, age, education, number of relatives and children living nearby, as well as indicators for depressive and posttraumatic symptoms, quality of life, psychological well-being and functioning, and lifetime potentially traumatic events were assessed. Correlations and multiple regression models with World Health Organization Disability Assessment Schedule 2.0 (WHODAS 2.0) 12-item version’s total and six subdomains’ scores (‘mobility’, ‘life activities’, ‘cognition’, ‘participation’, ‘self-care’, ‘getting along’) as dependent variables were calculated. Tests for multicollinearity and Bonferroni correction were applied. Participants reported highest levels of impairment in ‘mobility’ and ‘participation’, followed by ‘life activities’ and ‘cognition’. Depression and posttraumatic symptoms were independently associated with overall psychological functioning and all subdomains. History of violence and abuse seemed to predict higher impairment in ‘participation’, while past events of being close to death were associated with fewer issues with ‘self-care’. Impairment in psychological functioning in asylum seekers and refugees was related to current psychological symptoms. Mobility and participation issues may explain difficulties arising after resettlement in integration and exchange with host communities in new contexts.Peer reviewe

Depressive symptoms and smoking among young Turkish and Moroccan ethnic minority groups in the Netherlands: a cross-sectional study

ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND: Although evidence indicates a strong association between depressive symptoms and smoking among host and migrant adults, less is known about this relationship among young ethnic minority groups in Europe. This paper aims to assess the relationship between depressive symptoms and smoking among young Turkish and Moroccan migrants in the Netherlands. METHODS: Multiple logistic regression analyses was used to analyze cross-sectional data from a sample of 364 Turkish and Moroccan migrants aged 15 to 24 years. The Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D) was used to measure the presence of clinically significant depressive symptoms. Smoking behavior was measured by a number of questions. RESULTS: Of the respondents, 22% were smokers and 33% had depressive symptoms. The prevalence of depressive symptoms was significantly higher in smokers (42.9%) than in nonsmokers (29.5%). Respondents with depressive symptoms had increased odds of smoking even after adjusting for socioeconomic and cultural factors (OR = 2.68, 95% CI = 1.45-4.97). CONCLUSIONS: Depressive symptoms were significantly associated with smoking behavior in young Turkish and Moroccan migrants. In addition to other acknowledged factors, depressive symptoms should also be considered in relation to the smoking behavior of this group. Intervention programs for smoking behavior should take depressive symptoms into account for young Turkish and Moroccan migrant

Cost-effectiveness of the Self-Help Plus Intervention for Adult Syrian Refugees Hosted in Turkey

Importance: The cost-effectiveness of the Self-Help Plus (SH+) program, a group-based, guided, self-help psychological intervention developed by the World Health Organization for people affected by adversity, is unclear.Objective: To investigate the cost-utility of providing the SH+ intervention combined with enhanced usual care vs enhanced usual care alone for Syrian refugees or asylum seekers hosted in Turkey.Design, setting, and participants: This economic evaluation was performed as a prespecified part of an assessor-blinded randomized clinical trial conducted between October 1, 2018, and November 30, 2019, with 6-month follow-up. A total of 627 adults with psychological distress but no diagnosed psychiatric disorder were randomly assigned to the intervention group or the enhanced usual care group.Interventions: The SH+ program was a 5-session (2 hours each), group-based, stress management course in which participants learned self-help skills for managing stress by listening to audio sessions. The SH+ sessions were facilitated by briefly trained, nonspecialist individuals, and an illustrated book was provided to group members. Th intervention group received the SH+ intervention plus enhanced usual care; the control group received only enhanced usual care from the local health care system. Enhanced usual care included access to free health care services provided by primary and secondary institutions plus details on nongovernmental organizations and freely available mental health services, social services, and community networks for people under temporary protection of Turkey and refugees.Main outcomes and measures: The primary outcome measure was incremental cost per quality-adjusted life-year (QALY) gained from the perspective of the Turkish health care system. An intention-to-treat analysis was used including all participants who were randomized and for whom baseline data on costs and QALYs were available. Data were analyzed September 30, 2020, to July 30, 2021.Results: Of 627 participants (mean [SD] age, 31.3 [9.0] years; 393 [62.9%] women), 313 were included in the analysis for the SH+ group and 314 in the analysis for the enhanced usual care group. An incremental cost-utility ratio estimate of T£6068 ($1147) per QALY gained was found when the SH+ intervention was provided to groups of 10 Syrian refugees. At a willingness to pay per QALY gained of T£14 831 ($2802), the SH+ intervention had a 97.5% chance of being cost-effective compared with enhanced usual care alone.Conclusions and relevance: This economic evaluation suggests that implementation of the SH+ intervention compared with enhanced usual care alone for adult Syrian refugees or asylum seekers hosted in Turkey is cost-effective from the perspective of the Turkish health care system when both international and country-specific willingness-to-pay thresholds were applied.</p

Post-traumatic growth among marmara earthquake survivors involved in disaster preparedness as volunteers

Acartürk, Ceren (Dogus Author)Although the negative mental health effects of traumatic experiences have been extensively examined, research has also demonstrated that people can experience a range of positive outcomes as a result of exposure to various kinds of traumatic life events. This study examined the impact of being a volunteer in a nongovernmental disaster preparedness organization, together with pre-disaster, within disaster and post-disaster variables, on posttraumatic growth among the survivors of the 1999 Marmara earthquake. The sample consisted of 200 survivors of the 1999 Marmara earthquake, 100 of whom are volunteers of the Kocaeli Neighborhood Disaster Volunteers Organization (NDV) and a control group of 100 survivors who are not volunteers, from two provinces with varying degrees of impact from the quake. Data were collected 4.5 years after the Marmara earthquake. The questionnaire used for data collection had items on socio-demographic variables, severity of subject's earthquake experiences, perceived social support and three scales assessing psychological distress, coping strategies, and stress related growth level. The results showed that, earthquake experience severity can be grouped into perceived severity of impact and perceived life threat, while coping consisted of problem focused, fatalistic, helplessness and escape coping approaches. Possible factors that may be related to growth were examined with regression analyses. The results showed that, using problem solving/optimistic and fatalistic coping, and being a disaster preparedness volunteer are significant predictors of post-traumatic growth. Results also showed that the significance of being a volunteer appeared only after controlling for coping approaches

Social support and resilience among Syrian refugees: The mediating role of self-efficacy

Refugees are exposed to potentially traumatic events before, during, and after the forced displacement. Related to these events, they are at risk of developing mental health problems. From a public-health perspective, it is important to investigate factors fostering resilience among refugee population. This study aimed to explore the mediation role of self-efficacy between social support and resilience among Syrian refugees living in Istanbul, Turkey. A cross-sectional survey of 339 Syrian refugees aged 18 and older was conducted between September 2018 and March 2019 in Istanbul. The Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale (CD-RISC) was used to measure resilience, the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support (MSPSS) assessed social support, and self-efficacy was measured by the General Self-Efficacy Scale (GSE). The simple mediation model analysis showed the mediating effect of self-efficacy on the social support and resilience relationship. Among the demographic factors, males and individuals with higher education levels reported increased resilience. Findings illuminated the importance of self-efficacy in promoting resilience among refugee population. Implications were discussed in a culturally appropriate way to enhance self-efficacy among Syrian refugees

Psychometric properties of the pathological buying screener: Reliability and validity study

Objective: The Pathological Buying Screener (PBS) is a self-report scale used to evaluate compulsive buying behavior. The aim of this study was to assess the validity and reliability of a Turkish version of the PBS in a nonclinical sample. Method: A total of 457 adult participants aged 18-64 years were enrolled in this study. Internal consistency, test-retest reliability and structure, concurrent and criterion-related predictive validity analyses were conducted to ensure reliability and validity for use of the scale with a Turkish population. As part of the validity study, all of the participants were asked to complete a battery of self-report scales: the Compulsive Buying Scale, the Brief Symptom Inventory, the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale, the Barratt Impulsiveness Scale-Short Form, and the PBS. In order to examine the test-retest reliability, 75 participants were asked to complete the questionnaire once again 2 weeks after the first administration. Results: The results of this study revealed that the PBS had good internal consistency and test-retest reliability. The findings supported concurrent and criterion-related predictive validity, and a 2-factor structure, consistent with the original form. Conclusion: The Turkish version of the PBS is a valid and reliable measurement tool that will add to understanding of pathological buying behavior.Publisher's Versio