Özgür Erdur-Baker

Examination of Cyberbullying Experiences among Turkish Students from Different School Types

The purpose of this study was to examine the nature of cyberbullying experiences among public and private school students in Turkey. One hundred eighty-three participants between the ages of 14 and 15 were recruited for the study. Participants were asked to respond to questionnaires measuring demographic information, usage frequency of Internet-mediated communication tools (IMCT), and cyberbullying experience (as a victim and as a bully). Participants who reported cyberbullying victimization were also asked how they felt and whether they sought help after such experiences. Results indicated that public school students were more likely than private school students to report being cyberbullies and cybervictims despite that private school students were more likely than public school students to report more frequent usage of IMCT. The findings of the logistic regression analyses indicated that usage frequency of IMCT was a significant predictor of cyberbullying/victimization for public school students but not for private school students. While victims from private school revealed that they did not mind the cyberbullying experience because they thought it was a joke, victims from public school reported that they felt angry when they experienced cyberbullying. Both public and private schools indicated that friends were their first choice for help.

Affective and cognitive empathy as mediators of gender differences in cyber and traditional bullying.

Gender differences in bullying behavior among adolescents have been observed, but the reasons for the discrepancy in males’ and females’ bullying experiences has been the focus of few studies. This study examined the role of the cognitive and affective empathy in explaining gender differences in bullying through multiple mediation analysis. The participants of the study were 795 Turkish adolescents (455 females, 340 males) ranging in age from 13- to 18-years-old. The Revised Cyber Bullying Inventory, Traditional Bullying Questionnaire and Basic Empathy Scale were utilized to gather data from participants. Findings revealed that the total effect of cognitive and affective empathy mediated the gender differences in traditional bullying in addition to the unique effect of affective empathy. However, only the combined effect of affective and cognitive empathy mediated the gender differences in cyberbullying. The findings are discussed in the light of the related literature and implications for practice.

Peer Victimization, Rumination, and Problem Solving as Risk Contributors to Adolescents' Depressive Symptoms

The author examined the integration of 2 studies of literature on the development of depressive symptoms in adolescents, addressing ruminative coping styles and peer victimization. In particular, the author tested whether increasing levels of victimization and rumination along with perceived problem solving skills in Turkish adolescents are predictive of depressive symptoms. Participants were 250 adolescents between the ages of 13 and 18 years. The author conducted hierarchical multiple regression analyses to examine the joint and separate predictive power of problem solving, rumination, and victimization on depressive symptoms on each gender. The results of the analyses indicate that rumination accounts for a significant fraction of depressive symptoms on both genders. However, victimization made a significant contribution to the depressive symptoms only for boys. The author found no interaction effect on depressive symptoms and discusses the results in light of related literature.

Attitudes towards seeking psychological help among a sample of Turkish university students: the roles of rumination and internal working models

The current study investigates how attitudes towards seeking psychological help relate to internal working models of attachment (self-model and other-model) and ruminative tendencies. The study includes 589 Turkish university students (278 females, 308 males and 3 unknown) by implementing a convenient sampling procedure. The average age of the participants was 22.4 years (SD = 2.2). Participants were administered the Attitudes toward Seeking Psychological Help-Short, the Relationship Questionnaire and the Rumination Scale. The results of the study indicate that the other-model and rumination have a relationship to womens help-seeking attitudes whereas the self-model has a relationship to mens help-seeking attitudes. The results are discussed in light of the related literature.

Examining the Cultural Validity of Fear Survey Schedule for Children: The Contemporary Fears of Turkish Children and Adolescents

ABSTRACT The authors examined the cultural validity of Fear Survey Schedule for Children (FSSC-AM) developed by J. J. Burnham (2005) with Turkish children. The relationships between demographic variables and the level of fear were also tested. Three independent data sets were used. The first data set comprised 676 participants (321 women and 355 men) and was used for examining factor structure and internal reliability of FSSC. The second data set comprised 639 participants (321 women and 318 men) and was used for testing internal reliability and to confirm the factor structure of FSCC. The third data set comprised 355 participants (173 women and 182 men) and used for analyses of test–retest reliability, inter-item reliability, and convergent validity for the scores of FSSC. The sum of the first and second samples (1,315 participants; 642 women and 673 men) was used for testing the relationships between demographic variables and the level of fear. Results indicated that FSSC is a valid and reliable instrument to examine Turkish childrens and adolescents’ fears between the ages of 8 and 18 years. The younger, female, children of low-income parents reported a higher level of fear. The findings are discussed in light of the existing literature.

RCBI-II: The Second Revision of the Revised Cyber Bullying Inventory.

ABSTRACT The aim of this study is to update the Turkish version of the Revised Cyber Bullying Inventory (RCBI) and eliminate specific technology names. Validity and reliability tests were carried out with 1,803 high school students. The updated version of the RCBI yields valid and reliable scores measuring cyberbullying and victimization.

Death rituals, religious beliefs, and grief of Turkish women

ABSTRACT Grief following a death loss is a common experience that all individuals face at some point in life. There, however, are only a few in-depth studies regarding grief in cultures around the world and specific roles that rituals and beliefs related to death may have in the grieving process. Results of interview data from eight grieving Turkish women revealed three themes: (a) metaphors of loss, (b) funeral rituals, and (c) rituals in relation to control and personal factors. Overall, participants’ sense of control appeared to influence their grief experiences and perceptions of rituals.

Ruminasyon Düzeyinin Toplumsal Cinsiyet ve Yaşa Göre İncelenmesi

Ruminasyon, stresli deneyimlere karsi verilen ve genellikle bas etmeyi guclestiren tepkilerden biri olarak tanimlanmis ve depresif duygu durumu basta olmak uzere bircok psikolojik sorunla olan iliskisi tepki stilleri arastirmacilarinca ortaya konmustur. Ancak ruminasyonun ergen ornekleminde gosterdigi gelisimsel oruntu ozellikle farkli kulturlerde henuz fazla derinlemesine incelenmemistir. Bu arastirmanin amaci ruminasyon egilimlerinin a) ogrencilerin yaslari ve toplumsal cinsiyetlerine gore nasil farklilastigini ve b) toplumsal cinsiyetle psikolojik sorunlar arasindaki iliskide nasil bir rol oynadigini belirlemektir. Arastirma orneklemini yaslari 14-24 arasi degisen 866 (462 kiz, 384 erkek) ogrenci olusturmaktadir. Arastirmada gerekli bilgileri toplamak amaci ile Kisa Semptom Olcegi, Ruminasyon Olcegi ve Ogrenci Kisisel Bilgi Formu kullanilmistir. Iki yonlu varyans analizi (two-way ANOVA) sonuclarina gore kiz ogrencilerin ruminasyon puanlari erkek ogrencilerin puanlarindan anlamli duzeyde yuksek bulunmustur. Ancak yasa gore ruminasyon duzeyi farklilasmamaktadir. Hiyerarsik coklu regresyon analizi sonuclarina gore ise ruminasyonun toplumsal cinsiyet ve psikolojik sorun duzeyleri arasindaki iliskide araci rolu oldugu gozlenmistir. Diger bir deyisle, kiz ogrencilerin erkek ogrencilere gore daha fazla ruminasyon egiliminde olmalari onlari psikolojik sorunlara daha acik hale getirmektedir. Bulgular, ruminasyon konusunda daha once yurtici ve yurtdisinda yurutulmus olan calismalar isiginda tartisilmistir.