Mahmut Kılıç

Internet Addiction in High School Students in Turkey and Multivariate Analyses of the Underlying Factors.

AbstractThe aim of this study is to examine the Internet addiction among adolescents in relation to their sociodemographic characteristics, communication skills, and perceived familial social support. This cross-sectional research is conducted in the high schools in some city centers, in Turkey, in 2013. In this study, cluster sampling was used. In each school, a class for each grade level was randomly selected, and all the students in the selected classes were included in the sample. One thousand seven hundred forty-two students aged between 14 and 20 years were included in the sample.The mean Internet Addiction Scale (IAS) score of the students was found to be 27.9 ± 21.2. According to the scores obtained from IAS, 81.8% of the students were found to display no symptoms (<50 points), 16.9% were found to display borderline symptoms (50–79 points), and 1.3% were found to be Internet addicts (≥80 points). According to the results of the binary logistic regression, male students and the students in single sex vocational schools were found to report higher levels of borderline Internet addiction. It was also observed that the IAS score increases when the father’s educational level increases and when the students’ school performance is worse. On the other hand, the IAS score decreases when the student grade level, perceived family social support, and communication skills scores increase.The risk factors for Internet addiction are being a male, low academic achievement, inadequate social support and communication skills, and father’s high educational level.

Levels of Aggression among Turkish Adolescents and Factors Leading to Aggression

Aggression, an increasing problem among adolescents, is a potential threat to public health as it can lead to violence. Determining the factors causing aggression plays an important role in taking measures to reduce violence. This study aimed at determining the level of aggression among adolescents and at identifying the factors associated with high levels of aggression. This cross-sectional study was conducted with 2,409 Turkish adolescents. Data were collected with the Socio-demographic Questionnaire, Aggression Scale, Perceived Social Support Scale, and Communication Skills Attitude Scale. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, the chi-square test, t-test, and logistic regression. The participants’ mean aggression score was 91.83 ± 24.05, and 24.0% of the adolescents’ aggression levels rated high. According to the logistic regression model, aggression was 1.26 times higher among males, 1.92 times higher among those who perceived their mental health as poor, 1.58 times higher among those with suicidal ideation, 1.29 times higher among those who did not get prepared for university entrance exams, and 1.62 times higher among those who perceived their school performance as poor. Perceived family social support was a protective factor against high aggression. Approximately one out of every four adolescents in the two Turkish high schools where the study was conducted was determined to display high levels of aggression. Therefore, in order to reduce aggression among adolescents, programs such as coping management and coping with anger should be applied by nurses. Programs should include not only students but also families.

Risk of hypertension in Yozgat Province, Central Anatolia: application of Framingham Hypertension Prediction Risk Score.

The aim of this cross-sectional study was to estimate the risk of hypertension in 1106 Caucasian individuals aged 20-69 years in Yozgat Province, using the Framingham Hypertension Risk Prediction Score (FHRPS). According to FHRPS, average risk of developing hypertension over 4 years was 6.2%. The participants were classified into low- (<5%), moderate- (5% to 10%) and high- (>10%) risk groups. The percentage of participants that fell into these groups was 59.4%, 19.8% and 20.8% respectively. The proportion of participants in the high-risk group was similar to the 4-year incidence of hypertension (21.3%) in the Turkish population. Regression analysis showed that high salt consumption and low educational level significantly increased the risk of hypertension. Economic level, fat consumption, life satisfaction, physical activity, and fruit and vegetable consumption were not correlated with risk of hypertension. This study shows that FHRPS can also be used for predicting risk of hypertension in Central Anatolia.