Tarik Tuncay

The relationship between anxiety, coping strategies and characteristics of patients with diabetes

BackgroundThis study provided essential information, about Turkish patients with type I and type II diabetes, concerning: levels of anxiety, coping strategies used, and relationships that exist among anxiety, coping strategies, sociodemographic and medical characteristics.MethodsA sample comprising 161 Turkish adults with both types of diabetes participated in the study. The trait anxiety scale, the brief COPE, sociodemographic and medical questionnaire were administered to patients with diabetes.ResultsThe mean age was 49.01 (SD = 9.74), with a range from 20 to 60 years. The majority of the participants were female (60.9%) and type II diabetes (75.8%). 79% of the participants experienced anxiety. A clear majority of the participants reported to integrate their diabetes. Acceptance, religion, planning, positive reframing, instrumental support, emotional support, self-distraction and venting were the most frequently used coping strategies. The most frequently used problem-focused and the emotion-focused coping strategies were found to be similar in both type I and type II diabetes. However, participants with type II diabetes had relatively higher scores on the problem-focused strategies than those with type I. Participants with type I diabetes used humour, venting and self-blame more than those with type II diabetes. Other findings indicated that only a small minority responded to diabetes-related problems by denial, behavioural disengagement and substance use. Significant correlations were found among anxiety, coping strategies and sociodemographic characteristics of the participants. Moreover, Self-blame was found to be correlated significantly with both the problem-focused and emotion-focused coping strategies. Self-blame was also significantly correlated with both instrumental support and emotional support indicated that higher self-blame caused more frequent use of instrumental and emotional support by patients with diabetes.ConclusionThe findings of this study indicate that care for patients with diabetes should address their physical, psychological, social and economic wellbeing and the findings point to the importance of taking individual coping strategies into account when evaluating the impact of diabetes on psychosocial wellbeing. Because of the mean of anxiety were not in normal range, for this study, health professionals need to pay attention to patients psychological state. This is especially true for patients who are likely to use self-blame and behavioural disengagement as a coping strategy. Through psychosocial interventions, professionals need to assist patients in establishing positive self evaluations. Delineation of coping strategies might be useful for identifying patients in need of particular counselling and support.

Earthquake experience and preparedness in Turkey

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to measure and compare the level of earthquake preparedness of individuals living in Eastern Anatolia region of Turkey, evaluate whether prior earthquake experience has an impact on earthquake preparedness and discuss the cultural factors that may play a role in determining the level of preparedness. Design/methodology/approach – Three locations were identified for the study. Askale and Ercis district had experienced a major earthquake where Erzurum City Center had no major earthquake experience. A total of 174 participants were included in the study. Earthquake preparation was assessed using the Turkish version of the Wellington Earthquake Preparedness Scale by Spittal et al. (2006). Findings – The results showed a significant relationship between the place of living, earthquake experience and preparation. Those who had prior earthquake experience had higher preparation than those who had no prior earthquake experience. Home owners had taken more steps to prepare fo...

Spirituality in coping with HIV/AIDS

Summary This article creates a general framework for spirituality and HIV/AIDS as a chronic illness using a health care perspective. Spirituality provides an important function of helping people to find meaning and purpose in their lives. Various research findings that support the use of spirituality for coping with HIV/AIDS will be provided. Having been defined as one of the coping means with HIV/AIDS, spirituality is argued in this paper as an empowering resource in both well-being of the individuals with such a life threatening illness and their adaptation to the illness process. It has been observed in many researches held in varying research designs with various patient groups that as the functioning of spirituality in the patients with HIV/AIDS increases, depression, hopelessness and level of anxiety decrease; and adaptation, life satisfaction and quality of life proliferate. This paper argues it is extremely important that the professionals in the field of health support the patients who try to cope with especially the psychological and emotional effects of the illness process not only psycho-socially but also in forming meaning and goals about life as well as empower them spiritually.

Attitudes of social work students towards older people

Demographic ageing is a challenge for many countries. Even though Turkey has a relatively younger demographic composition, the proportion of the older people (65+) within the population is rapidly increasing. Within this framework, older people are becoming more important clients for both social work students and social workers in Turkey. This study aims to reveal the attitudes of social work students towards older people and determine the various factors that affect their views on older persons. In the scope of the project, Kogans Attitude Towards Old People Scale was applied to 419 social work undergraduate students at a university located in Central Anatolia. The findings showed that social work students scored a mean of 130.96 and they generally had positive attitudes towards older people. The correlation between year of study, gender and age was not statistically significant. However, having lived mostly in urban areas was positively correlated with the mean Kogan scores and this finding was found to be statistically significant. Exposure to personal contact with older people at both the personal and professional levels was influential in shaping attitudes about the older people.

Problem-Focused Coping Strategies Predict Posttraumatic Growth in Veterans With Lower-Limb Amputations

ABSTRACT A growing body of research has examined the subsequent negative psychosocial changes and the related stress reactions in amputee military veterans. Although these studies help characterize the harmful effects of combat-related amputation, little research has examined factors that may enhance posttraumatic growth (PTG)—positive life changes experienced—as a result of amputation in this population. The purpose of this research was to examine the relationship between PTG, sociodemographic factors, amputation-related variables, and coping strategies in 106 Turkish military veterans (Mage = 23.40 ± 2.62 years) injured in combat operations with lower-limb amputations. Hierarchical regression analysis revealed that problem-focused coping strategies were significant predictors of PTG. Sociodemographic and amputation-related factors did not contribute to PTG. The favorable effects of certain coping strategies, such as religion, acceptance, planning, and active coping, and the negative effects of other coping strategies, such as denial and behavioral disengagement, suggest the potential benefits of interventions to reduce reliance on emotion-focused coping and stimulate more problem-focused strategies to coping with difficulties and challenges to facilitate PTG. Future studies should explore the role of social environmental variables (such as family functioning and support, attitudes toward veterans, etc.), in addition to personal resources, in fostering PTG in amputee veterans.

The experiences of Turkish families caring for individuals with Schizophrenia: A qualitative inquiry:

Background: In Turkey, individuals with schizophrenia usually live with their families. Therefore, families are main caregivers and face psychological, financial and social problems. Aim: The aim of this study is to understand the personal burdens and coping strategies, and social support affecting the families that provide care to the individuals with schizophrenia. Methods: In-depth interviews were conducted with 31 members of 12 families. Results: Four themes were formed: learning and accepting the disorder, caregiving, social dimensions and service dimensions. Families have a problem with accepting this order and caregiving affects their quality of life both financially and socially. As schizophrenia is one of the reasons for being isolated from community, families prefer hiding it. Although families are satisfied with community-based systems, they need long-term solution, training and financial aid. Conclusions: To reduce the burden, family therapies, education and psychological support should be provided for families, and job opportunities, long-term caregiving services and psychological support should be provided for individuals with schizophrenia.

The Relationship between Diabetes-Related Factors, Family Functioning and Health-Related Quality of Life in Turkish Adolescents with Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus

ABSTRACT This cross-sectional, convenience sampling study examined the relationship between diabetes-related factors, family functioning, and health-related quality of life (HRQOL) in 100 Turkish adolescents with type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM). The mean adolescent age was 14.65 ± 1.13 years. Quality of life was assessed using the Kiddo-KINDL generic HRQOL scale. Family functioning was assessed using the McMaster Family Assessment Device. The findings revealed that the participants had moderately high HRQOL. In terms of family functioning, general family functions subscale appeared healthy whereas affective involvement subscale appeared unhealthy. Results revealed that HbA1c was significantly negatively correlated with HRQOL. The full model of the socio-demographic, diabetes-related variables and general family functions to predict the total quality of life in children with T1DM was statistically significant. The overall multivariate model accounted for 58% of the variance of the total HRQOL. Regression analyses revealed that the levels of HbA1c and family functioning were significantly negatively related with HRQOL. The relationships between family functioning and HRQOL in adolescents with T1DM were unclear in Turkish sample. This research addressed this gap of knowledge, and provided a greater insight for practitioners working with adolescents with T1DM.

Factors affecting the psychological distress among unemployed and re-employed individuals

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine coping strategies, social support, and psychological distress for comparable samples of unemployed (n=389) and re-employed (n=270) individuals. The authors hypothesized that problem-focused coping and higher levels of social support would be associated with lower levels of psychological distress for unemployed vs re-employed participants. Design/methodology/approach – The cross-sectional design and the convenience sampling method were used in the study. Findings – Although unemployed participants reported poorer coping, higher levels of psychological distress, and lower levels of social support compared to re-employed participants; social support and coping strategies predicted psychological distress. Multiple regression analyses suggest that emotion-focused coping strategies were related to higher levels of psychological distress, whereas social support and problem-focused coping strategies were related to lower levels of psychological distress. Social su...