The Health Science Students’ Emotional-Behavioral Problems, Childhood Trauma and Screen Exposure

Authors : Figen Çalişkan, Nilgün Işiksaçan, Semra Yilmaz, Ece Uysal Kasap

Pages : 310-323

View : 108 | Download : 117

Publication Date : 2023-12-25

Article Type : Research Paper

Abstract :Purpose: To examine emotional-behavioral problems and their relation with hopelessness, childhood trauma, demographic characteristics and also screen exposure time in health science students. Method: This study is a cross-sectional, descriptive study. It was carried out on health worker candidate students. The personal data form including sociodemographic features and screen exposure, Symptom Checklist-90, the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire, and the Beck Hopelessness Scale were used as data collection tools. Data analysis was performed using the Number Cruncher Statistical System software. Results: The total number of participants was 347. Among them; approximately 1 in 10 (11.2%) had history of psychiatric disease, majority had psychiatric symptoms at a significant level (0.88±0.63), majority had experienced a moderate (64.5%) or severe (3.5%) levels of hopelessness, and 40.3% reported that they had been exposed to a childhood trauma. The level of emotional-behavioral problems was determined to be related to gender (greater in females), academic success (greater in those with low success), satisfaction with the department (greater in those who were dissatisfied), screen exposure time (especially social media usage greater in those with ≥5 hours/day use), and exposure to childhood trauma (greater in those with exposure). Hopelessness was found to be independent of gender, academic success, and social media use, but was correlated to satisfaction with the educational department. Conclusions and Suggestions: Study results indicated that while the female gender, greater social media use and childhood trauma exposure were associated with poor mental health, satisfaction with the educational department was a protective factor for good mental health.
Keywords : Çocukluk Çağı Travması, Duygusal ve Davranışsal Problemler, Sağlık Alanı Öğrencileri, Umutsuzluk, Childhood Trauma, Emotional and Behavioral Problems, Healthcare Students, Hopelessness