The relationship between problematic internet use and interpersonal cognitive distortions and life satisfaction in university students

Objective

The aim of the study was to analyze the relationship between problematic internet use by college students and interpersonal cognitive distortions and life satisfaction.

Methods

A total of 418 students, 260 females and 158 males, studying in different departments of the Fatih Faculty of Education, Karadeniz Technical University, participated. The Online Cognition Scale, Interpersonal Cognitive Distortions Scale, Life Satisfaction Scale and Personal Information Form were used as instruments.

Results

A significant positive correlation was determined between problematic internet use and interpersonal cognitive distortions (r = .33, p < .01), and a negative one with life satisfaction (r = − .21, p < .01). Interpersonal cognitive distortions, life satisfaction and gender account for 21% of total variance (F₍₃₄₁₃₎ = 37.30, p < .05). Findings revealed that males exhibit more problematic internet use than females, which subjects with a pessimistic perception of events have a higher level of problematic internet use than those with an optimistic perception and that subjects who always feel lonely exhibit greater problematic internet use than those who never or only sometimes experience feelings of loneliness.

Conclusions

Interpersonal cognitive distortions, life satisfaction and gender were significant predictors of problematic internet use. Problematic internet use exhibits significant variations according to gender, perception of events and feelings of loneliness.     

Fluid adaptation of contested citizenship: second-generation migrant Turks in Germany and the United States

This paper explores belonging in the context of legal citizenship for second-generation Turkish immigrants in Berlin and in New York. Fluid adaptation refers to the discursive boundaries of immigrant identity articulations, the contextual and shifting adjustments immigrants make to their sense of belonging. Immigrant belonging, gauged by ‘encounters’ with bureaucracies and participatory expressions, is shaped in large part by the receiving state's legal framework and citizenship status. Belonging is complicated by racialization and exclusion, and affected by intersectionalities of immigrant experience. Limited citizenship models necessitate deployment of fluid and alternative membership models. Alternative forms of belonging underscore the power of the nation-state in delimiting belonging.     

Low skeletal muscle mass index is associated with function and nutritional status in residents in a Turkish nursing home

Introduction: To determine the prevalence of low muscle mass (LMM) and the relationship between LMM with functional and nutritional status as defined using the LMM evaluation method of European Working Group on Sarcopenia in Older People (EWGSOP) criteria among male residents in a nursing home.

Methods: Male residents aged?>60 years of a nursing home located in Turkey were included in our study. Their body mass index (BMI) kg/m², skeletal muscle mass (SMM-kg) and skeletal muscle mass index (SMMI-kg/m²) were calculated. The participants were regarded as having low SMMI if they had SMMI?<9.2?kg/m² according to our population specific cut-off point. Functional status was evaluated with Katz activities of daily living (ADL) and Lawton Instrumental Activities of Daily Living (IADL). Nutritional assessment was performed using the Mini Nutritional Assessment (MNA). The number of drugs taken and chronic diseases were recorded.

Results: One hundred fifty-seven male residents were enrolled into the study. Their mean age was 73.1?±?6.7 years with mean ADL score of 8.9?±?2.0 and IADL score of 8.7?±?4.6. One hundred twelve (71%) residents were aged?>70 years. Thirty-five men (23%) had low SMMI in group aged?>60 years, and twenty-eight subjects (25%) in the group aged?>70 years. MNA scores were significantly lower in residents with low SMMI compared with having normal SMMI (17.1?±?3.4 versus 19.6?±?2.5, p?=?0.005). BMI was significantly lower in the residents with low SMMI compared with normal SMMI (19.6?±?2.7 versus 27.1?±?4.1, p70 years (8.1?±?2.6 versus 9.1?±?1.6, p?=?0.014). In regression analyses, the only factor associated with better functional status was the lower age (p?=?0.04) while the only factor associated with better nutrition was higher SMMI (p?=?0.01).

Conclusions: Low SMMI detected by LMM evaluation method of EWGSOP criteria is prevalent among male nursing home residents. There is association of low SMMI with nutritional status and probably with functional status within the nursing home setting using the EWGSOP criteria with Turkish normative reference cut-off value.     

Path analysis and determining the distribution of indirect effects via simulation

The difference between a path analysis and the other multivariate analyses is that the path analysis has the ability to compute the indirect effects apart from the direct effects. The aim of this study is to investigate the distribution of indirect effects that is one of the components of path analysis via generated data. To realize this, a simulation study has been conducted with four different sample sizes, three different numbers of explanatory variables and with three different correlation matrices. A replication of 1000 has been applied for every single combination. According to the results obtained, it is found that irrespective of the sample size path coefficients tend to be stable. Moreover, path coefficients are not affected by correlation types either. Since the replication number is 1000, which is fairly large, the indirect effects from the path models have been treated as normal and their confidence intervals have been presented as well. It is also found that the path analysis should not be used with three explanatory variables. We think that this study would help scientists who are working in both natural and social sciences to determine sample size and different number of variables in the path analysis.     

Optimal experimental plan for multi-level stress testing with Weibull regression under progressive Type-II extremal censoring

In the design of constant-stress life-testing experiments, the optimal allocation in a multi-level stress test with Type-I or Type-II censoring based on the Weibull regression model has been studied in the literature. Conventional Type-I and Type-II censoring schemes restrict our ability to observe extreme failures in the experiment and these extreme failures are important in the estimation of upper quantiles and understanding of the tail behaviors of the lifetime distribution. For this reason, we propose the use of progressive extremal censoring at each stress level, whereas the conventional Type-II censoring is a special case. The proposed experimental scheme allows some extreme failures to be observed. The maximum likelihood estimators of the model parameters, the Fisher information, and asymptotic variance–covariance matrices of the maximum likelihood estimates are derived. We consider the optimal experimental planning problem by looking at four different optimality criteria. To avoid the computational burden in searching for the optimal allocation, a simple search procedure is suggested. Optimal allocation of units for two- and four-stress-level situations is determined numerically. The asymptotic Fisher information matrix and the asymptotic optimal allocation problem are also studied and the results are compared with optimal allocations with specified sample sizes. Finally, conclusions and some practical recommendations are provided.     

Sexual Life of Women with Multiple Sclerosis: A Qualitative Study

Objectives: To define the thoughts, emotions, experiences and perceptions of women with multiple sclerosis (MS) and to determine sexual, physical, and emotional effects of MS on patients. Methods: Twenty-one women were included into this qualitatively designed study. Results: Three baseline themes were defined as “uncertainty” arising from complaints due to numbness in extremities and loss of sense, balance or vision, “alterations in sexual life,” and “inability” as a result of deformities in marital status and gender role. Conclusion: Healthcare providers should evaluate MS patients meticulously as to sexual life and refer such patients to appropriate health centers.