ISSN 1302-0099 | e-ISSN 2146-7153
TURKISH JOURNAL CLINICAL PSYCHIATRY - Turkish J Clin Psy: 5 (4)
Volume: 5  Issue: 4 - 2002
REVIEW
1. Standardization Study of the Turkish Form of a Cancellation Test in 6-11 Year Old Children
Birim Günay KILIÇ, Metehan IRAK, Aylin İlden KOÇKAR, şahnur Şener, Sirel KARAKAŞ
Pages 213 - 228
The main aim of this study is to form the norms of the Turkish Form of a Cancellation Test originally formed by Weintraub and Mesulam in 6-11 year olds in a Turkish population. The second aim is to understand and assess the development of cognitive functions such as sustained attention, visual perception, reaction rate, activation and inhibition of impulsive responses, as well as to evaluate the effects of age and gender on these cognitive functions. The subjects were 402 primary school students, ages 6 through 11. After the data was screened for extreme cases, the analysis was conducted with 291 subjects who met the criteria for the basic assumptions of statistics as linearity, normality and homoscedasticity. Grade 1 students were between the ages of 72- 84 months, grade 2 students were between 85-96 months, grade 3, 4 and 5 students were between 97-108, 109-120 and 121-132 months of age, respectively. The Turkish Form of the Cancellation Test originally developed by Weintraub and Mesulam was used. Test- retest reliability was measured using data from 101 subjects. The Turkish Form of the Cancellation Test included four subtests. The following scores were used from the four subtests: Number of Correct Target Detection, Number of Omission Errors, Number of Commission Errors, Number of Total Errors, and the Total Time for completing each subtest. A 5 x 2 (Age x Sex) multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) was conducted for all the mentioned scores. The Turkish Form of the Cancellation Test was found to have a test-retest reliability changing.45 and.83 as assessed from 101 subjects. It was found that the age main effect was significant. Thus all time scores decreased with age. There was a sex main effect favouring girls but this conclusion was inconsistent across subtests and scores. The factor structure of the Turkish Form of The Cancellation Test was studied and three factors were found. The result of the factor structure was taken as evidence that the Cancellation Test does not measure only one process of cognitive functioning. The result were discussed in terms of the development of the cognitive functions as measured by the Cancellation Test and its' clinical implications in the psychiatric population.

2. Effects of Alexithymia on Depression and Anxiety in Conversion Disorder
Feryal Çam Çelikel, Ömer SAATÇİOĞLU
Pages 229 - 234
There is still inadequate evidence concerning the relationship between conversion disorder and the alexithymia construct. The purpose of the present study was to investigate how alexithymia influences depression and anxiety levels of female patients with conversion disorder. 20 female out-patients, diagnosed as conversion disorder according to DSM/-IV, were included in the study. A socio-demographic form, Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TASj, Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HDRSj, Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale (HARS) were administered to each patients. The mean scores ofHDRS and HARS were found 18.1 ±4.2, and 22.6±7.1, respectively. Using the TAS cut-off scores, 60% (n= 12) of the sample were classified as alexithymic whereas 40% (n=8) were non-alexithymic. The mean TAS score of the total study group was 16.4±5.1. No significant difference was found between alexithymia and depression and anxiety levels in female patients with conversion disorder. High alexithymia scores may be an expected finding in female patients with conversion disorder. Our findings show that in spite of high depression levels, no relationship is found between alexithymia and depression or anxiety severities. Future research is needed to explore the potential clinical implications of these findings with larger samples and control groups in different parts of our country.

3. Psychiatric Symptoms After Traumatic Brain Injury
Emrem BEŞTEPE, Verda Tüzer, Tunga Tüzer, Önder Okay, Çiğdem AYDEMİR
Pages 235 - 239
Traumatic brain injury (TBI), most frequently caused by traffic accidents and falls, is a cause of disability, as well as increasing the psychiatric morbidity. Fifty-eight patients hospitalised for TBI and 48 controls were evaluated by SCID-P, Mini Mental Examination, Beck Depression Scale (BDS) and SCL-90-R checklist, as well as the psychiatric assessment. The patients score worse in all psychiatric tests except the somatization sub-scale of the SCL-90-R symptom checklist, compared to the control group. BDS findings showed that 26.3% of the patients were clinically depressed while only 4.2% were depressed in the control group (p<0.05). The findings suggest that it is important to assess the TBI patients especially for mood disorders.

4. Depression and Anxiety Levels of Parents and Children with Chronic Illness
Fevziye Toros, Şenel TOT, Oznur DUZOVALI
Pages 240 - 247
Childhood chronic diseases are common, and their prevalence is increasing. Generally, the diagnosis and treatment of chronic illness in a child is accompanied by major psychosocial disturbances in both a child and family members. The aims of this study were to determine depression and anxiety levels, frequency of psychiatric disorders of all children and their parents, and to investigate correlations between age and education levels of parents and depression and anxiety levels of parents and children. 61 children and adolescents aged between 9-17 (20 girls, 41 boys) and their parents participated in this study. Participants were divided to three groups: Parents and children with cancer illness (Group 1), parents and children with chronic illness except cancer (Group 2), parents and children without any chronic illness (Group 3). Socio-demographic characteristics were gathered using standard socio-demographic form. Beck Depression Inventory (DBI), Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI) were administered to all parents. And also, Beck Depression Inventory for Children (BDIC), State (SAI) and Trait Anxiety Inventory for Children (TAT) were administered to all children. BDIC in Group 1 was higher than Group 2 and 3 (p=.023, p=.000), SAI in Group 1 was higher than Group 3 (p=.000j, and in Group 2 had higher SAI than Group 3 (p=.022j. TAI in Group 1 was higher than Group 3 (p=.004), children in Group 2 had higher TAI than children in Group 3 (p=.046). Mothers in Group I had higher scores ofBDI and BAI than mothers in Group 2 and 3 (p=.0I2, p=.000). Fathers in Group I had higher BDI than fathers in Group 3 (p=.02), and fathers in Group 2 had higher depression level than Group 3 (p=.000). Children with chronic illness and their parents were found to have higher level of depression and anxiety than children without chronic illness and their parents.

5. Confidentiality in Psychiatry
Ali Çayköylü
Pages 248 - 256
Patient-psychiatrist relationship is often considered to be special. Despite the fact that confidentiality is patients natural right, it can also come into conflict with other interests. Therefore, confidentiality has probably been the most common type of ethically troubling incident for mental health professionals. However, confidentiality is considered as sine qua non of the psychiatric treatment. When confidentiality is breached it is assumed that the patient may refuse the treatment and not share the information for a successful treatment. Nevertheless, there may be some ethical and legal exceptions for confidentiality if necessary. Confidentiality has been dealt with for the last 50 years in the West, whereas in Turkey it has only recently been argued. In this paper, confidentiality, which is often considered to be one of the responsibilities of psychiatrist and has important effects on diagnosis and treatment of diseases in both ethical and legal terms, has been reviewed.

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