Ebru Çakıcı

Prevalence of gambling behavior, risk factors and relations with cultural attitudes in TRNC: 2007-2014

Objective: In this study, the prevalence of gambling behaviors among the TRNC in 2014 is compared with the data of 2007, 2012 and the relationship between acculturation and problem and pathological gambling is examined. Methods: The population of the study consists individuals 18-65 years of age living in TRNC. Nine hundred and fifty-eight people were consequently selected according to gender, age and geographical region with a multi-stage stratified quota. Data was collected in May and June 2014. For the collection of the data, a demographic question-naire, the Turkish version of the Revised South Oaks Gambling Screen (SOGS) and the Turkish version of Culture Attitude Scale (CAS) were used. The prevalence data were compared with the research done by the same re-searchers in 2007 (n=1012) and 2012 (n=996), which were conducted by same method and questionnaire. Results: According to SOGS scores, the rate of gambling addiction (SOGS≥8) in the TRNC was 2.2% in 2007 and 3.5% in 2012 and rose to 3.8% in the present study. Moreover the rate of problem gambling (SOGS=3-7) was 9.2% in 2007, 9.7% in 2012 and in the present study 9.5%. When the risk factors for gambling behavior are examined, to be a male, to be in the age range of 18-29, to be single, to live alone, and to marry less than 5 years are found as the risk factors for gambling. Conclusion: The study shows that gambling behavior is widespread in the TRNC and gambling addiction is increasingly rapidly. High rates of gambling addiction, should be assessed in its own social structure for each community as in the TRNC and it should be taken into consideration that acculturation is an effective factor in increasing gambling dependency

The Development and Assessment of Psychometric Properties of Near East Marital Adjustment Scale

ABSTRACT The goal of this study is to develop a comprehensive scale for marital adjustment and to determine its psychometric properties. The Near East Marital Adjustment Scale (NEMAS), a Likert-type scale with 51 items, was formed based on the definition of factors related with marital adjustment and related literature. The NEMAS, Marital Satisfaction Scale (MSS), Dyadic Relations Scale (DRS), Revised Dyadic Adjustment Scale (RDAS) and Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI) were applied to 279 married people working at various workplaces in North Cyprus. Two items of the scale had low item-total correlations, two other had low factor load values and the other five items had factor loads on more than one factor; therefore, a total of nine items were excluded from the scale and the final form of the scale was formed from 42 items. In terms of the reliability, the NEMAS Cronbach’s alpha coefficient was .94 , item-total correlations were between .290 and .733, item analysis (t-test) t-values were significant (p<0.001) and there was a strong correlation between the first half and final half of the scale (r=.893). Expert opinions were taken for content validity of the scale and, for criterion validity, highly significant relations were found between the scores of the participants from NEMAS and MSS, DRS, RDAS, MPSS, IRI. For construct validity, factor analysis by applying varimax orthogonal rotation showed four factors explaining 48. 36 percent of total variance. When the content of the items at each factor was taken into consideration, the first factor was named ‘marital satisfaction’, the second ‘marital communication’, the third ‘empathy in marriage’ and the fourth was ‘relations with the families’. NEMAS has four factors, where each factor can be given separately and can also be used as one factor. It is shown that NEMAS is a reliable and valid instrument for married individuals. The scale can be used for evaluating marital adjustment of married individuals, to determine problem areas in the marriage, in studies about marital adjustment and for marital counselling services. Besides these, it meets a need in the field by evaluating communication and empathy in marriage.

Psychometric Properties of Revised Form of the Dyadic Adjustment Scale in a Sample from North Cyprus

ABSTRACT The goal of this study is to determine the psychometric properties of the Revised Dyadic Adjustment Scale (RDAS) among a sample from North Cyprus. The RDAS was applied to 279 (217 female, 62 male) married individuals, who had at least graduated from elementary school and were working at different workplaces in Nicosia. RDAS is the final form of the Dyadic Adjustment Scale developed by Spanier (1976) and subsequently revised by Busby et al. (1995), which was adapted into Turkish by Gündogdu (2007). RDAS is a five point Likert scale. The Marital Problem Solving Scale (MPSS) and the Communication subscale of the Dyadic Relations Scale (DRS) were used for criterion-related validity. Exploratory factor analysis was applied to test structure validity. The reliability of the scale was measured with Cronbach Alpha coefficient and item-total correlation coefficients. A significant moderate positive correlation (r=.637 and r=.552) was found between RDAS and the other two scales used for criterion-related validity. The results of the exploratory factor analysis revealed that 56 .98 percent of the total variance of the scale was determined by three factors. The original scale also had three factors, while the grouping of the items was different. The consensus dimension of the original scale remained the same, but the items of the satisfaction and cohesion dimensions of the original scale were grouped under two different factors. When the common features of the new item groups were considered, they were named as satisfaction and conflict. The Cronbach alpha internal consistency coefficient determining the reliability of the scale was between .74 - .87 for the original and adaptation studies and it was between .73 - .82 for the scale and its subscales in the current study. The corrected item-total correlations were between .380 - .711. When the results are considered as a whole, the Turkish version of RDAS is found to be a valid and reliable instrument.