Lack of policy-oriented research in Turkey could be attributed to the perceptions of researchers on existence of
an alcohol use problem in the population, methodological difficulties of conducting alcohol research, and the perceived sensitivity of the topic in the population. This descriptive quantitative study was carried out before the conduct of the International Alcohol Control Study (IAC) in Turkey, with an aim to assess the knowledge, attitude,
and behaviors on alcohol research of 142 adults aged 18 years and above, who have the experience of consuming
alcohol, to determine their preference for interviewer characteristics, interview place, and research institution.
More than half of the participants (54.9%) stated that alcohol consumption studies were necessary, and a majority (74.7%) was willing to participate in such a study. The participants believed that the alcohol consumers from
their own social environments would express their drinking status openly (72.5%) and report their consumption
accurately (70.4%). Use of political or religious symbols by the interviewers did not seem to influence responses for
more than half of the study subjects, although a non-negligible group have not agreed. The participants favored
World Health Organization as the research institution (53.2%) and medical students (62.9%) as the interviewers.
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This qualitative study was carried out to determine the burden of care on Turkish caregivers of patients with
substance use disorder. The sample included relatives of 42 patients hospitalized in the Akdeniz University
Alcohol and Drug Addiction Research and Application Center. Individual in-depth, open semi-structured
interviews were used for data collection. Moreover, demographic questions and an interview guide with
questions were also used. According to the results of this study, the following themes were evaluated: difficulties experienced, coping, and needs. The findings showed that substance abuse has adverse consequences
and negatively affects both the patients and their relatives in terms of economic, psychological, and social
aspects. Furthermore, because of the social stigma of substance abuse, the families receive very limited social
support from the environment. This weakens the well-being of the family members and increases intrafamily
conflicts. We conclude that ensuring the well-being of the caregivers of patients with substance use disorder
is useful in maintaining a successful treatment of addiction. Thus, policymakers should include the relatives
of patients with substance use disorder in prevention and intervention programs to increase the effectiveness of the interventions.
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Given the widespread usage of social media and the saturation of social network sites (SNSs), many students
and instructors have integrated technology into both social and educational life to enhance their learning experiences. Yet, non-educational use of social media brings drawbacks and also causes undesirable situations. Especially for young people, multi-tasking, like using SNS during their class sessions, creates cognitive disabilities
as well as low academic performance. In this study, we have examined the relationships between SNS addiction
patterns (SNS intensity and network size) and academic achievement (grade point average, or GPA) of 711 college students in Turkey. We have also sought to assess whether there is a correlation between gender and SNS
addiction patterns. A questionnaire has been used for data collection. Our findings clearly show that the majority of our participants have used a smartphone for more than 5 years, with Instagram the app whose reputation
supersedes that of other SNSs. Surprisingly, we found no significant relationship between academic success and
SNS addiction patterns, though the study confirms a gender-discrepancy with regard to SNS addiction patterns.
Females spend more time on SNS than males, whereas males have more online friends than do females. The
reason for this disparity may derive from their different uses of SNS. Thus, further studies may concentrate on
different aspects of this issue with more factual and objective data to reveal the real impact of SNS on our lives.
Conclusions, suggestions, and research limitations have also been discussed.
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Based on data from mixed designed research, the purpose of this study was to develop design elements of
a public communication campaign on the fight against substance addiction. A focus group was conducted
with mothers from the city of İzmir, Turkey. Based on the focus group findings, a survey was conducted by
distributing a questionnaire to 403 mothers in İzmir. Focus group qualitative data revealed that mothers
were generally aware of the risks regarding substance addiction; however, they do not relate the issue to
their own children. Further, mothers were shown to be the people closest the children in their families.
Survey results revealed that mothers from higher socioeconomic backgrounds were more knowledgeable
regarding substance addiction. A cluster analysis showed that mothers with less education and lower income
levels had lower perceptions about substance addiction risk for school environments, neighborhoods, and
the city, while mothers with more education and higher income levels had higher levels of such perceptions.
Considering the results of our study, mothers were chosen as the main target for the public communication
campaign. Additionally, increasing social awareness about substance addiction was decided as the campaign’s main objective.
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Problematic Internet use not only has negative effects on adolescents’ development and social lives but also
may yield negative mental health outcomes. Taking into account that it may damage adolescents’ school and
family lives, it is clear that identifying and preventing factors associated with problematic Internet use is very
important on both the individual and societal levels. The purpose of the present study was to explore the associations between problematic Internet use, daily hassles, and social isolation among high school students. The
study group comprised high school students from various socioeconomic levels in Ankara, the capital city of
Turkey. Data were collected from 371 high school students: 189 female students (51%) and 180 male students
(49%). Hierarchical multiple regression analysis was used to determine variables predicting high school students’ levels of problematic Internet use. The results showed that the variables of being ignored, exclusion, and
daily hassles significantly predicted high school students’ problematic Internet use. Suggestions were made in
light of the current literature.
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This study aimed to adapt the Generic Phubbing Scale (GPS) to Turkish culture and to examine the phubbing levels of university students concerning various variables. Acceptable goodness-of-fit indices were
found in the first-order confirmatory factor analysis (x2
/df=2.47, GFI=0.92, IFI=0.92, CFI=0.95, NFI=0.92
AGFI=0.89, TLI=0.94, and RMSEA=0.067) and the second-order confirmatory factor analysis (x2
/df=2.61,
GFI=0.92, IFI=0.95, CFI=0.95, NFI=0.92 AGFI=0.89, TLI=0.93, and RMSEA=0.070) performed to test the
construct validity of the GPS. Later, the significance of the upper and lower 27% groups was analyzed using
an independent t-test. The analysis results showed that the scale has the power to measure the desired characteristics. Chronbach’s alpha internal consistency coefficient was found to be a=89. The study examined
university students’ phubbing levels in terms of various variables and performed a hierarchical regression
analysis to explore whether the variables of smartphone addiction, fear of missing out, and boredom proneness were predictive variables for university students’ phubbing addiction levels. According to the results,
these three variables were found to be significant predictor variables for the phubbing levels of university
students.
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The aim of the present study was to evaluate the relationship between Internet gaming disorder (IGD) symptom severity with probable attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and alexithymia symptoms, while
controlling anxiety and depression symptoms. The cross-sectional online study was conducted with 987 volunteer university students in Ankara, Turkey. Age was lower and first Internet use was earlier among the group
with probable ADHD (n=166, 16.8%) than that without (n=821, 83.2%). There were no significant differences
in gender or romantic relationship status between these groups, whereas the scale scores, duration of daily
Internet gaming, and problems related to Internet gaming were higher in the probable ADHD group. Probable
ADHD, continuous scores on alexithymia (particularly “difficulty identifying feelings” [DIF] and “externally
oriented thinking” [EOT] dimensions), depression, and anxiety symptoms were associated with higher severity
of IGD symptoms. ADHD, alexithymia (as a binary variable), depression, and anxiety predicted the severity
of IGD symptoms, although these effects involving probable ADHD and alexithymia did not interact. These
findings suggest that probable ADHD and both the severity of alexithymia (particularly DIF and EOT dimensions) and presence of probable alexithymia are related with the severity of IGD symptoms, even when
controlling the effects of depression and anxiety, among university students.
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This study investigated the causal relationships between quality of social relationships and smartphone addiction in high school students. The research used exploratory sequential mixed design and was carried out in two
stages: qualitative and quantitative. In the qualitative stage, a focus group interview was conducted to examine
students’ views on the relationship between quality of social relationships and smartphone addiction. In the
quantitative stage, a survey was conducted, using questions developed from findings obtained in the qualitative
stage and various measurement tools. Participants included 11th and 12th graders. Eight participants recruited
based on smartphone use took part in the qualitative stage, while 620 students were recruited on a voluntary-basis for the quantitative stage. An interview form developed by the authors was used in the qualitative
stage, while the Smartphone Addiction Scale-Short Version, UCLA Loneliness Scale-Short Form, Perceptions
of Parents Scale, and Social Self-Efficacy Scale were used in the quantitative stage. Content analysis was carried out on qualitative data, and multiple linear regression was conducted on quantitative data. The findings
revealed that smartphone addiction was positively associated with loneliness, multipurpose smartphone use,
social media, and having nothing to do, and negatively associated with perception of one’s mother, perception
of one’s father, and spending quality time with friends. Social media had the highest contribution to the variance in smartphone addiction.
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Based on the increase of smartphone addiction among students, understanding the effects of smartphone addiction on students’ health is essential for developing appropriate interventions. This study has been conducted
in order to investigate the relationship between smartphone addiction and quality of life among students
at Tehran University of Medical Sciences (TUMS). This cross-sectional study has been performed using the
stratified sampling method on 320 TUMS students in 2017. The data collection tool includes a demographic
questionnaire, the Cellphone over-use Scale (COS), and the World Health Organization’s Quality of Life questionnaire (WHOQOL-BREF). Data have been analyzed through SPSS 18 using the t-test, ANOVA, Pearson’
correlation coefficient, and multiple linear regressions. Students’ mean age is 24.45±4.46; 45.6% are male. A
significant inverse relationship exists between smartphone addiction scores and the quality of life scores for
physical, mental, and social aspects (p<0.05). Smartphone addiction scores are significantly higher for females,
bachelors, and married students (p<0.05). The smartphone addiction score determines 6% of the variance in
quality of life. Alongside addiction, smartphone overuse may negatively influence the physical, mental, and
social aspects of students’ quality of life.
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The purpose of this study is to examine the determinants of cigarette consumption during 1960-2016 in Turkey
by employing the Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) bounds testing approach. The variables of real Gross
Domestic Product (GDP) per capita, real price of cigarettes, tertiary school enrollment (gross %), urban population (% of total), and tobacco control were adapted as the independent variables. The estimation results reveal
that real GDP per capita, urbanization, and tobacco controls positively affect the cigarette consumption while
the cigarette prices and level of education negatively affect smoking. Urbanization is the most impactful variable
on cigarette consumption, followed respectively by tertiary school enrollment, real GDP per capita, real price of
cigarettes, and tobacco control. The estimation results also suggest that controlling the cigarette prices and educating people about the hazardous effects of smoking are important policies for reducing cigarette consumption.
The tobacco control policies have not yet had a reducing effect on the cigarette consumption.
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