The aim of our study was to determine the power of exhaled air CO (E-CO) levels to predict the severity of nicotine dependency and its effect on predicting the one-year smoking cessation success. It also aimed to detect other factors related to smoking cessation success. The smokers who applied to the ADU hospital family medicine and smoking cessation clinic between October 2018 and March 2019 participated in this prospective cohort study, conducted with an analytical design. A significant correlation was found between the E-CO levels and the Fagerstrom Test for Nicotine Dependence (FTND) score, Heaviness of Smoking index (HSI) score, and the amount of smoking per day. The sensitivity of predicting high nicotine dependency based on the FTND score (≥6) at the 8.5 ppm cut-off point for E-CO level was 70.6%, and the specificity was 67.7%. The sensitivity of predicting high nicotine dependency based on the HSI score (≥4) at the 9.5 ppm cut-off point for E-CO level was 68.0%, and specificity was 71.9%. E-CO measurements can be used to determine the level of dependency. Low initial E-CO levels increase smoking cessation success.
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This study aimed to analyze the portrayals of drugs and drug abuse in Turkish movies within a sociological context. Considering the mutual relationship between cinema and society, the question of whether drugs and drug abuse have been represented in these movies in a problem-based manner constitutes the main problematic of this study, which aims to analyze a variety of drug-related films. Therefore, 54 Turkish movies including the element of drugs have been chosen in a purposive sampling and they have been analyzed by using sociological film analysis as a research technique. Of the 54 movies in the sampling, only 27 depicted drug abuse and only 24 of them portrayed negative outcomes of drug abuse. Findings supporting a positive correlation between the drug abuse portrayals and the periodical popularity of these substances have been achieved. Emphasizing the reasons behind drug abuse and addiction, the neglect in dysfunctional families and the influence of the social environment have been stressed in various movies, whereas the solutions, preventive measures, and social messages displayed in the movies remain at low numbers. The promotion of the realistic representations of drug abuse in cinema in order to raise public awareness has been recommended.
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The aim of the present research is to examine the relationship between university students’ online game addiction and sensation-seeking behavior, and loneliness levels. The study group consists of 342 university students studying at Sakarya and Karabük Universities. Data were collected using the Online Game Addiction Scale, the Brief Sensation-Seeking Scale for Young Adults (BSSS-8), and the UCLA Loneliness Scale. The data were analyzed by Pearson’s correlation coefficient and regression. The results of the research revealed that there is a positive and statistically significant correlation between online gaming addiction and loneliness and sensation seeking. In addition, as a result of the regression analysis, it was determined that sensation seeking predicts online gaming addiction at a higher level than the loneliness variable, and that both variables significantly predict online gaming addiction.
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This study aims to examine the mediating role of the level of alexithymia in the relationship between smartphone addiction and identity functions. The study group included 460 participants who were students attending Anatolian High Schools in four districts of Istanbul, and they were identified by a simple random sampling method. In this study, the Smartphone Addiction Scale-Short Version, the Identity Function Scale, the Toronto Alexithymia Scale, and a personal information form were used. The structural equation model (SEM) and bootstrapping were utilized to test the mediation analysis of the research. In the results of the analysis, it was found that smartphone addiction in high school students negatively predicted identity function (β = −0.37; p < .01), but positively predicted the alexithymia level (β = 0.43; p < .01). In addition, it was found that the alexithymia level of high school students negatively predicted identity function (β = −0.43; p < .01). Finally, it was concluded that the alexithymia level in high school students mediates smartphone addiction to predict identity functions (β = −0.19; p < .01). The model fit values were also found to be within acceptable values (χ2 /df = 2.12, p < .0.1, RMSA = 0.05, SRMR = 0.05, GFI = 0.91, CFI = 0.94, TLI = 0.93).
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In this study, we aimed to examine the technology use behaviors and problematic gaming profiles of childrenand adolescents during the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic lockdown period. We compared the findingswith data collected before the pandemic. The Internet Gaming Disorder Questionnaire (IGDQ) was distributed online to students aged 10 to 18 years. More than half of the participants (54%) spent more time playingdigital games during the pandemic. Compared with the data from May 2018, the time spent playing digitalgames and the total score of the IGDQ were significantly higher in boys than in girls (p<0.001). The percentageof students who spent over 40 hours a week playing digital games was 3.9% in May 2018 compared with 8.7%in June 2020. Before the pandemic, 43.6% of the participants reported that they had spent 8 hours or more perweek on digital gaming, whereas this amount was as high as 68.3% during the pandemic. Male students spentmore time on digital gaming, while female students spent more time on social media and texting. Despite thelist of uncontrolled confounders in this study, children and adolescents are likely to spend more time on digital gaming. The subsequent psychosocial impact may require further attention, especially during lockdownrestrictions.
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Rujittika MUNGMUNPUNTIPANTIP, Viroj WIWANITKIT
Rujittika MUNGMUNPUNTIPANTIP, Viroj WIWANITKIT
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In this study, we aimed to investigate the relationship between psychological flexibility and impulsivity levels with nicotine addiction levels, in university students who are addicted to cigarettes. The population of the study consisted of 546 undergraduate students, including 294 non-smokers and 252 smokers, who were addicted to tobacco according to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders 5th edition (DSM-5) diagnostic criteria and who were studying at the Hamidiye Health Sciences University. The Psychological Flexibility Scale (PFS) and Barratt Impulsivity Scale (BIS) were applied to students who were smokers and non-smokers; and in addition, the Fagerström Nicotine Dependence Test (FNDT) was applied to the smokers. The students with nicotine dependence were compared with the non-addicted group; and values (32.4±8.0 vs. 54.5±11.3; p<0.001), presentability (20.8±6.0 vs. 33.7±6.4; p<0.001), acceptance (13.7±4.1 vs. 26.3±4.1; p<0.001), contextual self (8.6 ± 2.8 vs. 13.2±4.3; p<0.001), disintegration (8.9±2.9 vs. 12.7±4.2; p<0.001) subscale scores, and PFS total score (84.7±15.8 vs. 140.6±21.4; p<0.001) were found to be significantly lower; whereas attention impulsivity (19.5±4.2 vs. 15.5±3.2; p<0.001), motor impulsivity (26.4±5.4 vs.18.3±3.9; p<0.001), and the non-planning (30.4±3.1 vs. 17.0±2.1; p<0.001) subscales scores of BIS and BIS total score (76.3±11.0 vs. 52.5±7.4, p<0.001) were found to be significantly higher. In addition, a significant positive relationship was found between the FNDT scores of the participants in the smoking group and the BIS subscale with total scores (r=0.330, p<0.001; r=0.2.77, p<0.001; r=0.222, p<0.001; r=0.330, p<0.001; respectively). Psychological flexibility and impulsivity have a say in the development or continuation of addiction and are critical in the fight against addiction.
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This study aimed to examine the association of internet addiction with cyber aggression and displaced aggressionamong 513 (173 boys and 338 girls) Pakistani preteens and teenagers. The participants were randomly selectedto complete a survey based on validated instruments, internet addiction test, cyber aggression questionnaire foradolescent, and displaced aggression questionnaire. Pearson’s correlation coefficients, one-way analysis of variance, and independent sample t-test were run to scrutinize hypothesis using Statistical Package for Social Sciencesversion 20 (IBM SPSS Corp.; Armonk, NY, USA). The results revealed that 34% of the youth was severely or moderately addicted to internet misuse. Furthermore, findings demonstrated that internet addiction is significantlyand positively associated with cyber aggression and displaced aggression. Results also highlighted that internetaddiction, cyber aggression, angry rumination, and displaced aggression vary with sex, and internet obsession ishigher in boys than in girls. Implications of these results were discussed and some recommendations suggested.
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The symptoms of behavioral addiction are generally regarded as a consequence of a latent construct. However, network psychometrics enable conceptualizing them as directly interacting with variables in a networkof symptoms. This study, we aimed to investigate symptoms of social media disorder within this framework.This is the first study performed using this novel in the field of behavioral addiction, and conceptualizing social media disorder in this manner helps the professionals in gaining new insights on the construct.The data were collected by applying the Short Social Media Disorder Scale to 727 university students andwere analyzed with qgraph and EstimateGroupNetwork packages in R program. Strength, closeness, andbetweenness centrality indices were used to evaluate the most important symptoms in the network. Thecentrality of the network model was further investigated with Zhang’s clustering coefficient and the smallworld Index was calculated. Finally, the estimated network structures were compared based on gender andage variables. According to the results, withdrawal and preoccupation were detected as the most importantsymptoms, whereas deception was less important. In addition, it was found that the estimated network hada small-world property. These findings were discussed in terms of their theoretical and practical significance.
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This cross-sectional study aims to evaluate the prevalence of smoking among healthcare workers and to investigate the anxiety level of healthcare professionals who have knowledge of COVID-19-related mortality and morbidity and are burdened by the anxiety and stress caused by the pandemic, and its effect on their smoking habits. An online questionnaire was used to facilitate the participation of busy healthcare workers. The survey was shared on all health platforms and various social network groups (Facebook, WhatsApp, etc.) for doctors (specialists, physicians, residents, dentists), nurses, and all other healthcare workers This questionnaire consisted of two tests, namely the Beck Anxiety Scale (BAS) and the Fagerström Nicotine Dependence Test (FNDT), and sociodemographic questions. A total of 806 healthcare workers, of whom 74.2% were physicians, 8.8% were midwives/nurses, and 15.1% were assistant health workers, participated in the study. Among all the participants, 501 (62.1%) were nonsmokers, 305 (37.9%) were smokers, and 8(1%) resumed smoking during the pandemic. In terms of the smoking habits of the participants during the pandemic period, 34% of the women who smoked had increased their amount of smoking. With respect to the smoking cessation rates of the participants, the physicians had quit or reduced smoking more than the other participants. The rate of smoking cessation in our study was 2.23%. Among those who quit, 88.8% were doctors, and the rate of quitting among them was 7.8%.
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