"I am Learning to Protect Myself with Mika:" A Teacher-based Child Sexual Abuse Prevention Program in Turkey.

This study aimed to explore the effectiveness of a teacher-based child sexual abuse prevention program entitled "I am learning to protect myself with Mika." The sample consisted of 290 children, their parents, and their classroom teachers. The participants were randomly assigned to intervention (n = 137) or wait-list comparison groups (n = 153) by classroom. The age of the children ranged from 46 to 71 months (M = 58.99, SD = 6.64). The prevention program was a 5-week program that consisted of five modules, including emotional awareness, good touch-bad touch, and body safety rules. To investigate the effectiveness of the prevention program, a latent Markov analysis was conducted. A three-class solution was identified as the best model: Status-1 (self-protecting group), Status-2 (risky secret keepers), and Status-3 (risk group). Following the intervention, members of the two at-risk groups (Statuses 2 and 3) were more likely to move into the Status-1 group than were those participants who had not received the intervention (wait-list comparison). Self-protection skills were analyzed using a 2 × 2 ANOVA with repeated measures. The increase in self-protection skills was greater for participants in the intervention group than for those in the wait-list comparison group from pre-test to post-test. Two-month follow-up analysis showed that gain in knowledge and skills was maintained. This program should be considered as a potential approach to meeting the need for child sexual abuse preventive efforts in Turkish preschool curriculum.

Prevalence of violence by teachers and its association to students' emotional and behavioral problems and school performance: Findings from secondary school students and teachers in Turkey.

BACKGROUND: Teacher violence toward students is a common public health risk associated with various negative outcomes. Though previous studies examined the prevalence of teacher violence toward students and its association with negative outcomes, little is known about the association between teacher violence and school performance, and the mediating role of students' emotional and behavioral problems, particularly in developing countries. OBJECTIVE: This study sought to investigate the prevalence of teacher violence toward students, its association with school performance, and the mediating role of emotional and behavioral problems. PARTICIPANTS AND SETTING: Data were collected from 293 students (M = 12.59, SD = 1.07) and 205 teachers (M = 37.20, SD = 8.41) using a structured sampling approach. METHODS: Our cross-sectional study used a multi-informant approach: both teachers and students reported on violence by teachers. Students reported also on other types of violence, emotional and behavioral problems, and school performance. RESULTS: Of all students, 55 % reported that they were exposed to teacher violence at least once in the past month, while 83 % of teachers reported having used any type of violence against students. Path analysis indicated direct associations between teacher violence toward students and students' behavioral and emotional problems (ß = 0.21) and school performance (ß = -0.15), and an indirect association between teacher violence and school performance (ß = -0.05) via emotional and behavioral problems. CONCLUSIONS: Teacher violence toward students was highly prevalent and associated with emotional and behavioral problems and lower school performance. Prevention programs and social policies aiming to reduce violence by teachers are urgently needed.

Migration and psychological status of adolescents in Turkey.

The aim of this study was to investigate the influence of involuntary migration on an adolescent population that had moved with their families to either one of two culturally different locations in Turkey. One of these groups had moved from a village in Eastern Turkey to a nearby town, while the other had moved a considerable distance to a large city in Western Turkey. Comparison groups included adolescents from both regions who had never migrated. Measures of self-esteem, satisfaction with life, and social support networks were used with 305 adolescents who were between the ages of 12 and 15. Adolescents who had migrated scored lower on self-esteem and life satisfaction, and had fewer people in their social support networks than those who had not. It was also found that those who had migrated tended to be more dependent on peers than family for social support. This was probably the case because school attendance was lower for migrants, particularly for males, and the probability of full time work on the street away from their families was considerably higher.