E. Sönmez, Turkey
Zonguldak Caycuma State Hospital PsychiatryModerator of 1 Session
Proposed by the EPA section on Women, Gender and Mental Health - Gender can significantly impact on the course of infection during a pandemic, but also it’s longterm sequelae. In the case of COVID-19, current worldwide statistics show more men than women dying of acute infection, while women are projected to suffer more than men from the health, economic and social consequences of the pandemic. Up to date research findings will be presented by the first speaker. Several studies to date have reported an increase in common mental health problems during the acute phase of the Covid-19 pandemic in all population groups with a more pronounced rise in women. Longer-term effects on mental health in people who have suffered from Covid-19 are as yet unknown. The second speaker will focus on the incidence of post-traumatic stress disorder in this group, reviewing up-to-date literature and presenting data from her research group on men and women who were treated as inpatients or at home. The third speaker will discuss evidence that domestic violence and related deaths of women increased during the Covid-19 lockdown periods. The barriers that social restrictions create towards identifying and supporting victims will be discussed and recommendations given to overcome them. Particularly difficult challenges are also encountered during a pandemic by mental health services which care for women with severe mental illness who are pregnant or have recently given birth. The 4th and 5th speaker will discuss which strategies that were rapidly adopted during the Covid-19 pandemic to meet these challenges in the inpatient, community and liaison setting, were successful.
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Presenter of 3 Presentations
Live Q&A
Live Q&A
, W0055 - Prevention of Substance Abuse in Youth: How Social Norms Approach Can Help
ABSTRACT
Abstract Body
Drug and alcohol use in adolescence is a major global public health concern. Adolescence is the highest risk period for the initiation of drinking and substance use. Since the 90s, a growing body of evidence has indicated the influence of peers’ behaviours and attitudes in the development of youth tobacco, alcohol and drug use. Based on these studies, the social norms approach has been developed, mainly applying to the Western countries. The approach argues that how a student perceives his/her peers' health-related behaviours and attitudes (such as substance/alcohol use) does have an influence on his/her own behaviour, and negative behaviours are generally overestimated among peers. Correcting these misperceptions may contribute to the prevention of youth substance/alcohol use. The applicability and discussions on the social norms approach will be presented in this talk, with two example studies. Both studies are conducted in Turkey, which is ranked lowest in terms of alcohol use and related problems among World Health Organization Europe zone countries, despite and increasing trend in use over the past decades. In both university and high-school samples, we found that students’ misperceptions about higher peer tobacco and alcohol use facilitated their own alcohol use. We conclude that targeting social norms may be part of a generalized preventive approach with regards to drug use and is of universal value.
References:
1. SÖNMEZ, E. & AKVARDAR, Y. 2015. A Social Norms Approach to Substance Abuse Prevention in Youth “The more I think you drink, the more I drink”. Bağımlılık Dergisi-Journal of Dependence, 16 , 86-94 (Turkish)
2. GÜNDÜZ, A., SAKARYA, S., SÖNMEZ, E., ÇELEBI, C., YÜCE, H. & AKVARDAR, Y. 2019. Social norms regarding alcohol use and associated factors among university students in Turkey. Archives of Clinical Psychiatry (São Paulo), 46 , 44-49.