Nuray Karanci

Attachment and Coping as Facilitators of Posttraumatic Growth in Turkish University Students Experiencing Traumatic Events

This study was designed to explore the role of attachment and coping as facilitators of posttraumatic growth (PTG) in a sample of Turkish university students who experienced traumatic life events. Participants who reported a traumatic event from a list were asked to choose the most distressing one; to answer questions related to the impact of the trauma; and to fill out measures of attachment styles, ways of coping, and PTG. PTG was regressed on gender, trauma-related factors, attachment styles, and coping styles in order to examine the associations with PTG. Felt helplessness and horror, fatalistic coping, and optimistic coping were significant predictors of PTG. Fatalistic coping partially mediated the relationship between attachment anxiety and PTG.

Patterns of depression in medical patients and their relationship with causal attributions for illness

The present study investigated the factor structure of the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), and causal attributions for the development of illness in a sample of 102 inpatients of a thoracic surgery department, with the main objective of examining the power of causal attributions and functional support in predicting different factors derived from the BDI. The results revealed that the BDI clusters into affective/motivational, somatic/vegetative, self-blame and self-punitiveness dimensions. Causal attributions for the development of illness were represented by family conflicts, environmental adversity, finance/health problems, bad luck, and four self-related clusters. Examination of the predictors of the BDI dimensions showed that causal attributions to uncontrollable, unmodifiable variables were predictors for the affective/motivational dimension, whereas illness severity and greater age were related to the somatic/vegetative symptomatology. The results supported the recommendations for the exclusion of such symptoms in assessing depression severity among medical patients.

Causal attributions for psychological illness among turkish psychiatric in patients and their relationships with hope

The causal attributions for psychological illness were investigated in a sample of seventy Turkish psychiatric in-patients, using the levels of causal attributions proposed by the transtheoretical model of Prochaska (1984). The factor analysis of replies to a questionnaire tapping various levels of causality revealed seven factors which were greatly overlapping with the causal attribu tional levels proposed by the transtheoretical model and verified in western samples. However, there were important dissimilarities on attributions to family, self, and interpersonal conflicts. Family conflicts and interpersonal conflicts appeared as two separate causal factors, whereas attributions to personal symptoms and family conflicts merged under a single higher-order factor. Results also revealed that types of attributions were related to hope for future well- being. The results and their implications were discussed within the framework of the transtheoretical model, attribution theory research and studies on the Turkish family struc ture and values.

Self-efficacy-based smoking situation factors: the effects of contemplating quitting versus relapsing in a Turkish sample.

The patterning of smoking situations on the basis of self-efficacy expectations among 174 Turkish smokers was examined by factor analysis which yielded five smoking situations. The examination of the effects of relapse versus contemplation to quit showed that contemplators had higher efficacy expectations as compared to noncontemplators, whereas relapse had no significant effect on efficacy beliefs. Least self-efficacy was observed for situations involving affective elements and highest efficacy for habitual situations. Results were discussed in terms of the heterogeneity of smokers and treatment implications.

Smoking Typology in a Turkish Sample

The present study attempts to classify motives for smoking on the basis of 39 items related to smoking behavior. The responses of 194 Turkish smokers were subjected to a factor analysis which resulted in nine smoking types. The results of the study are discussed in respect to the typologies developed in some Western countries.

Facilitating Community Participation in Disaster Risk Management: Risk Perception and Preparedness Behaviours in Turkey

This chapter aims to present a brief review of disasters and the disaster management system in Turkey, followed by a presentation and evaluation of some psychological models developed for explaining individual disaster preparedness behaviours. The models all stress the importance of facilitating awareness of risks, having information about methods to combat hazard (i.e. what to do) and the role of resources in predicting preparedness behaviours. Also highlighted are the significance of evaluations of coping choices, the perceived efficacy and cost of these choices and the availability of personal (e.g. education; self-efficacy), social (e.g. availability of social networks; civil society organisations dealing with particular hazards) and economic (e.g. financial resources; availability of long term credits) resources. Additionally, some factors that hinder preparedness behaviours, such as helplessness, fatalism, denial and externalisation of responsibility (i.e. belief that mitigation and preparedness is the responsibility of local or central government institutions) are presented. The chapter reports findings from studies on individual and community training and involvement in disaster risk management and predictors of hazard adjustment behaviours in Turkey (mostly conducted in Istanbul). It offers suggestions for community training programmes that aim to facilitate mitigation and preparedness behaviours in individuals and communities.

Social support perceptions of Turkish people with schizophrenia: What helps and what doesn’t help:

Background: Social support is an important facilitator of the quality of life for people with schizophrenia. This study examines what is perceived as helpful and unhelpful support from the members of the natural social networks by 32 Turkish people with schizophrenia. Material: Semi-structured interviews and thematic analysis were used to examine what is perceived as helpful and unhelpful support. Discussion and Conclusion: The findings suggested that instrumental, emotional and socialization supports were the general categories that capture the perceptions of support. Intrusion and belittling/rejection appeared as unhelpful. It is important to take these perceptions into account in providing psychoeducation to families and in designing psychosocial intervention programs.