Positive Sides of the Disease: Posttraumatic Growth in Adults with Type 2 Diabetes.

Type 2 diabetes is a chronic disease that can causes positive changes, as well as psychological distress. The aim of the this study is to investigate the posttraumatic growth level of adults with type 2 diabetes and to identify the relationship among perceived social support, coping, diabetes management self-efficacy, perceived expressed emotions, and PTG in diabetes patients from non-western, developing country. The findings revealed that patients experience a moderate level of posttraumatic growth. Regression analyses showed that the severity of the disease, educational level, perceived social support, problem-focused coping, optimistic coping and the criticism/hostility dimension of expressed emotions were associated significantly with posttraumatic growth. In the conclusion part, these findings were consistent with the posttraumatic growth theory. The study reveals that professionals aiming to increase the posttraumatic growth of diabetes patients may need to focus on and facilitate perceived social support, adaptive coping strategies, and perceived expressed emotions to facilitate growth experiences.

[Assessment of Perceived Parenting Attitudes in Childhood: Turkish Form of the S-EMBU for Children]. / Çocukluk Dönemi Ebeveyn Tutumlarinin Degerlendirilmesi: Kisaltilmis Algilanan Ebeveyn Tutumlari-Çocuk Formu.

OBJECTIVE: Among the instruments aiming to assess perceived parenting attitudes during the childhood period, EMBU (Egna Minnen Barndoms Uppfostran; My memories of upbringing) is one of the frequently used scales. It is a self-report instrument in which adult participants are asked to report their perceptions of the attitudes of their parents during their childhood on the dimensions of emotional warmth, overprotection and rejection, separately for each parent. The aim of the present study was to examine the reliability and the validity of the Turkish version of the EMBU, following a previous pilot study which supported its psychometric properties and supported its cross-cultural validity. METHOD: s-EMBU-C The Parental Bonding Instrument, Brief Symptom Inventory, Eysenck Personality Questionnaire-Revised Abbreviated and and General Self Efficacy Scale were administered to 271 adults living in Bursa. In order to evaluate psychometric properties of s-EMBU-C Explanatory Factor analysis, Pearson's Product Moment Correlation test, and Multivariate Analysis of Variance (MANOVA) were conducted. RESULTS: The analyses supported the reliability, concurrent, convergent and criterion validities of the Turkish version of the EMBU. CONCLUSION: It may be reported that the Turkish version of the EMBU is a reliable and valid instrument which can be used in research studies aiming to assess perceptions of parental attitudes on different psychological constructs and in clinical practice.

Psychological wellbeing of Turkish university students with physical impairments: an evaluation within the stress-vulnerability paradigm.

Generally, universities in developing countries offer little in the way of provisions and support (material, emotional, etc.) for disabled students. Therefore, disabled students experience considerable burdens and barriers in their educational life. This study investigated the psychological wellbeing of disabled Turkish university students by examining influences on stress-related growth and psychological distress. Disability is defined within the framework of a social model. According to this view, impairment refers to the functional limitation(s) that affect(s) a person's body, whereas disability refers to the loss or limitation of opportunities owing to social, physical or psychological obstacles. Seventy disabled university students with physical impairments were administered a questionnaire package, including a sociodemographic information sheet, Ways of Coping Questionnaire, Stress-Related Growth Scale, Multidimensional Scale of Social Support, Life Events Inventory, and Brief Symptom Inventory. Snowball sampling was used and voluntary participation was essential. The results showed that disability burden, daily hassles, and helplessness coping were significant predictors of psychological symptoms. For stress-related growth the only variable that appeared significant was problem-solving coping. The results pointed out that there may be different pathways to distress and growth. In order to decrease psychological distress and enhance growth in disabled university students, disability awareness programs, changes in the barriers in the academic and physical environments of the university campuses, and coping skills training to increase problem-focused coping and to combat helplessness may prove to be effective. Reducing daily hassles for the disabled students is likely to contribute to their wellbeing by decreasing their burdens. Also, a more disability-friendly environment is likely to be empowering for disabled university students.

Fear or disgust? The role of emotions in spider phobia and blood-injection-injury phobia.

According to the literature, it is assumed that fear and anxiety are basic emotions in anxiety disorders. Many recent studies report that disgust, as well as fear, has an important role in the etiology and maintenance of anxiety disorders. Evaluation of the role of disgust in anxiety disorders has led the theoretical and empirical literature in a new direction, beyond the traditional emphasis on fear. Most of this basic research has focused on specific phobias, such as blood-injection-injury phobia and spider phobia. Findings obtained from evaluation of physiological and cognitive processes, and subjective and behavioral experiences clearly show that in addition to fear, emotional reactions to phobic stimuli also include disgust; however, empirical studies show that disgust and fear have different relative impacts on specific phobias. To illustrate, individuals experience disgust as the basic emotion in blood-injection-injury phobia, whereas both fear and disgust are experienced in spider phobia. Nevertheless, it is concluded that fear has a more fundamental role in the latter. Yet, research indicates that basic emotions different from those identified from neural structures or physiological responses, such as heart rate, can be identified if facial expressions and cognitive appraisals are taken into account. In the present review the role of fear and disgust in blood-injection-injury phobia vs. spider phobia are discussed, based on the relationship between the phobias and disgust sensitivity, disgust as part of phobic responses, and disgust-motivated avoidance behavior.

[The psychometric properties of the Inferential Confusion Scale based in Turkish patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder]. / Obsessif-Kompulsif Bozukluk Hastalarinda Cikarimsal Karmasa Olçegi'nin Psikometrik Ozellikleri.

OBJECTIVE: Among the influential cognitive factors in obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), inferential confusion is a cognitive bias, which is described as the acceptance of possibilities as reality in contrast to sensory information. The present study aimed to determine the role of this construct in a clinical sample, and to test the cross-cultural validity of inferential confusion and to determine the psychometric properties of the Inferential Confusion Scale (ICS) in a Turkish clinical sample. METHOD: The study included a group of patients with OCD and other anxiety disorders, and a control group, both of which were administered the ICS, Eysenck Personality Questionnaire- Revised and Abbreviated Form (EPQR-A), Obsessive-Compulsive Beliefs Questionnaire (OBQ), Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), Trait Anxiety Inventory (TAI), and Padua Inventory-WSUR. One-way analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) was performed for group comparisons, while Pearson's Product Moment Correlation test was used to examine interrelationships among the variables. RESULTS: ANCOVA analysis results indicate that OCD patients expressed more concern on the ICS, which had satisfactory reliability values, and this difference remained when controlled for depression and anxiety. In addition, inferential confusion was positively associated with OCD symptoms and relevant cognitive measures; thus, it seems that the Turkish version of the ICS is a reliable and valid instrument for the evaluation of inferential confusion. Furthermore, as with responsibility-threat estimation and depression, inferential confusion was one of the cognitive factors that differentiated the OCD patients from the controls and was a significant predictor of OCD symptoms, beyond other cognitive variables. CONCLUSIONS: In accordance with the literature, the findings of the present study show that the Turkish ICS is a reliable and valid measure for use in Turkey, and that inferential confusion is a critical cognitive factor with an important role in OCD.

[Depressive realism: happiness or objectivity]. / Depresif Realizm: Mutluluk ya da Nesnellik.

Realism is described as objective evaluations and judgments about the world; however, some research indicates that judgments made by "normal" people include a self-favored, positive bias in the perception of reality. Additionally, some studies report that compared to normal people, such cognitive distortions are less likely among depressive people. These findings gave rise to the depressive realism hypothesis. While results of several studies verify the notion that depressive people evaluate reality more objectively, other studies fail to support this hypothesis. Several causes for these inconsistent findings have been proposed, which can be characterized under 3 headings. One proposed explanation suggests that what is accepted as "realistic" in these studies is not quite objective and is in fact ambiguous. According to another perspective, the term "depressive" used in these studies is inconsistent with the criteria of scientific diagnostic methods. Another suggests that the research results can only be obtained under the specific experimental conditions. General negativity and limited processing are popular approaches used for explaining the depressive realism hypothesis. Nowadays, the debate over this hypothesis continues. The present review focuses on frequently cited research related to depressive realism and discusses the findings.

Psychological distress in rheumatoid arthritis patients: an evaluation within the conservation of resources theory.

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic disease, which can lead to considerable psychological distress. The present study evaluated anxiety and depression symptoms for this chronic and painful illness within the framework of the conservation of resources (COR) theory. Coping strategies, coping self-efficacy, religiousness and social support are very important personal resources, which have been found to protect individuals from psychological distress. The aim of the present study was to examine the predictive values of socio-demographic and illness-related variables, perceived social support, ways of coping, religiousness, arthritis self-efficacy and resource loss for psychological distress in a sample of 117 RA patients from Turkey, a secular, Islamic, non-western developing country. The results revealed that RA patients experience considerable anxiety and depressive symptoms. The results of the regression analysis showed that gender, helplessness coping and resource loss are significant predictors of anxiety, whereas arthritis self-efficacy and resource loss are significant predictors of depression. Resource loss appeared as an important predictor for both anxiety and depression. This finding was consistent with the COR theory. The clinical implications of these findings are discussed.

Variables related to posttraumatic growth in Turkish rheumatoid arthritis patients.

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic, deteriorative disease, which can cause great psychological distress. Although RA has negative psychological consequences, it may also lead to positive changes, which has been given relatively little attention in the research literature. The Posttraumatic Growth Inventory (PTGI) has been used to evaluate growth in survivor's thinking, feeling and/or behavior following the experiencing of traumatic or severely adverse life events. The purpose of the current study was to examine the domains of the PTGI and to identify variables related to Posttraumatic Growth (PTG) in 117 RA patients from Turkey, a secular, Islamic, non-western developing country. Results showed that the PTGI has three domains: relationship with others; philosophy of life; and self-perception. Regression analyses showed that problem-focused coping had significant contributions to the total PTG levels and PTGI domains of relationship with others and self-perception. Perceived social support appeared as a significant associate for the total PTG levels and for all three domains. In addition, age and perceived disease severity were found to be significantly related to some domains of PTG. Clinicians, aiming to increase positive experience of RA patients, may need to focus on and facilitate perceived social support and problem-focused coping to facilitate growth experiences.

[Reliability and validity studies of Turkish translation of Eysenck Personality Questionnaire Revised-Abbreviated]. / Eysenck Kisilik Anketi-Gözden Geçirilmis Kisaltilmis Formu'nun (EKA-GGK) Türkiye'de geçerlik ve güvenilirlik çalismasi.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of the present study was to examine the reliability and the validity of the Turkish translation of the Eysneck Personality Questionnaire Revised-abbreviated Form (EPQR-A) (Francis et al., 1992), which consists of 24 items that assess neuroticism, extraversion, psychoticism, and lying. METHOD: The questionnaire was first translated into Turkish and then back translated. Subsequently, it was administered to 756 students from 4 different universities. The Fear Survey Inventory-III (FSI-III), Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scales (RSES), and Egna Minnen Betraffande Uppfostran (EMBU-C) were also administered in order to assess the questionnaire's validity. The internal consistency, test-retest reliability, and validity were subsequently evaluated. RESULTS: Factor analysis, similar to the original scale, yielded 4 factors; the neuroticism, extraversion, psychoticism, and lie scales. Kuder-Richardson alpha coefficients for the extraversion, neuroticism, psychoticism, and lie scales were 0.78, 0.65, 0.42, and 0.64, respectively, and the test-retest reliability of the scales was 0.84, 0.82, 0.69, and 0.69, respectively. The relationships between EPQR-A-48, FSI-III, EMBU-C, and RSES were examined in order to evaluate the construct validity of the scale. Our findings support the construct validity of the questionnaire. To investigate gender differences in scores on the subscales, MANOVA was conducted. The results indicated that there was a gender difference only in the lie scale scores. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings largely supported the reliability and validity of the questionnaire in a Turkish student sample. The psychometric characteristics of the Turkish version of the EPQR-A were discussed in light of the relevant literature.