Psychology

Kaplumbağa’ nın Heybesi, İstanbul ve New York’ ta kurulmuş bir çocuk medyası platformudur. Amacımız iyi çocuk medyası hakkında aileleri ve eğitimcileri bilgilendirmek, kaliteli içerik üretmek ve çocuk medyası alanındaki profesyonelleri bir araya getirmek. Kaplumbağa’nın Heybesi çatısı altında çocuk medyasını ilgilendiren ve çocuk gelişimini destekleyecek alanlarda (çocuk kütüphaneleri ve mekanları, çocuk edebiyatı, çocuk sineması, gelişim psikolojisi ve medya) çeşitli projeler yürütmekteyiz. Bu sunumumuzda sizlerle İstanbul’ daki çocuk mekanları ile ilgili yürütmekte olduğumuz Heybemdeki Çocuk Şehri-İstanbul çalışmasını, projenin amaç, süreç ve ürettiği faydaları paylaşacağız.

Death is a hard concept to understand and a delicate subject to talk about, especially with children. The primary purpose of the current study was to investigate the development of the death concept in children between the ages of 3-10. We also aimed to examine the influence of parental communication in the concept's development. Fifty-four children (M = 6.44; 55.6% girls, 44.4 % boys) and their parents (N = 37; 6 fathers, 16.2%) were recruited. Children were interviewed one-on-one to evaluate their cognitive and emotional understanding of death. Moreover, their parents were administered a questionnaire to assess how they communicated the concept to their children. We found that older children (7-10 years) grasped some cognitive subcategories of death better than younger children (3-7 years). Our results also showed that both younger and older children had better cognitive and emotional comprehension of the concept if their parents have communicated it to them. These findings suggest that talking to children about death, in an age-appropriate way, helps them perceive the concept better. Age-appropriate communication, especially on an important topic such as death, can further be discussed in terms of social policy.

Globalization had attracted millions of students around the world and there is a huge flux of students who are travelling abroad for educational purposes. The aim of these students is to gain education and achieve their dreams. But travelling abroad for education and living in a foreign country is not an easy process. During this educational journey and transition from their home country to host country international students face huge challenges of adaptation and the challenges can be in terms of Academics, socio-cultural, personal, etc. So in order to acheieve the main goal of education, International students must adapt to the new envirnoment of the host country. The study aimed to develop validity and reliability of the International adjustment scale in Turkey. A pool of 100 statements was reduced to 35 after validation resulting in five distinct domains of adjustment, such as Academic adjustment (11), Social adjustment (9), Personal adjustment (6), General Living adjustment (4) and Institutional adjustment (3). The multidimensional adjustment was developed and validated for International students in Turkey.

Personality disorders are common in subjects with panic disorder. Personality disorders have been shown to affect the course of panic disorder. The purpose of this study was to examine which personality disorders affect clinical severity in subjects with panic disorder. This study included 122 adults (71 women, 41 men) who met Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition (DSM-IV) criteria for panic disorder (with or without agoraphobia). Clinical assessment was conducted by using the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV Axis I Disorders, the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV Axis II Personality Disorders, and the Panic and Agoraphobia Scale, Global Assessment Functioning Scale, Beck Depression Inventory, and State-Trait Anxiety Inventory. Patients who had a history of sexual abuse were assessed with Sexual Abuse Severity Scale. Logistic regressions were used to identify predictors of suicide attempts, suicidal ideation, sexual abuse, and early onset of disorder. The rates of comorbid Axes I and II psychiatric disorders were 80.3% and 33.9%, respectively, in patients with panic disorder. Patients with panic disorder with comorbid personality disorders had more severe anxiety, depression, and agoraphobia symptoms, had earlier ages at onset, and had lower levels of functioning. The rates of suicidal ideation and suicide attempts were 34.8% and 9.8%, respectively, in subjects with panic disorder. The rate of patients with panic disorder and a history of childhood sexual abuse was 12.5%. The predictor of sexual abuse was borderline personality disorder. The predictors of suicide attempt were comorbid paranoid and borderline personality disorders, and the predictors of suicidal ideation were comorbid major depression and avoidant personality disorder in subjects with panic disorder. In conclusion, this study documents that comorbid personality disorders increase the clinical severity of panic disorder. Borderline personality disorder may be the predictor of a history of sexual abuse and early onset in patients with panic disorder. Paranoid and borderline personality disorders may be associated with a high frequency of suicide attempts in patients with panic disorder. D

People with schizophrenia are amongst the most stigmatized of those with mental illnesses. The purpose of this study was to examine whether an antistigma program which consists of education, contact, and viewing a film that depicts an individual with schizophrenia, can change attitudes towards people with schizophrenia. The antistigma program was carried out with first-year medical students ( n = 25). Students' attitudes towards people with schizophrenia were assessed before and after the program. In parallel, a control group of first-year medical students were questioned ( n = 35). Assessment was repeated after 1 month. Favorable attitudinal changes were observed in terms of 'belief about the etiology of schizophrenia', 'social distance to people with schizophrenia', and 'care and management of people with schizophrenia'. In contrast, no significant change was observed in the control group. Attitude changes tended to decrease at the 1-month follow up. These results suggest that attitudes towards schizophrenia could be changed favorably with this program. To sustain changed attitudes towards people with schizophrenia, antistigma programs should be offered on a regular basis. A. Altindag et al. A. Altindag et al. research needs to determine the results of antistigma programs in a general population. Future research also needs to examine whether improved attitude corresponds with change in behavior.

Several studies indicate that nitric oxide (NO) is involved in the aetiopathogenesis of many neuropsychiatric disorders such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, depression, Alzheimer's disease, Hungtington disease and stroke. Although it has not been investigated yet, several recent studies proposed that NO may have a pathophysiological role in autism. Adrenomedullin (AM), a recently discovered 52-amino acide peptide hormone, induces vasorelaxation by activating adenylate cyclase and also by stimulating NO release. AM immune reactivity is present in the brain consistent with a role as a neurotransmitter. It has been stated that NO and AM do function in the regulation of many neurodevelopmental processes. We hypothesized that NO and AM activities have been affected in autistic patients and aimed to examine these molecules. Twenty-six autistic patients and 22 healthy control subjects were included in this study. AM and total nitrite (a metabolite of NO) levels have been measured in plasma. The mean values of plasma total nitrite and AM levels in the autistic group were significantly higher than control values, respectively ( p < 0.001, p ¼ 0.028). There is no correlation between total nitrite and AM levels (r ¼ 0.11, p ¼ 0.31). Certainly, this subject needs much further research investigating autistic patients in earlier periods of life and with subtypes of the disorder.

Background: There is evidence that oxygen free radicals play an important role in the pathophysiology of many neuropsychiatric disorders. Although it has not been investigated yet, several recent studies proposed that nitric oxide (NO) and other parameters related to oxidative stress may have a pathophysiological role in autism. Methods: We assessed the changes in superoxide dismutase (SOD), glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px) activities and thiobarbituric acid-reactive substances (TBARS) levels in plasma as well as NO levels in red blood cells (RBC) in patients with autism (n = 27) compared to age-and sexmatched normal controls (n = 30). Results: In the autistic group, increased RBC NO levels ( p < 0.0001) and plasma GSH-Px activity ( p < 0.0001) and unchanged plasma TBARS levels and SOD activity were detected. Conclusions: These findings 0009-8981/03/$ -see front matter D (S. Sögüt).