Search

Background: Serious mental illness, including schizophrenia, have been shown to be associated with psychosocial vulnerabilities in the face of adverse events. While individuals with schizophrenia might undergo many psychosocial difficulties during the COVID-19 pandemic, they might also not be affected, or report increased subjective well-being. This suggests that it is important to understand diverse impacts and further understand the unique experiences. Methods: To capture how the pandemic affected them and how they handled the challenges if there were any in the initial and more recent phases of the pandemic, 18 individuals with schizophrenia living in Turkey were interviewed. Results: Thematic analysis of interviews resulted in four superordinate themes for both time points. Three themes related to the impact of the pandemic (i.e. burdens of COVID-19, positive impacts of COVID-19, no impact of COVID-19) indicated that they shared a number of challenges with the general population. Themes about the positive impacts and no impact also replicated the previous findings in this clinical population. One last theme named as facilitators of coping implied that the participants tried to deal with the burdens by using available resources, adapt to the changes in their daily living, and benefit from social interaction and support. Conclusions: To conclude, people with schizophrenia seem to be coping with challenges posed by the pandemic with diverse strategies and they seem to even experience psychological growth alongside with negative impacts. The individualized needs and potential for growth have pivotal implications for the management of the illness during the pandemic.

Primary stressors are direct outcomes of extreme events (e.g., viruses, floodwater) whereas secondary stressors stem from pre-disaster life circumstances and societal arrangements (e.g., illness, problematic pre-disaster policies) or from inefficient responses to the extreme event. Secondary stressors can cause significant long-term damage to people affected but are also tractable and amenable to change. In this study we explored the association between secondary stressors, social identity processes, social support, and perceived stress and resilience. Pre-registered analyses of data from the COVIDiSTRESS Global Survey Round II (N = 14,600; 43 countries) show that secondary stressors are positively associated with perceived stress and negatively associated with resilience, even when controlling for the effects of primary stressors. Being a woman or having lower socioeconomic status (SES) is associated with higher exposure to secondary stressors, higher perceived stress, and lower resilience. Importantly, social identification is positively associated with expected support and with increased resilience and lower perceived stress. However, neither gender, SES, or social identification moderated the relationship between secondary stressors and perceived stress and resilience. In conclusion, systemic reforms and the availability of social support are paramount to reducing the effects of secondary stressors.

Acts of terrorism, being highly prevalent across the world, disrupt community and social functioning and can lead to negative psychological reactions in individuals. However, positive outcomes can also be evoked after adverse experiences. The current study aimed to explore two salutogenic or positive outcomes—resilience and posttraumatic growth (PTG)—following exposure to terrorist attacks. The sample included 331 university students who were exposed to a terrorist attack in Turkey during the last 18 months prior to data collection. Participants responded to the Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale, the Posttraumatic Growth Inventory, and a participant information form. The relationship between resilience and PTG was examined through correlation analysis and regression analyses with linear and quadratic components. Resilience and PTG were positively correlated. Tendency toward spirituality was the only resilience domain that was significantly correlated with all domains of growth. Total score of resilience was significantly associated with scores on all subscales of the Posttraumatic Growth Inventory except appreciation of life. Results indicated that only linear relationships existed between domains of resilience and PTG in the study sample. The positive and linear association between resilience and PTG suggests that resilience may be an important tool for facilitating growth. After terrorist attacks, mental health care planning should adopt a patient-centered approach that acknowledges the possibility of positive outcomes following traumatic events and focuses on the impact as well as recovery phases in traumatized individuals. Publisher's Version Emerging Sources Citation Index (ESCI) WOS:000808745600010 Affiliation ID: 60010477

Bu çalışmada, üniversite öğrencilerinin varoluşsal kaygılarıyla kişilik özellikleri, psikolojik ve fiziksel sağlık geçmişleri ve demografik özellikleri arasındaki ilişkinin incelenmesi hedeflenmiştir. Bu doğrultuda ortalama yaşları 20.84 olan 319 üniversite öğrencisi çalışma değişkenleri ile ilgili ölçüm araçlarını doldurmuştur. Veriler demografik bilgi formu, Varoluşsal Kaygılar Ölçeği ve Temel Kişilik Faktörleri Ölçeği kullanılarak toplanmıştır. Bulgular, katılımcıların cinsiyet, yaş ve üniversitedeki sınıf düzeylerinin varoluşsal meseleler ile farklı şekilde ilişkili olduğunu göstermiştir. Psikolojik bozukluk geçmişi daha yüksek varoluşsal kaygı düzeyleri ile ilişkiliyken, hayatı tehdit eden fiziksel hastalık geçmişi yalnızca daha düşük anlamsızlık kaygısı ile ilişkili bulunmuştur. Kişilik özelliklerinin varoluşsal kaygıyı anlamlı düzeyde yordadığı bulunmuştur. Bulguların, varoluşsal kaygının ve bununla ilişkisi olan etkenlerin daha iyi anlaşılmasına katkı sağlayacağı düşünülmektedir., In this study, the aim was to examine the relationship between existential anxieties and personality traits, prior history of mental and physical health, and demographic characteristics in a sample of university students. Accordingly, 319 university students with a mean age of 20.84 completed the assessment tools for study variables. Data were collected by using a demographic information form, Existential Anxiety Scale and Basic Personality Traits Inventory. The findings showed that the participants' gender, age, and year in university were differentially related to existential concerns. A history of mental disorders was associated with higher levels of existential anxiety while a history of life-threatening physical illness was associated with only lower levels of meaninglessness anxiety. Personality factors were found to significantly predict existential anxiety. The findings would contribute to better understand existential anxiety and the factors associated with it.

The rapid outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has affected citizens' daily lives in an unprecedented way. To curb the spread of the pandemic, governments have taken numerous measures such as social distancing and quarantine, which may be associated with psychological consequences, namely stress and loneliness globally. To understand differential associations of personality traits with psychological consequences of COVID-19, we utilize data from a sample of 99,217 individuals from 41 countries collected as part of the COVIDiSTRESS Global Survey. Data were analyzed using multigroup confirmatory factor analysis and multilevel regression models. Findings showed that while some of the associations were rather weak, Big Five personality traits were significantly associated with perceived stress and loneliness during the pandemic. Our study illustrates that neuroticism especially can be a vulnerability factor for stress and loneliness in times of crisis and can contribute to detection of at-risk individuals and optimization of psychological treatments during or after the COVID-19 pandemic.

People across the world and throughout history have gone to great lengths to enhance their physical appearance. Evolutionary psychologists and ethologists have largely attempted to explain this phenomenon via mating preferences and strategies. Here, we test one of the most popular evolutionary hypotheses for beauty-enhancing behaviors, drawn from mating market and parasite stress perspectives, in a large cross-cultural sample. We also test hypotheses drawn from other influential and non-mutually exclusive theoretical frameworks, from biosocial role theory to a cultural media perspective. Survey data from 93,158 human participants across 93 countries provide evidence that behaviors such as applying makeup or using other cosmetics, hair grooming, clothing style, caring for body hygiene, and exercising or following a specific diet for the specific purpose of improving ones physical attractiveness, are universal. Indeed, 99% of participants reported spending >10 min a day performing beauty-enhancing behaviors. The results largely support evolutionary hypotheses: more time was spent enhancing beauty by women (almost 4 h a day, on average) than by men (3.6 h a day), by the youngest participants (and contrary to predictions, also the oldest), by those with a relatively more severe history of infectious diseases, and by participants currently dating compared to those in established relationships. The strongest predictor of attractiveness-enhancing behaviors was social media usage. Other predictors, in order of effect size, included adhering to traditional gender roles, residing in countries with less gender equality, considering oneself as highly attractive or, conversely, highly unattractive, TV watching time, higher socioeconomic status, right-wing political beliefs, a lower level of education, and personal individualistic attitudes. This study provides novel insight into universal beauty-enhancing behaviors by unifying evolutionary theory with several other complementary perspectives., National Science Center, Poland [2019/33/N/HS6/00054]; Basic Research Program at the National Research University Higher School of Economics (HSE University); Basic Research Program at HSE University, RF; FCT [UID/PSI/03125/2021, SFRH/BD/126304/2016]; UTAR Research Centre Excellence Award; Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman [2019 -CAP (6401/0019)], This work is the result of the research project funded by the National Science Center, Poland (2019/33/N/HS6/00054). Dmitry Grigoryev was supported by the Basic Research Program at the National Research University Higher School of Economics (HSE University).; Dmitrii Dubrov was supported by the Basic Research Program at HSE University, RF.; Patricia Arriaga was supported by the FCT through funds from the research center UID/PSI/03125/2021. Anabela C. Santos was supported by the FCT through funds from a PhD grant SFRH/BD/126304/2016. Kavitha Nalla Muthu and Chee-Seng Tan were supported by the UTAR Research Centre Excellence Award 2019 -CAP (6401/0019) from the Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman.

Given high prevalence of mood and anxiety disorders and associated dysfunctions, better understanding, preventing, and treating these disorders are crucial. Along with psychological and other biological causal factors and mechanisms, inflammatory biomarkers, especially cytokines, have also been implicated in etiology and maintenance of mood and anxiety disorders. In the literature, it is generally acknowledged that there is a generalized inflammatory state in these disorders. Thus, several studies have focused on the impact of psychotherapy interventions on neuroimmunological parameters including cytokine levels. This review aims to discuss psychoneuroimmunological factors, especially changes in cytokine levels associated with mood and anxiety disorders and psychotherapy approaches which are commonly used for their treatment. Especially levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines have been shown in majority of those studies to be decreased while levels of anti-inflammatory cytokines have been reported to be elevated in individuals having psychotherapy for these disorders. Nevertheless, variability in study designs and cross-sectional designs in most studies create challenges for comparing results between studies and understanding cause-effect relationships between psychiatric symptomatology and immunological parameters. It is important to carefully determine sample groups and measurement methods in future studies in the field of psychoneuroimmunology. In addition, more studies are needed to figure out if findings showing that certain psychotherapeutic approaches can have anti-inflammatory effects are specific to those approaches or not., Duygudurum ve anksiyete bozukluklarının yaygınlık oranlarının yüksekliği ve bu bozukluklarla ilişkili işlev bozuklukları nedeniyle, bu bozuklukların daha iyi anlaşılması, önlenmesi ve tedavi edilmesi oldukça önemlidir. Psikolojik ve diğer biyolojik nedensel faktörlerin ve mekanizmaların yanı sıra, inflamatuar biyobelirteçlerin, özellikle de sitokinlerin, duygudurum ve anksiyete bozukluklarının kökeninde ve sürdürülmesinde rolü olduğu kabul edilmektedir. Buradan hareketle, birtakım çalışmalar psikoterapi müdahalelerinin sitokin düzeylerinin de dahil olduğu nöroimmünolojik parametreler üzerindeki etkisine odaklanmıştır. Bu derleme, duygudurum ve anksiyete bozuklukları ve bunların sağaltımında yaygın olarak kullanılan psikoterapi yaklaşımları ile ilişkili psikonöroimmünolojik faktörlerden, özellikle sitokin düzeylerindeki değişimleri tartışmayı hedeflemektedir. Alanyazındaki çalışmaların çoğunda ilgili bozukluklar için psikoterapi alan bireylerde özellikle pro-inflamatuar sitokinlerin düzeylerinin azaldığı gösterilirken, anti-inflamatuar sitokinlerin düzeylerinin ise yükseldiği bildirilmiştir. Yine de çalışma desenlerinin çeşitliliği çalışmalar arasında bulguların kıyaslanmasında ve çalışmaların çoğunun kesitsel desene sahip olması psikiyatrik semptomatoloji ve immünolojik parametreler arasındaki neden-sonuç ilişkilerinin anlaşılmasında zorluk yaratmaktadır. Psikonöroimmünoloji alanında yapılacak gelecek çalışmalarda örneklem gruplarının ve ölçüm yöntemlerinin dikkatle belirlenmesi önemlidir. Ayrıca belirli psikoterapi yaklaşımlarının anti-inflamatuar etkileri olabileceğini gösteren bulguların bu yaklaşımlara özgü olup olmadığının anlaşılması için daha fazla sayıda psikoterapi sonuç çalışmasına ihtiyaç duyulmaktadır.

****************** ***************************** ****************** ************************ ***** This is old, not peer-reviewed version of the manuscript. For published version, please visit: https://doi.org/10.1111/aphw.12234 *********************************************** ****************** ************** *********** **** To limit the rapid spread of COVID-19, countries have asked their citizens to stay at home. As a result, demographic and cultural factors related to home life became especially relevant to predicting population well-being during isolation. This pre-registered worldwide study analyses the relationship between the number of adults and children in a household, marital status, age, gender, individualism-collectivism and perceived stress. We used the COVIDiSTRESS Global Survey data of 54,245 online participants from 27 countries. The data was collected worldwide between March 30 and April 6, 2020. Our results provide evidence that higher levels of stress are associated with younger age, being a woman, being single, staying with more children, and living in collectivistic cultures. We discuss our findings by emphasizing the need for the public health to focus on both physical and psychological well-being of these groups, as they may be especially susceptible to experiencing elevated levels of stress.

Bu çalışmanın bulguları, 5 Temmuz 2019 tarihinde 23. Ulusal Psikoloji Öğrencileri Kongresi’nde sözlü bildiri olarak sunulmuştur. Bu çalışmanın amacı yaşanılan yerin ve erken dönem uyum bozucu şemaların evli bireylerin evlilik doyumu üzerindeki etkisini incelemektir. Çalışmanın örneklemi, 120’si kırsal ve 168’si kentsel bölgelerde yaşayan 268 evli bireyden (134 kadın ve 134 erkekten) oluşmuştur. Katılımcılara, sırasıyla Young Şema Ölçeği-Kısa Form 3, Çift Uyum Ölçeği ve demografik bilgi formu uygulanmıştır. Bulgular, kırdaki evli bireylerin evlilik doyumu düzeyinin kentte yaşayanlara kıyasla daha yüksek olduğunu göstermiştir. Bazı şema boyutlarında kırdaki katılımcıların puanlarının daha yüksek olduğu bulunmuştur. Ayrıca, kırda ve kentte yaşayanlarda evlilik doyumunu farklı erken dönem uyum bozucu şemaların yordadığı görülmüştür. Evli bireyler ve / veya çiftler ile çalışan ruh sağlığı uzmanlarının, bu bireylerin evlilik doyumunun kırsal ya da kentsel bölgelerde farklı değişkenlerden etkilenebileceğini göz önünde bulundurmaları önemli görünmektedir. The aim of the current study was to investigate the impact of place of residence on marital satisfaction and early maladaptive schemas of married individuals. The sample consisted of 268 married individuals (134 females and 134 males) including 120 participants from rural and 168 from urban areas. The participants were given the Young Schema Questionnaire-Short Form 3, the Dyadic Adjustment Scale, and a demographic information form. Findings showed that the level of marital satisfaction was higher in individuals living in rural areas compared to individuals in urban areas. Furthermore, it was found that participants from rural areas had higher scores at some of the schemas. In addition, different early maladaptive schemas predicted marital satisfaction for individuals in rural or urban areas. It seems important for mental health professionals working with married individuals and / or couples to take into consideration that marital satisfaction might be affected by distinct factors in rural and urban areas.

News camera operators are among the first responders to crises, emergencies, and other human suffering. This study is an attempt in the literature to explore trauma exposure and coping in news camera operators who are likely to experience primary and secondary traumatization simultaneously. Qualitative data from 20 news camera operators were analyzed using interpretative phenomenological analysis. Two superordinate themes emerged: (a) physical and psychological impact and (b) strategies of coping. The results highlight challenges associated with the work of news camera operators. Mental health support and training for this group of media professionals are strongly recommended at the undergraduate and/or organizational levels.

Beginning from the early 1990s, narrative therapies have begun to be used widely by mental health professionals. Recently, more specialized forms of narrative therapy, including trauma-focused approaches, have been developed. This paper reviews narrative therapy approaches which focus on trauma. Trauma-focused narrative therapies address qualitative and subjective aspects of trauma and aim to integrate the traumatic experience into the clients’ chronological life history. Positioning the client as the expert, narrative therapists help clients to deconstruct and reconstruct the narrative. In the literature, there are several structured trauma-focused narrative therapy approaches such as testimony therapy, narrative exposure therapy (NET), and life review therapy, and also collective narrative approaches. Although evidence is mostly anecdotal for these approaches, some studies have shown conditional effectiveness of NET for the treatment of posttraumatic stress disorder. Increasing the use of these approaches and examining their effectiveness for stress- and trauma-related disorders would help practitioners and researchers to better understand the validity and clinical utility of trauma-focused narrative therapy approaches, especially in Turkey where estimates of exposure to traumatic events are quite high., 1990’ların başından bu yana, öyküsel terapiler ruh sağlığı alanındaki uzmanlar tarafından daha yaygın olarak kullanılır hale gelmiştir. Yakın zamanda öyküsel terapinin, travma-odaklı yaklaşımlar gibi, daha özelleşmiş biçimleri geliştirilmiştir. Bu makalede, travma alanındaki öyküsel terapi yaklaşımları derlenmektedir. Travma-odaklı öyküsel terapiler travmanın nitel ve öznel yönlerine odaklanmaktadır ve travmatik deneyimi danışanların kronolojik yaşam öyküsü içine yerleştirmeyi hedeflemektedir. Danışanı uzman konumuna yerleştirerek, öyküsel terapistler danışanların öykünün yapısını bozmasına ve öyküyü yeniden yapılandırmasına yardım etmektedir. Literatürde, tanıklık terapisi, öyküsel maruz bırakma terapisi (NET) ve yaşam incelemesi terapisi ve ayrıca, kolektif öyküsel yaklaşımlar gibi birtakım yapılandırılmış travma-odaklı öyküsel terapi yaklaşımları bulunmaktadır. Her ne kadar bu yaklaşımlara yönelik kanıtların çoğu anekdota dayalı olsa da, bazı çalışmalar travma sonrası stres bozukluğunun tedavisinde NET’in koşullu olarak etkili olduğunu göstermiştir. Bu yaklaşımının kullanımının artırılması ve stres ve travma ile ilişkili bozukluklar için etkililiğinin incelenmesi uygulayıcıların ve araştırmacıların travma-odaklı öyküsel terapi yaklaşımlarının, özellikle travmatik olaylara maruz kalma oranlarının oldukça yüksek olduğu Türkiye’de, geçerliğini ve klinik yararını daha iyi anlamasına yardımcı olacaktır.

Understanding and facilitating community resilience have been increasingly acknowledged as important aspects of disaster risk management. The concept is often described as bouncing back or forward following disaster events. Various attempts have been made to conceptualize resilience of communities and individuals to disasters. The present research aimed to qualitatively explore survivors' perceptions of community resilience in the case of the 2011 Van earthquakes in Turkey. To this end, in-depth interviews were conducted, as part of a large-scale study, with twenty earthquake survivors recruited through snowball sampling in Van. Consensual qualitative research method was employed for data analysis. The findings provided an understanding of both specific indicators related to resilience in the post-quake period and also how survivors perceive characteristics related to general resilience for earthquakes. The findings pointed out that resilience is perceived to be related to provision of adequate, timely aid and services distributed fairly and to good governance, financial resources, and faith following earthquakes as well as to awareness, preparedness and mitigation, and social solidarity before quakes. The implications of the findings for disaster risk management with a view of facilitating resilience and suggestions for future research are provided. © 2016 Elsevier Ltd., 283201, This study has been carried out as part of and funded by the EU-FP7 project emBRACE “Building Resilience Amongst Communities in Europe” (Grant agreement number 283201 ). This document reflects only the authors' views and the Union is not liable for any use that may be made of the information contained therein.

This study aimed to explore factors associated with psychological resilience in a sample of 360 survivors of the two earthquakes in Van, Turkey in 2011. Using a survey with measures on various pre-, within-, and post-disaster variables, it has been shown that psychological resilience was influenced by multiple factors, providing empirical evidence for a multifactorial understanding of resilience. Furthermore, the study extended the traditional ways of resilience assessment by including stress-coping ability and severity of trauma-related symptoms as indicators of psychological resilience simultaneously. Findings were discussed considering the implications for research and interventions in the aftermath of natural disasters.

Objective: Around the globe, millions of people are exposed to disasters annually. Disasters may result in a wide range of psychological consequences in adult populations, including posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTS). However, little is known about the effects of the impacts of type of disaster exposure on the symptoms of PTS. This study aimed to understand the effects of objective and subjective impact severity of disaster exposure on symptoms of PTS in the aftermath of two earthquakes which struck Van, Turkey in 2011. Methods: Three hundred and sixty earthquake survivors from districts with different levels of earthquake exposure participated in the study. Consistent with the aims of the study, the participants responded to the Impact of Event Scale-Revised and a measure of earthquake exposure severity. The relationship between symptom clusters and impact of disaster exposure was examined through a multivariate analysis of variance. Results: The findings demonstrated differential effects of type of disaster exposure severity on the symptom clusters of PTS, showing that the two core clusters, re-experiencing and avoidance, differentially related to levels of subjective and objective impact of disaster exposure while symptoms of hyperarousal were commonly reported in survivors who experienced high levels of impact irrespective of the type of exposure. Discussion: This study provided empirical evidence for an important distinction regarding impact of exposure between symptom clusters of PTSD. The findings may guide the development or planning of psychoeducation-based interventions with differential focus on posttraumatic stress symptoms for survivors having different levels of objective and/or subjective impact of exposure.

Background: To limit the rapid spread of COVID-19, countries have asked their citizens to stay at home. As a result, demographic and cultural factors related to home life have become especially relevant to predict population well-being during isolation. This pre-registered worldwide study analyses the relationship between the number of adults and children in a household, marital status, age, gender, education level, COVID-19 severity, individualism–collectivism, and perceived stress. Methods: We used the COVIDiSTRESS Global Survey data of 53,524 online participants from 26 countries and areas. The data were collected between 30 March and 6 April 2020. Results: Higher levels of stress were associated with younger age, being a woman, lower level of education, being single, staying with more children, and living in a country or area with a more severe COVID-19 situation. Conclusions: The COVID-19 pandemic revealed that certain people may be more susceptible to experience elevated levels of stress. Our findings highlight the need for public health to be attentive to both the physical and the psychological well-being of these groups.

Disaster risk management efforts worldwide are increasingly targeted at building the resilience capacities of individuals and communities for strengthening their resistance, absorption, accommodation, adaptation, transformation and recovery skills in the face of disasters. In addition, as a key element of resilience, preparedness is essential for empowering individuals and communities. Such prioritization of resilience and preparedness has been stressed by international disaster-related policies and actions. Research has also focused on understanding the dynamics of community resilience and preparedness in the context of disasters. In particular, research has revealed that addressing community resilience and preparedness from a psychosocial perspective greatly contributes to a more holistic understanding of the topic. In the present chapter, qualitative findings from two different case studies conducted in Turkey are elaborated with a psychosocial focus on community resilience for the 2011 Van earthquakes and preparedness for the 1999 Kaynaşlı, Düzce earthquakes. Drawing on two different earthquake case studies from different geographical regions of Turkey, the adoption of a local and evidence-based approach is necessary for disaster work. This would enable disaster risk management efforts and policies to be participatory and sustainable with respect to psychosocial aspects along with technical and geographical aspects.