Mental health of Turkish medical students during the COVID-19 pandemic.

BACKGROUND: The coronavirus disease emerged in 2019, spread in Turkey as all over the world rapidly. In this process, young people began to experience some mental problems due to the fear of contagion, as well as some changes in their lifestyles. AIMS: In this study it is aimed to investigate anxiety and depression levels of medical school students and the factors associated with these mental problems. METHOD: The forms were sent over the internet to the officials responsible for medical education at universities in various regions of Turkey. A total of 2,778 medical faculty students were included in the study. Students were asked to fill out the sociodemographic data form, the Patient Health Questionnaire - 9 (PHQ-9), and the Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD-7) Test. RESULTS: Students' 67.3% were female and 31.7% were male. About 90.2% of the students in the PHQ-9 scale had depressive symptoms in the major depressive disorder (MDD) dimension, and 44.5% in the GAD-7 scale had moderate/severe anxiety symptoms. Gender, being a preclinical student, history of psychiatric treatment in the past, currently receiving psychiatric treatment, death of someone due to pandemic, economic and health situation, perception of mental health were found associated with MDD and Moderate/Severe Anxiety symptoms. Students with Anxiety and MDD reported significantly more anxiety about contamination and negative beliefs about precautions' sufficiency. CONCLUSIONS: It was determined that medical school students in our country showed anxiety and depression at a remarkable level during the pandemic. Examining the underlying causes of these high rates will be beneficial in terms of taking precautions during the long-term pandemic. In literature, there are a limited number of studies on this subject in our country, we believe that our study will be useful in future studies to determine the underlying causes of mental illnesses and what can be done to help students.

Non-suicidal self-injury behaviors` features and relationship with adolescents` daily life activities and mental status.

Çimen ID, Coskun A, Etiler N. Non-suicidal self-injury behaviors` features and relationship with adolescents` daily life activities and mental status. Turk J Pediatr 2017; 59: 113-121. This study investigated, characteristics of the non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) behaviors and behaviors` relationship with the sociodemographic characteristics, psychological problems and other features like daily life activities, between the ages of 12 and 17 years in the central district Izmit of Kocaeli; 555 students whose data included to study received a sociodemographic questionnaire (SQ) and Youth Self-Report (YSR). Students, who reported that they had NSSI, were additionally evaluated with the Inventory of Statements About Self-injury (ISAS). We found out a significant correlation between NSSI and the psychological problems, habits with addiction-forming potential, some daily life activities and making friends with negative characteristics. We concluded that prevention of the risk factors related to NSSI might be effective to avoid the development of this behavior. And diagnosing the behavior in the onset, might provide more effective and long-lasting results and enable the adolescent to get over this risky period with minimal harm.

Forensic reporting of a case of sexual abuse broadcast on periscope.

Children who are investigated or prosecuted for an action that is considered a crime by the law, or children who were placed in security facilities due to his/her actions are defined as "children forced into crime". The period between ages 12-18 years is adolescence, during which crime rates are relatively high. The incidence of sexual behavior of adolescents on social media, which may be considered a crime, has increased in recent years due to technological improvements and increase in the use of social media. Also, the crime rates involving adolescents have increased due to environmental influences, familial factors, and mental disorders. Mental disorders such as conduct disorder, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, and mood disorders have been found to be associated with sexual abuse in young persons in previous literature. In this study, we present the case of a boy who sexually abused his younger brother at the age of 14 years 2 months and broadcast this abuse on "Periscope". In this case study, we aimed to discuss the relationships between sexual abuse, social media, and psychiatric disorders.