Development of a coping with stress scale for a non-western population of children and adolescents

Background and objectives: In the related literature numerous instruments have been developed to measure children and adolescents’ coping with stress. Considering the cultural differences in individuals’ choice for coping strategies, along with the limitations of the existing measures of coping for children and adolescents (e.g., being derived from coping measures developed for adults; unrepresentative samples with limited age range, etc.), the current study aimed to construct a self-report coping scale for a non-western population of children and adolescents.

Design and methods: The study design included both qualitative and quantitative methodology. Three consecutive studies were conducted for the development and validation of the Children and Adolescents’ Coping with Stress Scale (CACSS), a self-report measure assessing coping strategies of children and adolescents aged from 9 to 18 in response to self-identified stressors.

Results: Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses resulted in a 61-item CACSS with 10 factors. The scale appears to have a clear factor structure; sufficient temporal stability; and good convergent, discriminant, and construct validity.

Conclusions: By addressing limitations of existing coping scales, CACSS is believed to contribute to the literature as a developmentally appropriate and multidimensional tool.     

Perceived autonomy support, friendship maintenance, and happiness

Decades of empirical research have shown that perceived autonomy support in close relationships is an essential correlate of happiness. However, what might account for the relationship between the 2? For this article, 4 studies (total N=1325) investigated friendship maintenance as a mediator of the association between friendship autonomy support and happiness. The first 3 studies supported the model for the best friendship of the individual when happiness was assessed with 3 different measures. The 4th study extended the findings by showing that the model was generalizable to the other close friendship of the individual. Overall, the results supported the idea that engaging in routine and strategic behaviors to maintain friendships explains how perceived autonomy support in friendships is associated with happiness. The theoretical and applied implications of the findings were discussed and suggestions for future research were made.     

Turkish Version of Self-Reflection and Insight Scale: A Preliminary Study for Validity and Reliability of the Constructs

The current study aims to explore the validity and reliability characteristics of the self-reflection and insight scale originally developed by Grant et al. (Soc Behav Pers 30(8):821–836, 2002). The study includes two convenience samples, comprising a total of 659 university students. The test–retest reliability study was carried out in a private university in Istanbul. The validity study was carried out in a state university that is located in Samsun, a city in the black sea region of Turkey. Both schools recruit students coming from various regions in Turkey. The results revealed a 10-item scale as a better fit compared to the original 20-item scale. The presence of both subfactors self-reflection and insight were confirmed. The Cronbach’s alpha for the whole scale was .70, .80 for the self-reflection and .65 for the insight subscales. The convergent and discriminant validity analyses revealed a negative relationship between private self-consciousness and insight scores, positive relationship between self-reflection and social anxiety plus external locus of control. There was no significant relationship between private self-consciousness and self-reflection scores. A negative relationship was found between insight and public self-consciousness, a positive relationship between mindfulness and insight scores, and finally a nonsignificant relationship between narcissism and insight scores.     

The Use of Cognitive Mapping in Eliciting and Evaluating Group Cognitions

A holistic method for eliciting and evaluating group cognition was introduced and tested. In the study, 359 undergraduate students were assigned to 72 groups, consisting of 4 to 6 members who worked on research projects lasting for 14 weeks. In order to evaluate the way groups represent the specific knowledge related to their tasks, we used a conceptual mapping technique. Conceptual mapping proved to be a fruitful way to understand the way groups represent their knowledge. The conceptual maps were stable in time and had explanatory power for groups' performance.     

Friendship,Need Satisfaction and Happiness

Friendship quality is an important predictor of happiness, however, what might account for the association between the two? Two studies investigated satisfaction of basic psychological needs as a mediator of the relationship between friendship quality and happiness. Study 1 (n = 424) found support for the model for best friendship. Second study (n = 176) replicated the first study and showed that needs satisfaction in best and two closest friendships mediated the relationship between the quality of all friendships and happiness. The findings suggest that one reason why the quality of friendships is related to happiness is because friendship experiences provide a context where basic needs are satisfied.     

Parenting in an Individualistic Culture with a Collectivistic Cultural Background: The Case of Turkish Immigrant Families with Toddlers in the Netherlands

Expanding our knowledge on parenting practices of immigrant families is crucial for designing culturally sensitive parenting intervention programs in countries with high immigration rates. We investigated differences in patterns of parenting between second-generation immigrant and native families with young children. Authoritarian and authoritative control and sensitivity of second-generation Turkish immigrant mothers of 2-year-old children (n = 70) and native Dutch mothers (n = 70) were observed in the home and in the laboratory. Controlling for maternal age and education, Turkish immigrant mothers were less supportive, gave less clear instructions to their children, were more intrusive and were less authoritative in their control strategies than native Dutch mothers. No differences were found in authoritarian control. In both ethnic groups supportive presence, clarity of instruction, authoritative control, and low intrusiveness loaded on one factor. No differences between ethnic groups were found in gender-differentiated parenting. Maternal emotional connectedness to the Turkish culture was associated with less authoritative control, whereas more use of the Turkish language was related to more sensitivity. Even though mean level differences in parenting behaviors still exist between second-generation Turkish immigrant and native Dutch mothers, the patterns of associations between parenting behaviors were comparable for both groups. This suggests that existing parenting interventions for native families may be applicable to second-generation Turkish immigrants as well.     

Detection of P300 waves in single trials by the wavelet transform (WT)

The P300 response is conventionally obtained by averaging the responses to the task-relevant (target) stimuli of the oddball paradigm. However, it is well known that cognitive ERP components show a high variability due to changes of cognitive state during an experimental session. With simple tasks such changes may not be demonstrable by the conventional method of averaging the sweeps chosen according to task-relevance. Therefore, the present work employed a response-based classification procedure to choose the trials containing the P300 component from the whole set of sweeps of an auditory oddball paradigm. For this purpose, the most significant response property reflecting the P300 wave was identified by using the wavelet transform (WT). The application of a 5 octave quadratic B-spline-WT on single sweeps yielded discrete coefficients in each octave with an appropriate time resolution for each frequency range. The main feature indicating a P300 response was the positivity of the 4th delta (0.5-4 Hz) coefficient (310-430 ms) after stimulus onset. The average of selected single sweeps from the whole set of data according to this criterion yielded more enhanced P300 waves compared with the average of the target responses, and the average of the remaining sweeps showed a significantly smaller positivity in the P300 latency range compared with the average of the non-target responses. The combination of sweeps classified according to the task-based and response-based criteria differed significantly. This suggests an influence of changes in cognitive state on the presence of the P300 wave which cannot be assessed by task performance alone.     

Millennials' changing mobility preferences: A telecommuting case in Istanbul

Daily mobility behaviors, especially in cities with high traffic density, are among the most fundamental drivers of quality of life. Obligatory commuting necessitates individuals sacrificing their time, money, and geographic freedom to ensure their mobility. The personal cost of fatigue, stress, and environmental cost of carbon emissions is likewise substantial. The COVID-19 pandemic led to a widespread shift to telecommuting. The pandemic has permitted an unprecedented opportunity to study Millennials' attitudes towards commuting and telecommuting. A semi-structured interview method was used with Millennial (now the largest percentage of the workforce) white-collar (disproportionately able to do their work remotely) workers living in the megacity of Istanbul to understand how telecommuting has altered consumer commuting habits, values, preferences, and well-being. The results of this study show that Millennial white-collar workers in Istanbul see compulsory commuting as a waste of time, a stress factor, and an unwanted task. The shift towards telecommuting lowered the Millennials' tolerance for traffic and long commutes and reveals willingness for immobility at peak hours and appreciation of spatial independence as a lifestyle that increases quality of life. The need for understanding transport decisions has never been more pressing with the growth of megacities and the climate change crisis. This research has important implications for white-collar employees and their employers, as well as academics and public policy makers, who seek to understand mobility preferences and lifestyles of different generations and the environmental implications in a dynamic environment.